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  • 6 Sep 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade
    • Iran
    • Yemen

    Iran’s shadow hand in Houthi Red Sea attacks

    Jonathan Campbell-James
    How the Houthis and Iranians work together isn’t absolutely clear – but stopping the threat to shipping requires more than shooting down incoming missiles and extends to disrupting an intelligence and targeting system.
  • 7 Aug 2024
    • China
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Trade
    • Iran
    • Israel

    China’s high-stakes diplomacy: Managing Middle Eastern turmoil

    Joseph Webster
    Will Beijing exert more effort to calm the region and protect its economic interests and credibility?
  • 23 Jul 2024
    • Iran

    The curious international silence about Iran’s new reformist president

    Kourosh Ziabari
    A surprise victory in elections hasn’t raised international hopes of change, even if that was the message Iranian people intended to send at the ballot box.
  • 18 Jul 2024
    • Iran

    IRGC Navy flexes its long-range threat capability

    Jonathan Campbell-James
    Converted container ships might not last long in a hot war, but could vastly expand the range of trouble that Iran seeks to stir.
  • 8 Jul 2024
    • Japan
    • Diplomacy
    • Iran

    Diplomacy at a funeral

    Tim Hamer
    Recent deaths of world leaders have highlighted that international relations can take place at unexpected venues.
  • 2 Jul 2024
    • North Korea
    • France
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Human rights
    • Iran
    • Israel

    Pariah states and the Olympic Games

    Gabriela Bernal
    With the Paris Games only weeks away, the controversy around athletes from “rogue” countries is set to intensify.
  • 21 May 2024
    • Iran

    Iran: Consequences of the vacant presidency

    Naysan Rafati , Ali Vaez
    While continuity in foreign policy is likely, tension between state and society could be further exacerbated by competition within the conservative camp.
  • 30 Apr 2024
    • North Korea
    • Iran

    Trouble together: How North Korea sees its growing interests with Iran

    Gabriela Bernal
    Global isolation is building ties that bind. Better to engage and take away the incentive.  
  • 17 Apr 2024
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Iran
    • Israel

    Iran-Israel: The escalation calculus

    Lydia Khalil
    Iran’s weekend strike against Israel was thwarted, but how should we calculate its impacts?
  • 5 Apr 2024
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Terrorism
    • Iran

    Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A spate of deadly insurgent attacks on Chinese nationals sends a message about vulnerability.
  • 8 Feb 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Al Qaeda
    • Emerging Threats
    • Islamic State
    • Maritime Security
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Terrorism
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Lebanon
    • Yemen

    Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry

    Ved Shinde
    The might of the US military no longer guarantees world order. There are new actors and new ecosystems in play.
  • 30 Jan 2024
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Iran
    • Yemen

    An Iranian trap in Yemen

    Ben Scott
    Washington was wise to delay its retaliation against the Houthis given the regional history with unintended consequences.
  • 20 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Israel
    • Lebanon
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Syria
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen

    The war in Gaza has not destroyed normalisation … for now

    Lydia Khalil
    Despite deepening hostilities, common strategic interests still bind Israel and most of the Arab states.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • India
    • India's Economy
    • Europe
    • Europe's Economy
    • Trade
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • United States
    • US Economy

    History repeats: A new (old) economic corridor emerges

    Ved Shinde
    Renewed connectivity between India, the Middle East and Europe shows how maps are temporary, but geography persists.
  • 26 Sep 2023
    • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Türkiye
    • United Arab Emirates

    Israel and Saudi Arabia: Finally, a New Middle East?

