Category: Middle East

Iran signed a memorandum of commitment for its permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, enhancing its role in the Eurasian chessboard and strengthening the Moscow-Beijing-Tehran axis.

Over the years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consolidated its relations with the countries of Central Asia, exploiting either the Persian common ethnic-cultural element or proposing itself as a logistic hub for the energy sector and trade corridors.

The forthcoming first Arab – China summit scheduled in Saudi Arabia confirms Beijing’s interests in the Gulf Arab monarchies and the Middle East and Riyadh’s strategy of diversifying its political and commercial partners and decreasing its dependence on the United States.

The recent phone conversation between the President of Russia and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia might be interpreted as the Kremlin’s move to counter the recent U.S. President Joe Biden’s official visit to Riyadh.

The discovery of a massive deposit of rare earth elements in Turkey might change the geopolitical dynamics in the Eurasian chessboard since Ankara might challenge China, which has had the leading role in the market until now. Furthermore, this finding might change the domestic political scenario in Turkey and quiet doubts and disappointment about the country’s economic performance.

SpecialEurasia attended the Virtual Symposium on Lifting the Siege on the city of Taiz and efforts toward building peace organised by the Embassy of Yemen in Italy to focus the attention of media, politicians and experts on the Yemen civil war and the harsh conditions the local population is experiencing.

Although Russian – Iranian ties date back to the Islamic Revolution, Moscow’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine (or special military operation as the Kremlin has always declared) and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions have strengthened the cooperation and pushed these Western adversaries together.

Over the past two months, the tension in Greek-Turkish relations has reached new heights. What triggered it seemed to have been the age-old Turkish claims concerning the continental shelf delimitation and the total demilitarisation of the Greek Islands in the Eastern Aegean.

SpecialEurasia ha pubblicato il report “Gli interessi dell’Iran nel Caucaso” scritto da Silvia Boltuc con l’obiettivo di analizzare le relazioni diplomatiche, culturali ed economiche tra Teheran e gli attori della regione caucasica e comprendere quali potrebbero essere gli sviluppi futuri alla luce delle complessità e dinamiche regionali.

The ongoing political crisis is not the only issue affecting Iraq. Fight against terrorism, extreme drought, frequent sandstorms, demonstrations against rampant corruption, and a dispute with Iraqi Kurdistan to manage the hydrocarbon fields in the north are challenging the central Government of Baghdad.

On June 15th, 2022, the 18th international meeting of Astana Peace Talks kicked off in Nur Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan. As guarantor countries, delegations from Russia, Turkey and Iran (which launched the Astana peace process in January 2017) will meet the Syrian government and opposition forces during the two-day talks.

SpecialEurasia investigated contemporary Bahrein, its energy market and media situation with Rashid Al-Hamer, the Secretary-General of the Bahrain Journalists Association, and Sara Najeeb, board member and Head of the Media Committee of the Bahrain Journalists Association.

Kurdistan is experiencing severe internal complications due to the relationship with the central government in Baghdad and the recent Turkish military operation in the region in which Ankara planned to eliminate PKK members defined by Turkish authorities as “terrorists”.

SpecialEurasia launched a new joint project called “Opinione Araba – الرأي العربي” in partnership with the Italian media agency Notizie Geopolitiche. The project aims to promote geopolitics, international relations, investment opportunities, and local dynamics related to the Arab world among the Italian audience.

Located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, the Sultanate of Oman has elaborated a strategy to establish balanced relations with regional and international actors, improve social living conditions, attract foreign direct investments (FDIs), and promote its historical identity and traditions.

During the 31st World Congress of IFJ, we discussed with Iraqi, Syrian and Yemenite representatives the situation in their countries, focusing on society, media and the impact of regional and international geopolitics.

The neighbouring Iran and Pakistan might expand their cooperation in the tourism industry to create job opportunities and support regional development in a period characterised by huge geopolitical risk in Eurasia.

Since 2003, the situation in Iraq has undergone a significant change, and the country has had to face a process of modernisation and democratisation combined with the fight against the various local terrorist organisations, primarily the Islamic State, which have undermined the local stability and represented a threat to the security of the Iraqi people.

Iran and Tajikistan marked a significant step in their bilateral relations after the meeting of the Iranian and Tajik presidents and the signing of 16 cooperation agreements which stressed Tehran’s cultural diplomacy in Central Asia and Dushanbe’s attempt to diversify its foreign partners.

In recent weeks, Great Britain has backed the nuclear deal with Iran by changing its previous positions. According to the spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the main reason is the desire to establish economic relations with Iran as soon as possible.

Due to the regional dynamics and considering its security, Israel has always adopted a domestic policy as a function of its foreign policy and vice versa. Although the external threats have changed during the decades, now and in the future, Tel Aviv will continue to adopt interlinked domestic and foreign strategies.

Recent events in the Gulf underlined that while Saudi Arabia is focusing on the al-Mahrah province on the border with Oman to ease its access to the Indian Ocean, the UAE is getting hold of the essential Yemenite islands, with the most relevant being Socotra.

In the aftermath of the events in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia, European countries are straggling in search of alternative gas imports. Turkey started a military operation in northern Iraq to ensure gas supplies from Kurdish fields.

The Western sanctions against Russia caused by the Ukraine conflict have changed the Kremlin’s foreign policy, which currently seems to be more oriented toward the Eurasian market, as the recent Iran-Russia trade conference highlighted.

While the Western world is increasingly moving away from Russian exports, Moscow and Tehran are taking measures to intensify trade and economic cooperation, as evidenced by intensive negotiations between the parties.

The Iranian nuclear deal might become the watershed in the Middle Eastern dynamics, leading to regional escalations and divisions and rising the geopolitical risk level.

The recent al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist attack against the Southern Separatist Forces in Yemen demonstrated the group’s capabilities and its possible influence in regional geopolitical dynamics and security.