The agreement between the Central Banks of Russia and Iran formally signed on 29 January connecting their interbank transfer systems is a game-changer in more ways than one. Technically, from now on 52 Iranian banks already using SEPAM, Iran’s interbank telecom system, are connecting with 106 banks using SPFS, Russia’s equivalent to the western banking…
The Wall Street Journal reported from Tehran on Wednesday that “a lethal crackdown and an ailing economy have quieted anti-government street demonstrations … organised protests have largely tapered off.” The paradox is, this interpretation is widely applicable in the contemporary world situation, including many G7 countries. How can one pretend there are no “protestor grievances”…
A recent survey of Iranian public opinion suggests that the lack of confidence in a Middle Eastern regime is starkest in Iran, although crisis-wracked Lebanon, Egypt, or Syria may compete. Surveyed in late December by the Netherlands-based Gamaan Institute, an overwhelming majority of the 158,000 respondents in Iran and 42,000 Diaspora Iranians in 130 other…
Relations between Iran and Europe, particularly the three European giants France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (E3), which signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran in 2015, are steadily deteriorating due to the hostile actions of the Europeans in recent months. The Europeans have increased diplomatic pressure on Iran since last September,…
Iran and Saudi Arabia stand out among many Middle Eastern states in terms of their status, historical content, natural resources, and scale. The regional security of the Middle East is also affected by the state of relations between Tehran and Riyadh, because each of them represents one of the Islamic world’s currents (Shiism and Sunnism),…
In spite of an overwhelming flood of disinformation coming from the Western mainstream media and governments, there continue to be obviously widely divergent views on the current war between Ukraine and Russia. The official and media supported narrative is that Moscow attacked its neighbor in violation of “rule based” principles of international relations, whereby an…
