Iranian officials say work is intensely underway on the implementation of plan to block the country’s eastern border with Afghanistan. According to Iranian media, the commander of the Ground Forces of Iran spoke on Thursday at a ceremony in the city of Mashhad about the sealing of the country’s borders with Afghanistan. Kioumars Heydari added: “According to the measures contemplated […]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Thursday rejected the statements of the Islamic Emirate regarding the use of Pakistan’s soil against Afghanistan by Daesh, calling the remarks as “unwarranted and irresponsible.” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a press conference that instead of such statements, the Afghan authorities should take effective action […]

Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani has said in a meeting with the European Union envoy in Kabul that Afghans will have a good future in peace and under the shadow of the Islamic system. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior on Friday, Haqqani, in his meeting with Raffaella Iodice, the European Union’s Chargé d’affaires to […]

Unfriendly official statements and related media reporting are aimed at manipulating voters’ perceptions about the incumbent as well as smearing India’s reputation on the world stage. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the US of meddling in India’s ongoing elections last week through sensational allegations against its authorities by the American government and its media allies. This followed top […]

How Power Flows From the Systems That Connect the World Falling water levels in Panama’s Gatún Lake. A cyberattack on a payment platform. An earthquake disrupting silicon-chip production in Taiwan. Elon Musk deciding which countries have access to the Internet. At first glance, these things have nothing in common other than their recent prominence in news headlines. But an invisible […]

The yen has moved wildly in holiday-thinned market conditions in Japan, falling to a thirty-four-year low of ¥/$ 160.17 on April 29 before correcting to ¥/$ 156.15 owing to rumors of interventions by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). BOJ officials refused to confirm the rumors of intervention but had expressed concerns about the negative economic impacts of the yen’s recent […]

Oil revenue is a lifeline for the Iranian and Russian economies, but Western sanctions have jeopardized both countries’ ability to ship oil and receive payments. In response, Iran and Russia have redirected oil shipments to China—the world’s largest importer of crude oil. In 2023, China saved a reported ten billion dollars by purchasing crude oil from sanctioned countries such as […]

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Pakistan for three days starting April 22, 2024. The trip came after the relations between Iran and Pakistan worsened following Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, allegedly targeting terror hideouts, on January 16, 2024. Two days later, Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes on Iran. Ebrahim Raisi was given a grand welcome in the […]

In an April 23, 2024 Dari-language statement, the Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, agreeing with the U.S. State Department report on human rights abuses, condemned the Afghan Taliban rulers for rights violations in Afghanistan. Jamiat-e-Islami is led by Salahuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan foreign minister and son of Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was president of the country from 1992 to 1996. The […]

Was Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years a success? It certainly appeared that Xi’s visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, which had both a trade and a political agenda, were successful for the Chinese leader. Can we say the same for France, the EU or Europe? Well, there is not a straight or single answer. And this […]