Iran

Perhaps a more interesting sign has come with the purges carried among security forces with some of the more hardline officers moved aside or sent into early retirement. If there is indeed a change of course, the most important part of the scheme is the prospect of normalization with Saudi …

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – known less formally as the UN’s nuclear watchdog – spent March 4 and 5 in Tehran as the guest of the Iranian regime. After discussing nuclear matters with Iranian officials, he met foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and then Iran’s …

In his testimony to the 9/11 Commission, then-CIA Director George Tenet described the harrowing intelligence picture that had emerged in the summer of 2001. “The system was blinking red,” he famously recalled. What followed, of course, was the well-documented, multi-agency failure to prevent an avoidable disaster that changed the course …

Two weeks ago, on March 10, Iran said it would restore diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia after a seven-year rupture as part of a deal brokered by China. The agreement, reached in Beijing, is the result of almost a year and a half of mostly quiet talks between Iran and …

Despite the economic sanctions against it, Iran continues its efforts towards enrichment of weapons-grade uranium.[1] This demands immediate action on the part of the West, and such action was about to be taken at the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Directors meeting on March 6-9, 2023. Ahead of the …

The Iranian Asr-e Iran website, which is close to pragmatic circles, protested, in a February 19, 2023 article, against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s governance, along with that of his economic team, against the backdrop of his economic promises to voters and following the deterioration of Iran’s economic situation – particularly …

Today, China is victorious by sponsoring the historic agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, while the US has a new president who comes to destroy agreements reached by his predecessor, and even brags about it during his election campaign and his presidency.” — Saeed Al-Mryti, Saudi political activist, Twitter, March …

China’s mediation of the Saudi-Iran normalization agreement signals a potential break from its long-standing policy of keeping to a minimal and economically oriented regional footprint. By successfully bringing two of the Middle East’s bitterest rivals to the negotiation table, China aims to build credibility as a capable partner in a …

March 2023 will be remembered as a good month for the Islamic Republic of Iran. First, Iran and longtime foe, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced they would re-establish full diplomatic relations and reopen embassies within sixty days, thanks to China’s mediation (and Iraq’s and Oman’s early efforts). The news …

Something astonishing happened on March 10 in Beijing. After years of vindictive antagonism, mistrust and bloody proxy wars in the West Asia, Iran and Saudi Arabia finally reached an agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations and to reopen the embassies. According to a tripartite joint statement of the countries released by …