... be an overstatement to say that a lot of what is happening now would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago.
The greatest of these changes is the China-mediated rapprochement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Given that these countries are regional “centers of power”, their new and improved relations may help reduce regional tensions in certain countries like Yemen.
Another significant factor that is driving the shifts in Middle Eastern state alignments ...
... advantage of the chaotic situation and release their comrades-in-arms from prisons, which are now under the control of the Syrian Kurds. In January of 2022, ISIS militants already attempted to do so; the al-Sinaa prison in northeast Syria was attacked and ... ... well as extra-regional powers, negatively view Turkey’s plans for conducting a military operation in Syria. In July of 2022, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned Recep Erdogan against an attack on Syria, as it would harm not only Syria, but also ...
RIAC and IRAS Working Paper #59/2020
RIAC and the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies Working Paper #59/2020
This paper aims to analyze the pivotal points of the Middle Eastern crises and to which extent the interests of Moscow and Tehran overlap or contradict each other. Some of the key issues of the political situation ...
... territories controlled by Erbil in September 2017 put Baghdad and Prime Minister al-Abadi personally in an awkward position before the 2018 election and lent strength to their political opponents.
Similar to the fight against ISIS, the United States and Iran sided with the central government. This led Baghdad to carry out a military operation to restore sovereignty and even regain control over the rich oil fields of Kirkuk. This loss for Kurds – meaning a failure of the referendum – revealed a rift between the two major forces of Iraqi Kurdistan: the Barzani and Talabani clans (the latter was experiencing division itself after the death of former President of Iraq Jalal Talabani)....
... regional powers. Iran is clearly exploring various options for changing its policies towards Iraq by making them more flexible and seeking support and compromise with those Iraqi forces that the local population does not consider to be direct protégés of Iran. We are talking specifically about the Kurds and the Saairun bloc here, especially since Muqtada al-Sadr cannot be regarded as an anti-Iranian figure, even though he has criticized that country’s actions in the past.
It is also apparent that the events in Iraq objectively weaken the positions ...
....S. support for the Syrian Kurdish polity and long-term plans to retain its own limited military presence in northern Syria are already straining relations between Ankara and Washington. Reluctance to make a compromise on the issue of PYD-led Syrian Kurds may prompt Turkey to seriously consider
military and political cooperation
with Iran in Syria and Iraq.
Yuri Barmin:
The Syrian Congress in Sochi: Too Much Too Soon
However, it is related political issues that may strain relations between the two major powers in the region. Iran's recent advancements in close geographical proximity ...
... terrorism.
In this context, it has become strategically important to
show support for the actions of Turkey
, rather than defend the Kurds. The decision was made in part as a response to the tensions between the United States and Turkey that have been caused ... ... “harbouring” Fethullah Gülen. And we cannot ignore the fact that Turkey recently held talks with Russia and Iran, allies that support the Bashar al-Assad regime. The words of Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yıldırım, who called for ...
... more reason for normalizing relations with Russia. The Turkish government forged mutually beneficial relations with the Iraqi Kurds. Since 2014, Erbil has been
pumping
oil from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey (and on to Israel) via a pipeline, while
the market ... ...
Turkey into the Sunni camp in the region, where the shots are called by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and distanced it from Shiite Iran, another extremely important partner.
Normalization of Relations and the Interests of All the Sides
All this time the debate ...
