Iran said it is shutting its vast borders with neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan to increase security after the twin bombing that killed at least 89 people in the southeastern city of Kerman on January 3. The Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying his government was prioritizing border crossings along borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, […]

Communications intercepts collected by the United States confirmed that Daesh’s Khorasan branch carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people, Reuters reported on Friday citing US intelligence sources. The sources said the intelligence comprised communications intercepts, without providing further details. Wednesday’s bombings were the deadliest of their kind in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Daesh on […]

The outbreak of Israel-Hamas hostilities, following the latter’s deadly raid on 7 October 2023, has sparked never-before-seen violence in the Gaza Strip. The involvement of external powers, coupled with the regional powers’ pursuit of geopolitical ambitions through proxies, threatens the fragile stability of West Asia. However, beyond the geopolitical implications lurks the threat of terrorist violence and radicalisation as a […]

The growing convergence of India and the United States’ (US) perspectives on the Middle East is one of the main signals from the fifth iteration of the ‘two plus two’ meeting on 10 November 2023 in New Delhi. The defence and foreign ministers of the two countries were unambiguous in condemning Hamas terror, emphasising Israel’s right to self-defence while observing […]

India’s response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war have underscored the notable shift in India-Israel bilateral relations that has taken place under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Modi tweeted on Oct. 7, “Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the […]

Tens of thousands of supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party rallied in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday against Israel’s bombing of Palestinians in Gaza and what it said is the world’s failure to protect Gazans. Amid anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans the emotionally charged crowd also called for jihad, or holy war. Earlier this month, Jamaat-e-Islami held massive […]

Those two’s North-South Transport Corridor through Iran will now become the lifeline for the Afghan people and their war-torn economy. Iran and the Taliban became embroiled in a bitter dispute over water rights earlier this spring that was analyzed here at the time, which warned that these continued tensions dangerously risked dividing-and-ruling the broader region to the US’ hegemonic benefit. […]

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Economic Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), met with Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian on Monday to discuss a number of issues including that relating to water management. In addition to this, the two officials also discussed the need for Iran’s technical cooperation in the field of electricity production in Afghanistan, […]

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, held a meeting with Iran’s Minister of Agriculture, Mohammad Ali Nikbakht, during his visit to Iran. In his remarks, Baradar highlighted the strong, historical, political, economic, and trade ties between Afghanistan and Iran. He emphasized the current opportunity for enhancing these ties and the need for joint efforts to […]

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the Chairman of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in Tehran. During their meeting, both sides engaged in discussions pertaining to political and economic relations, effective coordination between the respective nations, water resource management, transit agreements, and the enhancement of Afghanistan’s imports and exports through Iran. […]