... Qasem Soleimani
. Was it the recent mob attack on the US Embassy in Bagdad? Was it the continuous pressure on the President by many US allies in the region – from Saudi Arabia to Israel – urging the White House to take more steps to stop the growing Iranian presence in the Middle East? Was it a flood of advice from self-proclaimed experts on Iran in Washington, who argued that elimination of Soleimani would shift the balance of powers in Tehran in favor of ‘reformers’ by depriving ‘hardliners’ ...
Origins of U.S. and Iranian Influence on the Iraqi Political Elite
Three major events transformed Iraq and the Middle East: the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988 and the Gulf War of 1991, the latter of which led to a change in the domestic ...
... which later merged to form ISIS.
Initially, the military and the police, which Iraq needed both to develop its statehood and to fight terrorism, were being built under the auspices of the United States. The process had essentially been a failure until Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) entered Iraq and took over. The IRGC succeeded in creating the combat-ready and highly motivated Shiite al-Hashd ash-Sha’bi (Popular Mobilization Forces, PMF). It was the PMF alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga ...
... against companies in the foreign jurisdiction. Nevertheless, the US authorities are increasingly resorting to secondary sanctions. The risks of secondary sanctions are linked to the restrictions imposed on North Korea and some other states, for instance, Iran.
Second, the growing competition between the United States and China is making Beijing a potential target of US sanctions. In the late 1980s, the US and European countries imposed a large package of restrictions on China, but by the early 2000s ...
... These are the questions addressed in the RAND think tank's recent
report
"
Fighting Shadows in the Dark. Understanding and Countering Coercion in Cyberspace
". The authors discuss cyber operations conducted by four states — Russia, China, Iran and North Korea — and try to determine whether those activities amounted to cyber coercion.
Starting with the study findings, we will highlight the following points. Cyber operations intended to coerce are a small subset of overall cyber operations ...
...
meeting
, Andrea Dessì,
Senior Fellow within IAI's Mediterranean and Middle East Program, who spoke at the event, discussed with the RIAC Editorial Team which outcomes 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 East.
What key takeaways do you expect from the Syrian constitution talks in Geneva?
RIAC Report “Squaring the Circle: Russian and European Views on Syrian Reconstruction”
...
Vietnam, Iran, Singapore, Serbia… What’s Next?
The EAEU–Singapore Free Trade Agreement was signed at the EAEU summit in Yerevan on October 1, 2019. The document constituted the first step towards the creation of a comprehensive free trade zone between ...
... pointedly reduce its military presence in Yemen. The south was transferred to the control of the pro-UAE STC. This allowed the United Arab Emirates to solve several problems with one move: first, it reduced tensions in the country’s relations with Iran, which finances the Houthis; and second, it relieved the United Arab Emirates of its responsibility for the civilian casualties inflicted by the coalition’s airstrikes. The leadership of the United Arab Emirates try to present these actions as ...
... International Relations (MGIMO University). In late September, Mamedov was in Beirut to participate in a Carnegie workshop on Syria, during which Diwan interviewed him to get his perspective on Russia’s policy in Syria, its perception of the Israeli-Iranian rivalry, and its attitude toward President Bashar al-Assad’s remaining in power.
What are Russia’s ultimate objectives in Syria?
First of all, when we talk about the Russian policies in Syria, we should keep in mind that Syria is not a priority ...
Repeated attacks and growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran put a question mark over the future of Middle Eastern exports
The attack on the infrastructure facilities of Saudi Arabia’s national oil and gas company
Saudi Aramco
is the largest interruption of energy supplies in history (in absolute terms)....
