Iran

The recently announced China-Iran deal, while a pact between two countries, is certainly an event of global significance, which will have far-reaching implications. Coming at a time when we already have a ‘US vs. rest of the world’ situation in the UNSC over arm embargoes on Iran, the fact that China, a super power already entangled in a ‘trade-war’ with the US…

In the life of any nation there are painful dates that cause the entire nation to grieve, despite the long passage of time. This kind of sorrowful, and bloody, date for the Iranian people is 3 July 1988, when the USS Vincennes guided missile cruiser from the US navy purposely launched a surface-to-air missile and shot down an Iranian Airbus A300B2-203 liner…

As the US presidential election draws near, the “beacon of democracy” appears to be plunging deeper and deeper into chaos, with violence, lawlessness and rights abuses reaching levels previously unseen over the past 70 years.  Ill-advised and heavy-handed actions taken by current US President Donald Trump and his administration have resulted in very serious domestic…

A new intense confrontation between Iran and the United States is expected to take place in the future. And it could very well turn into a full-on war. It is common knowledge that Tehran sent five tankers with fuel to Venezuela, and this caused quite a stir in Washington.   US media outlets have reported that Donald Trump’s administration, angered by Iran’s act of defiance…

With the US military presence in the Persian Gulf dwindling on the back of Pentagon’s recent withdrawal of troops from Saudi Arabia, an important question that the Gulf Arab states need to consider is whether they are to follow the US-imposed anti-Iranian line. For the US, Iran remains an enemy state. Accordingly, the US…

I refuse to describe Iran as a victim. It is not. It is one of the most influential and strong-minded nations on Earth. When facing mortal danger, its people unite, harden themselves and get ready to face invaders, no matter how threatening they might be. Iran is home to one of the oldest and deepest cultures in the world, and it’s precisely this culture…

According to ‘System Survival Theory’, country leaders often postulate an external enemy to create powerful distractions to hide their incompetence and/or to stay in power and maintain their regime. Behind Trump’s recent, though not unusual, threat to Iran lies the same ‘system survival’ logic. Facing extreme pressure at home due to his administration’s extreme…

In Luxembourg, Tehran scored a victory in its court case over $1.6 billion of Iranian funds that were frozen earlier at the request of the United States. In particular, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani noted that the country was able to triumph in the European Court of Justice against Washington’s attempt to block and confiscate Tehran’s assets in order to transfer…

Past two weeks saw the US officials moving from first issuing an alert to their military commanders to make plans for a retaliatory strike against Iranian targets to talking about ‘easing’ sanctions on Iran if Iran ‘wants it.’ It’s obvious that there is no reason why the Iranians wouldn’t want to see sanctions against them being eased up. Yet, Trump’s desire for…

US policy versus Iran has reached new heights of desperation and new lows in terms of undermining international law and norms. In Washington’s losing battle to maintain hegemony in the Middle East at the expense of the actual people and nations that exist there – it has resorted to high-level assassinations, unilateral strikes against targets within…

A fairly dangerous situation involving Iran has seemingly remained unchanged for some time now. Each side is waiting for its adversary to make the next move, but no one is taking any decisive actions as yet. They are, at present, equalizing their positions and evaluating pluses and minuses. In the meantime, more and more questions are arising among members…

On 3 January 2020 a drone, believed to be operated by the United States, fired a missile upon a convoy of cars departing Baghdad airport, killing at least nine persons. Amongst the victims was Major General Qassem Solemani, a high ranking Iranian general who at the time of his murder was engaged in what is accurately described as a peace mission. He was carrying documents…