... associations in order to implement the [sic] Russia’s Collective Security Concept for the Persian Gulf Region, viewing the implementation of this initiative as an important step toward a sustainable and comprehensive normalization of the situation in the Middle East.”[
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Russian-Iranian Relations
Igor Matveev:
Settling the Syrian Conflict Amid the Ukrainian Crisis: Political Economy Perspective
One of the most notable repercussions of the crisis in Eastern Europe has been the strengthening of the Russian-Iranian partnership. Over the last year, there has been a visible ...
The goal of the round table was to discuss the dynamics of quadrilateral cooperation in the context of regional trends in the Middle East. The meeting was attended by leading experts from Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria
On October 18, 2023, a closed round table “Cooperation between Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria in the Context of Regional Dynamics” was held. Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in cooperation with Institute for Iran & Eurasia studies ...
... to make some concessions. This will require the efforts of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps to intervene when ordered.
Thus,... ... influence of regional power struggles on unresolved conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Libya. In many ways, these dynamics are ... ... into one another. However, evidence of increased contact with Russia by countries like Egypt and Jordan should be taken in the ... ... “long-awaited for the deal of the century", this would push many Middle Eastern countries which have no peace deal with Israel to ...
...
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”
First of all, it’s only the first meeting, so it will take time to see how the discussions develop and it is still premature ...
... for bilateral negotiations on different vectors or they are being used occasionally, the participants of the negotiators touched upon the issues of civil conflicts in Ukraine and Venezuela, combined with an increasing wave of problems that aggravate Russia-the US relations.
However, no matter how varied the range of issues was, the Middle East content prevailed. Namely, Iran’s policy and its role in the region, especially in the Syrian conflict. It was Netanyahu who proposed to hold such consultations, and this fact predetermined the focus on Iran, that has always been considered in Israel as an “existential threat”. Fears of this kind only intensified as Iran, after the ...
Iran in the Middle East: Regional Spoiler or Stakeholder?
Iran’s critical role in shaping the ... ... security agenda of the Middle East is indisputable. No matter what we discuss — the Syrian settlement, state-building in Iraq, civil war in Yemen or political dynamics... ... than it is part of the solution. Of course, Iran’s friends and partners, including Russia, argue the opposite. All these disagreements notwithstanding, the broad international...
... for everything there to stabilize. Judging by conversations with Syrians, at least half of the population would vote for Bashar ... ... come to terms either way – I’m hoping this can be done with Russia’s mediation. I don’t believe in US mediation because ... ... that under his rule Libya was the most prosperous country in the Middle East and North Africa. Given what was done to the Libyan ... ... Libyan regime.
Third, it is necessary to avoid a conflict with Iran as far as this is possible. Israel’s stubborn attempts to ...
... respective commitments; the conclusion made in Moscow was that instead of trying to engage with the West in Syria and beyond, Russia should focus on building a “coalition of the willing” from regional actors interested in reaching a ceasefire in Syria.
Trying to forge an alliance of regional actors, Moscow counted on the major comparative advantage that distinguished Russia from other main out of area powers involved in Middle East crises — it enjoyed good relations with practically all local players — Sunnis and Shias, Iran and Arab states of the Gulf, Israelis and Palestinians, Turks and Kurds, and so on. The Russian regional activism was also inadvertently encouraged by the US Trump Administration that could not decide on its approach to either Syria or to the regional ...
Today Syrian armed forces lack discipline, centralization, technical ... ... system and its ability to survive. This is especially true in the Middle East where the
role of the military
(see the research of ... ... resorted to using foreign Shiite militia sponsored primarily by Iran: Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Liwa al-Zulfikar and Abu Fadl al-Abbas,... ... Excessive Iranian presence in Syria irritates Israel, the US, Turkey, Russia, and even Damascus itself. Being weak and with no foreign ...
... in light of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Instead, Russia decided to rely on those regional powers which had actual influence on the situation in Syria. This led, in late 2016, to the proposal of the Astana format of Syrian negotiations, with Russia, Turkey and Iran acting as guarantors. The process began at the same time that Aleppo returned to the full control of the Syrian government forces. Given these developments in the Middle East, at the theoretical level, Russian researchers concluded that with the decrease in the role of the U.S., the era of the unipolar world is ending and a world with elements of poly-centricity is emerging [
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All the parties involved in ...