Latest Articles about Iran
Would Iran Want Turkey as a Mediator for U.S.-Iranian Negotiations?
On the eve of possible talks between the United States and Iran, Ankara is encouraging Iranian leaders to seize the opportunity for peace now that a new administration that favors dialogue is in office in Washington (Today's Zaman, March 10). Turkish President Abdullah Gul went... MORE
Turkey-Iran Relations: A Trade Partnership or a Gateway for Iran to Escape International Sanctions?
While the international community has been discussing whether Iran finally has the technological capacity to produce nuclear weapons, the diplomatic traffic between Turkey and Iran has been increasing. In addition to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Turkey, nine meetings at the ministerial level were... MORE
Tensions Increase in the Gulf over Iranian Nuclear Projects
This week Sergei Kiriyenko, the chief of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom), went to the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr to announce that Russia had completed construction of Iran's first light-water, industrial, 1,000-megawatt nuclear power reactor. Kiriyenko told journalists that "The construction stage of... MORE
The Frozen S-300 Missiles Deal: A Signal to Obama or a Deal with Israel?
Iranian Defense Minister General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar visited Moscow this week to discus the purchase of sensitive weapons systems, the antiaircraft S-300PMU-1 missiles in particular. According to the daily Kommersant, the contract to sell Iran five S-300 missile divisions was signed "some time ago" and the... MORE
Balochi Nationalists Intensify Violent Rebellion in Iran
The conflict between Iranian security forces and ethnic Baloch insurgents led by the Jondallah (Soldiers of God - an obscure militant group also known as the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran) that has been raging in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan since 2003 is experiencing... MORE
Turkey and Iran Sign Accord on Natural Gas Cooperation
Ankara and Tehran signed an accord strengthening agreements on developing Iran’s gas fields and transporting Iranian gas to Europe. With the agreement, Turkey secures the operation rights for three offshore gas fields in Iran's South Pars region, off the southern gulf port of Assaluyeh. Under... MORE
Iran’s Kurdish Militants Under Pressure from Joint Turkish-Iranian Assaults
Until recently, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (Parti Jiyani Azadi Kurdistan – PJAK), an armed Kurdish separatist group active in Iran, was beginning to emerge as a genuine military irritant to Iran’s government, killing in excess of 100 Iranian security forces per year... MORE
IRAN GAINS FROM GEORGIAN CONFRONTATION
In the aftermath of the August Georgian-Russian confrontation, a new Caspian geopolitical reality is slowly emerging from the fog of war. The clash highlighted the vulnerability of Western-funded and built Caspian export pipelines, which, by transiting the Caucasus, avoided both Russian and Iranian territory. During... MORE
RUSSO-GEORGIAN WAR CREATES SECURITY DILEMMA FOR IRAN
Although the Georgian-Russian military conflict and its still uncertain aftermath may have produced no considerable change in Iran’s foreign policy, the projection of Russian power has created a new security dilemma for the Islamic Republic. Iranians certainly hope that the crisis will open new diplomatic... MORE
TEHRAN PUTS PRESSURE ON U.S. MILITARY PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA
On February 21 Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki, in Bishkek, discussing how bilateral trade and economic plans could be furthered in the future, while also exchanging views on common security issues. The latter discussion focused on the security... MORE