Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi telephoned Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss NATO expansion and Iran nuclear issue Will the US-Russia confrontation over NATO expansion and the situation around Ukraine derail the Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna? Apparently, the Iran issue has been pushed somewhat from the centre of world attention lately. But that is a …
Israel gets boxed in as Iran issue surges
Iran’s nuclear water reactor in the city of Arak “Iran’s scientific and defense policies won’t change because of the assassination of one scientist or general,” the spokesman of the Iranian government Ali Rabiei wrote calmly and firmly in a statement Sunday posted on the official website. Iran “shouldn’t fall into the trap of linking the …
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Netanyahu is the winner in Fakhrizadeh’s murder
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz (R) In his very first reaction on the killing of the Iranian nuclear scientist and Deputy Defense Minister Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last Friday, President Hassan Rouhani singled out Israel as the culprit. Not Saudi Arabia, not …
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Biden faces daunting challenges on nuclear issues
The well-known British historian and author of books on Soviet diplomatic and military history, Professor Geoffrey Roberts wrote a letter to the FT two days ago arguing for a reset of the US’ relationship with Russia by the Joe Biden presidency. It came as a breath of fresh air amidst the avalanche of apocalyptic predictions …
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Biden’s “normalcy” means return of “ancien régime”
There has been a spate of reports in the American media that the US president-elect Joe Biden is assembling his cabinet of ministers. Most reports mention that Biden’s secretary of state will be Susan Rice, former US ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor in the Barack Obama administration. Reportedly, Biden’s choice for …
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Deconstructing the election to Iran’s Majlis
Iran’s parliamentary election on Friday took place in extraordinary circumstances. The pandemic fear over coronavirus significantly impacted the voter turnout, which is estimated to be around 42% (as compared to 62% in the 2016 election to the Majlis). A dozen people have died so far in Iran and a few dozen diagnosed with the virus …
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Russia tamps down US-Iran tensions
(Donald Trump signed an executive order for new sanctions against Iran on June 24, 2019) The US President Donald Trump is learning that Persian is a tricky language and does not easily yield its hidden charms to westerners. The western media attributed to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani a remark during his televised speech on June …
Japan moves up mediation on Iran nuclear issue
(Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, May 16, 2019.) The reports from Tokyo indicate that the dates for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state visit to Iran have been firmed up — June 12-14. Abe will have a meeting with Iranian President …
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Trump makes big-time overture to Iran
(US President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chat during dinner in Tokyo, Sunday, May 26, 2019) The extraordinary remarks on Iran made by the US President Donald Trump at his joint press conference with his host Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on May 27 merit careful analysis. There are several elements in it …
Iran circles wagons as Trump’s B Team beats war drum
(Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani addressing the cabinet meeting, Tehran, May 8, 2019) If there can be a lethal game of Russian roulette in international politics, this is it — what just began on May 8, the first anniversary of the United States’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal of July 2015. Iran exercised “strategic patience” …
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