Iran’s high-speed patrol boats in ‘asymmetrical’ naval war in Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf (File photo) China’s shock warning to the US President Donald Trump that his road to Beijing goes through the Strait of Hormuz has been an audacious move directly linking his planned visit to China on May 14-15 with the situation around …
Ceasefire served US’ purpose in Iran war
Iranian leadership has said they are preparing for renewed hostilities as US president is unlikely to accept Tehran’s latest peace offer The Russian President Vladimir Putin who is an avid reader of history books, ought to be familiar with the famous quote attributed to the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller indirectly condemning the complicity of …
US, Iran end 21-hour talks without agreement
Over 100 vessels seek to transit Hormuz under new protocol There is growing expectation in Tehran that the Islamabad talks with the US may open the door leading into the rose-garden. But footfalls still echo in the memory, as the US has been an utterly unreliable and unscrupulous interlocutor. The Islamabad talks on Saturday lasting …
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The folly of India’s dalliance with Israel stands exposed
US Vice President JD Vance (R) met with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi (L), Washington, February 27, 2026 Any longtime observer of the US-Iran hostility would know that appearances can be deceptive diplomacy. Over time, one gets to read the tea leaves with reasonable success with the help of intuitive cognition that gets sharpened out …
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NATO’s mega spending pleases Trump
A large-scale NATO military exercise earlier this year. Credit…Davide Monteleone for The New York Times Viewed through the Cold War prism, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s decision at its recent summit meeting at the Hague to boost the defence spending by member countries to 5 percent of national income may appear to a naive onlooker as …
Middle East in Crisis – 7
Funeral ceremony for military commanders and nuclear scientists martyred during Israel’s 12-day war, Tehran, June 28, 2025 Trump flip-flops on Iran, again. Why? The US President Donald Trump’s latest Truth Social post yesterday on Iran nuclear issue reads as follows: “Tell phony Democrat Senator Chris Coons that I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama, …
US, Iran take a leap forward in trust building
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian (C) at an exhibition “National Day of Nuclear Technology”, Tehran, April 9, 2025 With the foreplay over and US-Iranian talks commencing in Muscat on Saturday, a constructive engagement has begun in right earnestness. The sure sign of it is that Iran’s currency rose nearly 6 percent on Sunday. The Tehran bazaar, …
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Steve Witkoff’s Iran mission holds seamless possibilities
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s senior aide on Russia negotiations, is expected to kickstart talks with Tehran (File photo) The rubric of the US-Iranian talks slated for Saturday in Muscat turned into a vanity fair of sorts — whether the talks should be called ‘indirect’ or ‘direct’. The US President Donald Trump sought direct talks and …
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Trump’s ingenuity vis-à-vis Russia, Iran
US President Donald Trump (L) disclosed that he has addressed a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) suggesting talks on the nuclear issue, Washington, March 5, 2025 Through the past three year period, Moscow claimed that it faced an existential threat from the US-led proxy war in Ukraine. But in the past …
Israel’s ‘zugzwang’ moment with Iran
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , Tehran (Undated file photo) A senior US official told Washington Post that the toned-down early morning Israeli strike Saturday on military targets in Iran was a “proportional strike,” which “was moderate enough to quiet the conflict without provoking Iran into a counterattack.” However, …