    Dave Sharma
    A deal with the Middle East’s two most significant powers could transform the volatile region, but the stakes are high.
  • 9 Aug 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Resource security
    • Technology
    • Iran

    Iran’s lithium lode: A potential strategic game-changer

    Marina Yue Zhang
    Australia might find itself on a political and economic tightrope as China looks to diversify its options for the new oil of our times.
  • 31 May 2023
    • Iran

    Reviving hope in Iran: Why the “Woman Life Freedom” movement lives on

    Laetitia Nanquette
    Iran is again undergoing a revolution and joy, once sparked, will not be extinguished.
  • 23 May 2023
    • Iran

    Even under sanctions, Iran is expanding a network of friends

    Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
    Membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation offers Iran the chance to consolidate markets.  
  • 15 May 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    China to the rescue, with peace plans for Saudi, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan – up to a point

    Henry Storey
    These diplomatic gambits all carry a message. But conflict resolution isn’t necessarily the main one.
  • 28 Mar 2023
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia

    China trumpets the Saudi-Iran deal, yet much credit goes to Pakistan 

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    A little-heralded meeting in Islamabad set the stage for two arch rivals to set aside differences.
  • 10 Mar 2023
    • Iran

    A tenuous tourniquet: Iran’s nuclear program

    Ali Vaez , Naysan Rafati
    Monitoring alone cannot overcome the reality that Iran’s capability remains potent, and a headache for the West.
  • 4 Jan 2023
    • Iran

    The personal is political: Iran protests for a normal life

    Shadi Rouhshahbaz
    The regime has trampled not only women’s rights. An array of grievances makes everyone a leader of this struggle.
  • 29 Nov 2022
    • Iran

    Iran: Deep state, shallow protests

    Rodger Shanahan
    In a case of better the devil you know, potential for the country’s current unrest to be regime-changing is low.
  • 29 Sep 2022
    • Iran

    Iran protests: the more things change …

    Rodger Shanahan
    Iranians see demonstrations as a chance to register their voice – but that doesn’t mean the regime is about to topple.
  • 27 Sep 2022
    • Iran

    After Mahsa Amini’s death, Iran protests signal a generational shift

    Paymon Azmoudeh
    The regime is struggling to contain demonstrations that demand nothing less than an end to the Islamic Republic.
  • 6 May 2022
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran

    Iran applies its own maximum pressure in nuclear talks

    Prabhat Jawla
    With negotiations seemingly deadlocked, the Biden administration’s hopes for a major foreign policy win appear dashed.
  • 28 Jan 2022
    • Iran

    Iran banks on Beijing and Moscow, inviting painful historic parallels

    Paymon Azmoudeh
    A “Look East” policy favoured by hardliners in Tehran appears out of step with local sentiment and past experience.
  • 17 Sep 2021
    • China's Military
    • China
    • Iran
    • Pakistan
    • Russia

    China – a lonely superpower

    Henry Storey
    Despite many countries having issues with the West, China has few obvious alliance candidates.
  • 13 Sep 2021
    • United States
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Energy
    • Lebanon

    Iran’s energy diplomacy

    Rodger Shanahan
    Tehran knows its hand when it comes to playing the energy card across the region.
  • 4 Jun 2021
    • Iran

    Narrowing the field in Iran’s election

    Rodger Shanahan
    For one name on the ballot papers, the presidency may be a stepping stone to greater office.
  • 13 Apr 2021
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran
    • Israel

    Iran-US-Israel: Boxing out of the shadows

    Rodger Shanahan
    Gradual progress in talks to revive the nuclear deal may be dealt a blow by a series of “grey-zone” attacks.
  • 15 Mar 2021
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Iran
    • Israel

    An oil spill nobody owns

    Rodger Shanahan
    A clandestine operation? Environmental terrorism? Israel and Iran both deny responsibility for a mysterious event.
  • 12 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Iran

    Iran: Could Australia’s hostage diplomacy have been better?

