... it has attracted, but also in terms of the staggering variety of foreign troops officially and unofficially operating on Syrian territory. This comes at a time when the long-term regional role of key players such as the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, remains up in the air. This report aims to remedy this communication lacuna by furnishing readers with Russian and GCC perspectives on the issue, delivered by researchers specializing in Gulf strategic issues.
Introduction
The Syrian conflict continues ...
... think in the upcoming few days or weeks Iraq will be forced to ask Russia to launch airstrikes and that depends on their success in Syria,” said Hakim al-Zamili, who chairs Iraq’s parliamentary committee on defense and security.
Source:
IRAN DAILY
October 2015
1. Introduction
In July 2015, the P5 + 1 countries reached a deal on the Iranian nuclear program and on the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Iran. This important development in Middle Eastern strategy led to extensive commentary from many different stakeholders, including the governments of the United States, Israel,...
... been the Assad regime: though secular in ideology (Ba'athist), it is headed by Arab Alawite (a sect of Shiite Islam that is a small minority in Syria) Bashar al-Assad and is controlled mainly by Alawate Shiites. It is backed by Shiite Persian Iranians and the Arab Shiite Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Sunni Muslims, in general, do not like Shiites, and that is an understatement; many Sunnis do not even consider Shiites to be Muslims. That is why so much money from rich Gulf countries like Saudi ...
... broad statements about the end of the era of high oil prices and the transition to fundamentally new types of energy.
This anxiety has chiefly been caused by the numerous unexpected events in July and August, which saw the lifting of sanctions against Iran, disappointment in the pace of growth in the Chinese economy, the situation in the Middle East, and OPEC member countries’ policy. Meanwhile, the oil price is a key factor determining the economic development of many countries, including Russia,...
Khlopkov:
Mr. Ryabkov, welcome, and thank you very much for joining us despite your busy schedule. The Iranian nuclear issue has been one of the central topics of CENESS research for many years. Over the past five years we have organized 22 events in Moscow focusing on the Iranian nuclear program; this is the 23rd. There have also been five workshops in ...
... Trade Area (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a recent brainchild of Russian foreign policy. We met with Alexander Knyazev, Senior Research Fellow at the RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, to discuss how Moscow can combine cooperation with Iran with its Eurasian integration efforts.
Why was it Tehran and not Moscow that launched the Iran-EEU FTA initiative?
I can see two reasons. First of all, for Russia and other EEU states, Iran is significantly underestimated as a partner. Tehran is ...
Introduction
In May 2015, the Russian government removed political and legal barriers to the sale of the S-300 missile system to Iran, paving the way for a commercial agreement and subsequent delivery. This highly controversial decision led to extensive commentary from many different stakeholders, including the governments of the US, Israel, Iran, and the Gulf Cooperation Council ...
... intervention. Qaddafi, alone and isolated and ruling over a far smaller population, was a relatively easy target. Compared to Qaddafi’s regime, Assad’s military was much stronger and, unlike Qaddafi’s, had strong patrons in Russia and Iran who would complicate and increase the costs of any Western intervention and made the prospects of any success for the Syrian people on their own quite dim.
Some powers talked of intervening in Syria, but with the U.S. signaling no appetite for direct ...
... increased output by about 1.5mln bbl per day since February, an amount equal to year’s increase in global demand. Russia also stepped up its daily production to 10.713mln bbl setting a post-Soviet output record.
Once the energy sanctions against Iran are lifted the country’s goal will be to empty existing storage facilities to revitalize the cash-strapped economy.
Now that a nuclear deal has been reached the level to which Iran’s oil production will grow causes most concerns among ...
