Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani repeated an earlier threat to block ships from leaving the Persian Gulf if the U.S. government continues to seek to block Iranian oil exports. Rouhani’s comments came a day after the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf on Monday in an apparent “show of force,”…
While contemporary disputes between Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to permeate the consciousness of regional observers as well as international peace keepers, the reality is that it is an 1893 colonial era agreement that continues to prevent a genuine sense of trust and transparency from being achieved between Kabul and Islamabad. While the modern disputes between…
A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists…
The establishment of a financial consortium and joint working group between the railway administrations of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan could one day lead to the creation of a Russia-Pakistan (RuPak) railway via Central Asia that would complement the Indo-Iranian North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) to Russia but also potentially replace it in the event…
The US Special Representative for Syria hinted at an interesting idea during a press conference Monday afternoon when he answered a question about when American troops might finally leave Syria by reminding the attendees that the US was “present not in northern Iraq but over northern Iraq in Operation Northern Watch for 13 years”, suggesting…
The suicide bombing that just took place in Iran’s southeastern port of Chabahar was more than likely caused by blowback from the joint US-Indian Hybrid War on CPEC, in which case Tehran would do well to reconsider its strategic partnership with New Delhi and ask itself whether it’s worth facilitating the country’s entrance into Central…
