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  • Iran and China
    Iran and China deepen a ‘blue water’ friendship

    Last month, visitors to Bandar Abbas on Iran’s southern coast gathered to witness a never-seen-before event: two Chinese warships pulling into port. It could be just the start of a budding naval alliance stretching from the Pacific to the Persian Gulf. Iranian and Chinese commanders last week announced plans for greater maritime cooperation. While the details are vague, it clearly touches ambitions on both sides: Expanding the reach of their warships into faraway seas and new ports of call. And, at the same time, giving a jab at the United States and its preeminent naval power.

  • Saudi-Iran
    Slow progress in Saudi-Iranian ties

    The Middle East is going through many developments, most notably the fluctuations of Saudi-Iranian ties, which affect the future of the countries in the region including that of Lebanon.

  • Iran Negotiations
    Endgame for Iran nuclear talks

    US officials, while not confirming the reports, have recently said there are multiple combinations of ways that Iran’s breakout time could be extended, and the focus should not only be on the centrifuge numbers in a deal. The goal, US officials said, should be a deal that closes off all possible pathways for Iran to make fissile material for a nuclear weapon, either through producing weapons-grade uranium, plutonium or through a covert facility. “We’re trying to shut down the four pathways to get enough nuclear material for a nuclear weapon,” a US official told journalists in Vienna Oct. 15. “There are a lot of ways you can do that. There’s no one right answer.”

  • Iran Negotiations
    Opinion: This is the roadmap for closing a nuclear deal with Iran

    In recent days, Khamenei has suggested that the economy is starting to worry him. The reason is the loss of another 25% of government income, entirely due to the plunge in oil prices. On Oct. 22, he lashed out at his country’s overwhelming economic reliance on oil, saying that until Iran finds other means of supporting itself, it will be “at the mercy of major policymakers in the world.” He said that the country instead had to “rely on the talent and potential of its youth.”

  • Conflict in Yemen
    Iran, Saudi Arabia jockey for power in Yemen

    The most important platform for Iran and Saudi Arabia is not on the religious or economic level, but rather the military level on the ground. Tehran has a quasi-absolute influence on the political regimes in Iraq and Syria, as well as a strong ally in Lebanon, represented by Hezbollah. The Iranian president’s adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, publicly announced his country’s support for the Houthis, as well as the fact that Ansar Allah’s role in Yemen resembles that of Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon. These challenges to the local Yemeni scene, in addition to the regional Saudi-Iran conflict, will limit Saudi Arabia’s options in Yemen in the near future. Saudi Arabia is still relying on its traditional tribal allies in Yemen, as well as weakening Iran regionally and defeating it in Syria, rather than trying to intervene directly in Yemen. This is happening in light of Saudi Arabia’s fight against IS, which represents a bigger threat to Saudi security than the challenges that Yemen is facing.

  • Extremism
    Thousands in Iran Protest Acid Attacks on Women

    Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of the historic city of Isfahan on Wednesday to protest several acid attacks on women. The attacks had coincided with the passage of a law designed to protect those who correct people deemed to be acting in an “un-Islamic” way.

  • U.S.-Iran Relationship
    Why Iran views Islamic State fight through a conspiracy lens

    Iran’s top leadership blames the US, CIA, Israel, and America's Sunni allies such as Saudi Arabia for “creating” the IS as a tool to undermine Iran. It's a way to ensure a permanent US troop presence in the Middle East and to create chronic regional tensions that benefit Israel, according to Iran.

  • Iran Negotiations
    Iran acts to comply with interim nuclear deal with powers: IAEA

    Iran is taking further action to comply with an interim nuclear agreement with six world powers, a monthly U.N. atomic agency report showed, a finding the West may see as positive ahead of a November deadline for clinching a long-term deal. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), seen by Reuters, made clear that Iran is meeting its commitments under the temporary deal, as it and major powers seek to negotiate a final settlement of a decade-old nuclear dispute.

  • Iran Negotiations
    Reading Between the Red Lines: An Anatomy of Iran’s Eleventh-Hour Nuclear Negotiating Strategy

    After yet another round of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue this week in Vienna, Tehran is simultaneously reinforcing its red lines while raising expectations that a final agreement remains within reach. While these might sound like mixed messages, in fact they are part of a sophisticated, multi-prong strategy aimed at pressuring Washington and its negotiating partners to accede to Tehran’s stipulations for a deal.

  • Iran Negotiations
    U.S., E.U. hold grueling talks with Iran about its nuclear program

    A grueling day of talks Wednesday between senior American, Iranian and European diplomats produced no breakthrough agreement on curbing Iran’s nuclear program, but officials said they still aim to reach a deal by the Nov. 24 deadline.