History may have registered stranger geoeconomic bedfellows. But in the current OPEC-plus world, the rules of the game are now de facto controlled by OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia in concert with non-OPEC Russia. Russia may even join OPEC as an associate member. There’s a key clause in the bilateral Riyadh-Moscow agreement stipulating that joint interventions…
As TV channel Al Arabiya has reported, Jordan withdrew its ambassador Abdullah Suleyman Abu Rumman from Iran. Amman presented a very interesting interpretation to justify its actions. This decision was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom in relation Tehran’s policy of interference into affairs of the countries of the Middle East. It…
Pakistan’s war on terrorism: A misunderstood history At an international level, Pakistan’s role in fighting terrorism continues to be not only misunderstood but totally misrepresented. As a perennial victim of both terrorist spillover from the instability of neighbouring Afghanistan and provocations on its soil orchestrated by foreign intelligence agencies including India’s RAW, Pakistan has been…
A second wave of mass protests against the government, in the space of the first six months of this year, is taking place in Iran. The first flare-up occurred at the beginning of January, when hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of large cities, attacking police stations and local municipal buildings. At…
Iran’s latest wave of protests against the suffering state of the economy and the plunging value of the rial appeared to have come and gone by Wednesday, as crowds dissipated and businesses opened up shop following a two-day strike. While clashes between security forces and protesters during the protests were far from widespread, the very…
Iranian hard-liners are euphoric as President Hassan Rouhani is under increasing pressure from public opinion and losing credibility among voters, given the dire condition of the economy. But this state did not emerge overnight; rather, it is the result of a combination of US President Donald Trump’s policies and the well-devised plans of Rouhani’s staunch opponents…
