..., Germany, Sweden, China, and India took part in the discussion. The discussion focused on the attempts of the leadership of Iraq to mediate in negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as the potential impact of the change of power in Afghanistan on the balance of power in the region and the prospects for strengthening security in the Middle East.
Irina Zvyagelskaya, RIAC Member, Head of the Center for the Middle East Studies at RAS IMEMO, Professor of the Department ...
... with the inclusion of the IRGC in the list of terrorist organizations in 2019. In response to this, in April 2019, Supreme National Security Council also officially recognized United States Central Command (CENTCOM—responsible for operations in the Middle East) as a terrorist organization and after the assassination of Soleimani, the Iranian parliament voted to recognize Pentagon as a terrorist structure.
Regional dimension. Iraq: between a rock and a hard place
For the Americans, the situation in Iraq was aggravated by the fact that they killed not only K. Soleimani, but also about ten Iraqis. Among them there were the Iraqi deputy commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces ...
... a springboard for further sanctions on Tehran and Iran would probably consider future moves using its proxy agents similar to Abqaiq refinery attack in Aramco.
Political instability will continue to hit the Middle East region. While the protests in Iraq and Lebanon will continue to achieve their goals with international support. Many demonstrations will be fuelled in other Middle Eastern states starting from Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, and some Gulf nations. As pro-Iran forces control Iraq and Lebanon, Tehran is likely to persuade its allies to make some concessions. This will require the efforts of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps to intervene when ordered....
... Policy (EUREN)
meeting
, Andrea Dessì,
Senior Fellow within IAI's Mediterranean and Middle East Program, who spoke at the event, discussed with the RIAC Editorial Team... ... he expects from the Syrian constitution talks, how the U.S. is exerting pressure on Iran via sanctions and what the EU and Russia have in common when it comes to the Middle... ... stable and predictable foreign policy towards the region.
On October 26, 2019, the Iraqi-born leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi...
... Transport Corridor running through Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran and into India with the Belt and Road Initiative could become an element of strategic Russia–China cooperation.
Russia and China may both be interested in gaining continental access to the Middle East using the territories and infrastructure of Iran and Iraq in order to strengthen their influence in the Arab Mashreq sub-region, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. The countries in the region may also be interested in this, as diversifying international relations will allow them to stabilise political ...
As the three-year campaign to forcefully remove the Islamic State from Iraqi borders appears to have shifted toward Baghdad’s favor, perennial issues tied ... ... opposition from the central government in Baghdad as well as the neighboring states of Iran and Turkey who have expressed concerns that independence could inspire separatist... ... this context, Moscow assumes a favored position to leverage its expanding ties in the Middle East and to serve as a mediator between Erbil, Baghdad, as well as its regional...
... the global war on terrorism? Will the Islamic State movement really be destroyed in Iraq and Syria? Or will it simply drift like a nomad to other regions, into the Russian... ... major and regional powers of the spread of terrorist activities throughout the ‘wider Middle East’, with periodic attacks in countries throughout much of the world? How... ... with such a scenario?
The Question of Qatar
As the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran intensifies throughout the ‘wider Middle East,’ U.S. and Russian mediation...
... of Saddam Hussein gave a signal to Shiite communities and groups in other countries. Hezbollah became much more active in Lebanon. The defeat of Iraqi military machine and the new balance of political forces in Iraq have led to the consolidating of Iran's role in Iraq, in the Gulf and beyond, of its claim to leadership in the Middle East and in the Muslim world. Even more obvious was the Iranian-Saudi rivalry. Especially clear it has been manifested in Yemen.
Along with heightened Shiite-Sunni contradictions the situation was also marked by a deep split in the Sunni camp. ...
... 2014. Yes, the Kurds have pushed the enemy away from their Iraqi capital of Erbil and won the gruelling battle for Kobani, and Iraqi government troops have stopped the offensive with Iran’s help. But the terrorists are still in control of a vast area. The opponents of ISIS display staunchness when fighting ... ... were preaching Christianity (
Egypt responded
by launching air strikes on ISIS positions in Libya).
So this latest war in the Middle East looks set to continue for a long time. The air campaign is likely to expand in 2015: it is no coincidence that the ...
... positions of his friends, and alienate all neutrals while he was gradually winning the war, and at a time when UN chemical inspectors were in Damascus? The sceptic observer cannot help but remember the false intelligence on which the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was founded; Saddam Hussein did not in fact possess weapons of mass destruction. The parallel is inescapable. In May, Carla Del Ponte, leading member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, asserted that there ...
