Latest Articles about Iran
Shifting Sands in the Gulf: The Iran Calculus in China-Saudi Arabia Relations
The fourth joint meeting on economy and trade convened by China and Saudi Arabia in January 2010 in the Saudi capital of Riyadh came and went without much fanfare. Yet the meeting between China, the world’s second largest and fastest growing oil consumer, and Saudi... MORE
Iranian Naval Exercises Display Advancements in IRGC Armed Capabilities
On April 22, the Iranian armed forces began an annual series of military exercises over the course of three days in the strategic Strait of Hormuz region (The Great Prophet 5) (IRNA, April 23; Press TV, April 23; Mehr, April 23; Keyhan, April 23). Named... MORE
Moscow Opens the Prospect of an Iranian Arms Embargo
After the signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) in the Czech capital Prague with President, Barack Obama, last week, Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Washington for the two-day Nuclear Security Summit in a buoyant mood. Speaking in an often humorous tone at the... MORE
Political Theater or Counterterrorism? Assessing Iran’s Capture of Jundallah Leader Abdelmalek Rigi
Iranian security forces pulled off a major coup on February 23 by capturing the enigmatic militant leader Abdelmalek Rigi (Press TV [Tehran], February 23; IRNA [Tehran], February 23). The 31-year-old founder and leader of Jundallah (Soldiers of God), an ethnic Baloch nationalist group, is responsible... MORE
Turkey Maintains Objections to Tougher Measures Against Iran
Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attending the Arab League Summit in Sirte, Libya, expressed support for a proposal for a regional dialogue forum, which among other issues will seek to engage Iran.On March 27, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, proposed a... MORE
Hobson’s Choice: China’s Second Worst Option on Iran
In late February, a high-level Israeli delegation visited China in an attempt to convince Beijing to go along with sanctions against Iran. Headed by Lieutenant General (ret.) Moshe Ya'alon, vice prime minister and minister for strategic affairs and former chief of general staff of Israel's... MORE
Kata’ib Hezbollah and the Intricate Web of Iranian Military Involvement in Iraq
It is no secret that Iran’s influence runs deep in Iraq. Most Iraqi politicians with close ties to Iran, however, are wary of tarnishing their nationalist credentials by admitting that they prefer to cooperate with Iran rather than the United States, in part because of... MORE
Armenia Showcases Iran Ties, as Talks With Azerbaijan and Turkey Falter
Armenia is showcasing its close relationship with Iran at a delicate time in its negotiations with two other, less friendly neighbors: Azerbaijan and Turkey. With the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the resolution of the Karabakh conflict looking increasingly problematic, authorities in Yerevan seem to... MORE
Mystery Persists in Assassination of Iranian “Nuclear Scientist” in Tehran
The January 12 Tehran assassination by bomb blast of Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, a professor of physics at the University of Tehran, invites the prospect of new tensions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program (Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA], January 12). The assassination comes as Tehran faces the... MORE
Iran and Turkmenistan Inaugurate Gas Pipeline
On January 6 in Dauletabad, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated a pipeline that runs from that giant Turkmen gas field to Iran. The government of Turkey is also interested in that project; and Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz attending... MORE