Iran, sanctions, and the COVID-19 pandemic
Whispers behind closed doors suggest Iran’s storied capacity to face down sanctions may finally have met its match in Covid-19.
Whispers behind closed doors suggest Iran’s storied capacity to face down sanctions may finally have met its match in Covid-19.
The complicated nature of the geopolitics of the region has made it more difficult for Iran to clearly define its policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In reality, the accord does not seem to have the potential to revolutionize the path of China-Iran relations, which has been quite consistent since 1979.
A series of violent attacks, involving explosions and fires, has been hitting Iran. The incidents have been too frequent and intense to be random accidents. They are part of an organized effort.
A real change in U.S.-Saudi and U.S.-Iranian relations, as well as in the U.S.’s overall position in the Middle East, will not be achieved with a modest course correction.
Seeing a deal fall apart despite having fully abided by it makes it almost impossible in Iran’s domestic scene to make the case for any renewed engagement.
The blockade on Qatar is interfering with Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran, but his anti-Iran Saudi and Emirati partners won’t budge
Washington will be surprised by more chaos and instability if it does not take the Saudi-Turkish conflict as seriously as the Saudi-Iranian rivalry.
Trump’s not-so-well thought out plan to reach a deal with the Iranians wasn’t going to work anyway but his top foreign policy advisers made sure of it.
Rather than herald the emergence of a new alliance in the region, the recent rapprochement between Iran and Turkey appears to be a marriage of convenience.
Rouhani knows very well that if his government continues to unilaterally implement the nuclear deal, he will come under more attacks from his political opponents and hardliners.
Faced by the human and economic ravages of COVID-19 and enduring—if precarious—stalemates in myriad conflict zones, including the Gulf, Yemen, Syria, and Libya, the region’s leaders are likely to keep well back from the brink.