Half a year away from Iran’s presidential election, the country’s hard-liners are already hard at work to ensure the next president is on their side.

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus are preparing to conduct joint military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea as a European summit is expected to impose sanctions on Ankara amid escalating tensions over maritime borders and gas exploration rights.

As Iran investigates the assassination of a top nuclear scientist, fingers are already pointing at Israel and the United States, whose outgoing administration clearly wants to minimize the chances of reviving the nuclear deal.