    Ian Parmeter
    A public campaign by Australia’s government to try to shame Iran into freeing Kylie Moore-Gilbert would not have worked.
  • 1 Feb 2021
    • Indonesia
    • Iran

    Why Indonesia seizing an Iranian tanker is purely over domestic law

    Aristyo Rizka Darmawan
    Jakarta’s control over archipelagic waters imposes special rights and responsibilities.
  • 20 Jan 2021
    • United States
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Iran

    Iran nuclear deal: Revenge of the diplomats

    Rodger Shanahan
    Re-negotiations with Tehran will be a fascinating guide to how a Biden administration deals with Middle East challenges.
  • 2 Dec 2020
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism
    • Iran

    Al-Qaeda: The core problem

    Lydia Khalil
    The killing of senior terrorist Abu Mohammed al-Masri on a Tehran street raises questions about al-Qaeda’s ties to Iran.
  • 30 Nov 2020
    • Iran's Nuclear Program
    • Iran
    • Israel

    The fallout of assassinating Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

    Bob Bowker
    The killing of the head of the Iranian nuclear program may make it even harder to revive the nuclear deal.
  • 6 Nov 2020
    • Iran
    • Sex and Gender

    Iran’s year of reckoning

    Melissa George
    The #MeToo movement is gaining traction in Iran, but its impact is unlikely to alter the status quo in the short term.
  • 16 Oct 2020
    • Iran
    • Russia
    • Türkiye
    • Israel
    • Caucasus

    The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Increasingly deadly and destabilising  

    Marianne Hanson
    An eruption of bitter fighting in a seemingly intractable conflict is aggravating wider regional tensions.
  • 14 Oct 2020
    • Sustainability
    • Afghanistan
    • Iran
    • Climate change

    Afghanistan and Iran: From water treaty to water dispute

    Said Hashmat Sadat , Nasrat Sayed
    A dam near completion on the Helmand River in Afghanistan is at the centre of a disagreement over water rights.
  • 8 Oct 2020
    • Middle East
    • Iran

    Iran’s declining regional influence

    Shahram Akbarzadeh , Zahid Shahab Ahmed , William Gourlay
    Tehran capitalised on US mistakes in the Middle East, but its proxy wars and consistently aggressive façade have a cost.
  • 2 Sep 2020
    • China
    • Iran
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    A China-Iran bilateral deal: Costs all around

    Jeffrey Payne
    Beijing sees an opportunity in Tehran’s international isolation – but may not realise the tangle it is entering.
  • 28 Aug 2020
    • Europe
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Iran

    A diplomatic breakdown over “snapback” tests the UN

    Richard Gowan
    Dispute over a US call for pre-2015 Iran sanctions has pushed the Security Council to its limit. It’s been there before.
  • 21 Aug 2020
    • Middle East
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • China
    • Iran
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Israel

    Hidden seams in the UAE-Israel deal

    Ben Scott
    It’s all about Iran, right? Actually, the agreement has more to do with managing the US and China.
  • 17 Aug 2020
    • Middle East
    • United States
    • Iran
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Türkiye
    • Qatar
    • Israel

    The essence of timing in politics

    Rodger Shanahan
    The UAE earned goodwill for a deal with Israel, but the US is still struggling to win backers for its hard line on Iran.
  • 28 Jul 2020
    • Human rights
    • United Nations
    • War Crimes
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • United States

    UN report on US killing of Iranian commander misses the mark

    Alison Pert
    The drone strike on Qasem Soleimani was unlawful, the report finds, but weak analysis undercuts its conclusion.
  • 9 Jul 2020
    • Middle East
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Yemen
    • Türkiye
    • Israel

    Cashing in the chips at the Trump casino

    Rodger Shanahan
    The prospect of a Biden administration has pro-US leaders in the Middle East seeking to keep their political “winnings”.
  • 11 May 2020
    • Iran
    • Coronavirus

    Denials, delays, and conspiracy theories: Iran’s Covid mismanagement

    Mahmoud Pargoo
    The crisis reveals fundamental failures: a politicised health system, multiple power centres, and no respect for law.
  • 18 Mar 2020
    • United States
    • Iran
    • Coronavirus

    Iran: Sanctions vs sympathy

    Rodger Shanahan
    The US policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran will look increasingly untenable as the coronavirus pandemic escalates.
  • 28 Jan 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Iran

    Q&A: Jason Rezaian on Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s nightmare in Iran

    Daniel Flitton
    The American journalist – also once a prisoner in Tehran – wants Australia to push to end Iran’s state hostage-taking.
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