Iran seized control of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs several decades ago, though the United Arab Emirates has long claimed sovereignty over the islands, a claim backed by Gulf states and Russia. China reiterated on Monday its support for the United Arab Emirates regarding its dispute with Iran over several islands in the Gulf, setting up a […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance was winning a majority of seats in early vote counting trends in the general election on Tuesday, but well short of the landslide predicted in exit polls, TV channels showed. The trends spooked financial markets which had expected a hefty win for Modi, with stocks falling steeply. The rupee also fell sharply against the […]

The risk of penetration of radical ideology from Afghanistan into the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is increasing, said Rustam Emomali, chairman of Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament. Addressing the Council of the Parliament Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Almaty, Emomali said that more than 1,000 religious madrassas have been established in Afghanistan, […]

Moscow Format Contact Group on Afghanistan has been convened for this week where discussions will take place on issues relating to the country, Russia’s special presidential representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov confirmed Tuesday. Kabulov said this meeting will take place on Saturday, in Tehran, ahead of the planned Doha meeting later this month. “We have discussed with representatives of the […]

By pretending that they’re each on the same page in all respects like wishful thinking influencers in the Alt-Media Community are prone to do despite President Putin’s advice last summer not to indulge in such delusions, they inadvertently mislead the public about what to expect from the Russia-India-China format. Even worse are those conspiracy theorists among them who exploit their […]

Power of Siberia 2 project would offer lifeline to exporter Gazprom as Moscow’s dependence on its neighbour grows Russia’s attempts to conclude a major gas pipeline deal with China have run aground over what Moscow sees as Beijing’s unreasonable demands on price and supply levels, according to three people familiar with the matter. Beijing’s tough stance on the Power of […]

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, chief of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party, on Sunday criticized the government of Pakistan for blaming Afghanistan over attacks. Speaking at a rally in Punjab province, Rehman pointed out the irony of the government of Afghanistan being questioned over terrorism within Pakistan, and asked, “If terrorists are infiltrating from across the Afghanistan border, then where are you […]

The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Monday that his country has removed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [IEA] from its terrorist list in order to develop economic ties with Afghanistan. Speaking at a meeting with parliament speakers from countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Tokayev said: “Kazakhstan has removed the Taliban from the list of terrorists proceeding […]

Recently, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibbatullah Akhundzada addressed a seminar of Islamic religious scholars organized by the Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul. According to a report on the ministry’s website, the three-day seminar was held for the directors, teachers and assistants of the Directorate of Religious Universities and Specialties. A number of teachers of the Abdullah bin Masoud University […]

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said his government was working on reconciliation between Ankara and Damascus in an interview released on Friday. “God willing, we will see some steps in this regard soon,” Sudani told Turkey’s private Haberturk TV via a translator, adding that he was in contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as Turkish President Recep […]