Nagorno-Karabakh: Transformation From an Ethnic-Territorial to Ethnic-Religious Conflict
Vali Kaleji Expert on Central Asia and Caucasian Studies, based in Tehran, Iran In his book “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order”, Samuel Huntington used the example of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to demonstrate the conflict between the Christians and ...
Coronavirus' Global Economic Impact
Vigorously spread across China, the world financial markets have robustly reacted to the lethal coronavirus spread to Europe and the Middle East, fanning the flames of fears of a global plague. In the meantime, the virus also known as Covid-19 risks have been priced so belligerently across various ...
Bright future ahead of Iran-Eurasia relations
Eventually, following years of negotiations, the interim deal enabling formation of a free trade area between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was clinched on May 17, 2018 and it formally entered into force on October 27, 2019, based on which several commodity items are subject to preferential ...
Security Dilemma: Are Iran and the US Heading Toward a War?
In a new sign of growing tensions between Iran and the United States, it was reported May 23 that the Pentagon has asked the White House to dispatch some 5000 additional troops, as well as new military equipment, to the Middle East. The logic behind the request, according to the Pentagon, is to enhance ...
Iran and Pakistan: Expanding Trade Relations and Confronting Terrorism
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan's visit of Iran, with a high-ranking political and economic delegation for two days, is aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties in diverse fields. This is the first visit of Imran Khan to Iran and it happens in a time when the United States has been pushing ...
Exodus by Big Firms Pushes Iran toward Smaller Chinese Enterprises
China is still Iran's top trade partner, leading oil customer, a key technology exporter, a major political ally and one of the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) still committed to the deal. All of this has given Beijing an increasingly central position in Iran'...
Grounds for Consolidation of Iran-Russia Cooperation in the CIS Region
Economic Cooperation Trade within Eurasian Economic Union * Temporary agreement on the formation of a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) and Iran has been signed in 17 May 2018. * The deal ...
Israel Role in Iran-Russia Partnership in Syria
With the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey slated to attend a new round of Syria peace talks within the Astana framework on Feb. 14, the relationship between Tehran and Moscow — two main allies of the Syrian government in its eight years of fighting against rebel and terrorist groups —...
Can Iran Help Reach a Lasting Peace in Afghanistan?
Progress has been reported in peace talks between US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban, but without the participation of the Afghan government, it seems premature to assume that an agreement will be reached soon. Could Iran play a constructive role in achieving an end to America’s longest ...
Iran, Russia-led Bloc Move toward Free Trade
Earlier this month, an interim agreement on free trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was approved at the regional body's summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. After relevant legal procedures in Iran are fully carried out, the deal is expected to take effect as of ...
Iran’s Role in the Process of Restoring Peace and Fighting Extremism in Afghanistan and Central Asia
Tehran's Azadi Hotel hosted a meeting of senior security officials from four major regional countries on September 26, 2018. The participants included Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation; Ajit Doval, the national security advisor to the Indian prime ...
Why Iran Did Not Attend the Europe-Russia-Turkey Summit on Syria
The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany met Oct. 27 in Istanbul for a summit to discuss the ongoing developments regarding the Syrian crisis. In a final statement issued after the summit, the four sides emphasized Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the necessity ...
Tehran hosted national security and deputy national security advisers from China, India, Russia and Afghanistan on Sept. 26, in what was billed as the first Regional Security Dialogue. According to Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, the one-day meeting, initiated ...
Russia's Reaction to Georgia’s Possible Accession to NATO
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev showed a very sharp reaction on August 16, 2018 to reports about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) planning joint military drills with Georgia. He said possible accession of Georgia to this Western military alliance would be catastrophic and ...
Women's Critical Role in Afghan Peace Process
The contemporary history of the South Asian region nearly always had a substantial component of conflict. Some examples include the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir that has been ongoing since 1947; the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war; civil war and rise of insurgency and conflict in Nepal; and ...
Iran and Competitiveness of China
China is currently known as the world’s second biggest economic power after the United States of America. According to figures released in 2016, the United States’ gross domestic product stood at about 18 trillion dollars in 2016, while that of China was about two-thirds of America’...
Iran Readjusts Its Syria Strategy amid Russia’s Changing Role
As the Syrian government is now in full control of most parts of the war-torn country, the role of Iran, as a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad, appears to be undergoing significant change. On Aug. 1, the Russian president’s special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, said Iranian ...
Prospects for Iranian-Russian Cooperation
Since 2012, Russia and Iran has been persistently trying to create the solid base for the development of bilateral relations. However, the role of the economic factor in building up of these relations is still substantially underestimated and neglected. Moreover, for the last five years, the volume ...
Iran’s Maneuvers to Protect Its Interests in Syria
The Finnish capital, Helsinki, turned into the main center for international diplomacy July 16 by hosting a long-awaited summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, as Iran and Syria topped the agenda of the two presidents’ discussions at ...
Why Putin Won’t Throw Iran under the Bus in Syria?
The Finnish capital of Helsinki will host a summit July 16 between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Amid preparations for the meeting, speculation has been raised about the topics that may be discussed by the two presidents. Although the formal agenda has yet to ...