Executive Summary As the Western world is drawn in by the recent events in the Crimea, nations on the periphery are seeing a chance to use the widening gulf between Russia and the United States/EU to further their own aims. A debate has already begun... MORE

Iran’s Navy Commander, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, announced on January 21 that Iran’s 29th fleet had left the port of Bandar Abbas for a three-month mission to the Atlantic Ocean (Press TV [Tehran], January 22). The 29th fleet consists of only two 1970s vintage British-built ships,... MORE

Thousands of Iranians were reported to have sought medical attention in November 2013 due to complaints of shortness of breath and other maladies following a spell of acid rain that blanketed parts of the southwestern province of Khuzestan. Due to the impact of the local... MORE

The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem have flown to Moscow on the same plane this week to meet their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the situation in Syria and the Geneva II peace conference due later... MORE

Fourteen border guards in the southeastern Iranian region of Saravan were assassinated and five seriously wounded on October 25 by a shadowy militant Sunni group known as Jaysh al-Adl (JA – Army of Justice) (IRNA, October 25; Mehr News, October 25). In retaliation, Iranian authorities... MORE

The interim agreement, concluded on November 24 with Iran and six world powers led by the United States, will see Tehran cap its nuclear program at a reduced capacity in exchange for relaxed international sanctions. The deal has met with strong resistance from some quarters,... MORE

In many respects, the ascendance of Hassan Rouhani to the Iranian presidency has raised optimism for the prospects of a limited rapprochement between the United States and Iran.  This is the case even as the United States and Iran stand diametrically opposed on a host... MORE

The nearly achieved breakthrough in the six-party talks in Geneva, which are focused on the Iranian nuclear program, caught Moscow by surprise and signified a serious setback for Russia’s foreign policy. President Vladimir Putin tends to believe that he is, indeed, the most influential statesman... MORE

Russia and Iran have become allies in the Syrian crisis, together providing military and financial assistance and advanced armaments that are essential to keep the regime of Bashar al-Assad in power. This increasingly close alliance has been giving more clout to those in Moscow who... MORE