America’s economic siege of Iran has been costly for Tehran’s neighbors, and now it is Pakistan’s turn to pick up the tab. On 7 August, Pakistan announced it was suspending its natural gas pipeline project in Iran under threat of U.S. sanctions, and issued a Force Majeure and Excusing Event notice to Iran under the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement […]

In mid-May, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a warning to the Taliban: honor Afghanistan’s water-supply agreement or face the consequences. A well-known Taliban figure offered a mocking gift of a 20-liter water container in response and told him to stop making terrifying ultimatums. About a week later, a skirmish erupted on the border, leaving two Iranian guards and one Taliban […]

Iranian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers Hossein Amirabdollahian and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized enhancing all-round relations and developing economic cooperation and bilateral trade. Amirabdollahian highlighted the need to finalize agreements on exchanging prisoners and addressing unauthorized border crossings. The Iranian top diplomat emphasized the importance of implementing the positive agreements achieved in strengthening sustainable border security between Iran and Pakistan, which […]

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met on Tuesday and discussed Afghanistan among other issues. During the meeting in Doha, they discussed cooperation relations between the two countries, especially the preparations for the upcoming strategic dialogue, the latest developments in the region, especially the developments of the Palestinian cause, […]

The foreign ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) announced on Saturday that the distribution of passports for newborn babies born to Afghan parents in Turkey has started. The ministry’s deputy spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad said in a series of tweets that the consular department of the ministry of foreign affairs of the Islamic Emirate, in cooperation with Turkish […]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has rejected Iran’s claim that Daesh leaders have moved to Afghanistan from Iraq, Syria and Libya. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian recently told ISNA news agency: “It is not a secret to anyone that the leaders of Daesh and the trained forces of Daesh have moved from Iraq, […]

US President Joe Biden served as vice-president throughout the presidency of Barack Obama. Sometimes too little significance is given to Biden’s total identification with the major policy initiatives that marked Obama’s two terms in office. The Iran nuclear deal, endorsed by the UN Security Council in July 2015, was regarded by Obama as one of the crowning achievements of his […]

After decades of conflict, the two major Sunni and Shia states restored diplomatic connections, making the March 10th peace pact between two of the Middle East’s key regional powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the most surprising event of the year. The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran is multi-faceted and protracted as the tensions between the two began after the […]

An Iranian and Bangladeshi national was remanded to five day police custody by a local court in Tripura. They were arrested for their suspected link with Pakistani militants. A senior police official said that the police on Wednesday arrested Iranian Yakub Yazdanbakhsh and Bangladeshi national Shahin Mondal at the Aswani market area under Amatoli police station on the outskirts of […]

Despite what seemed like a honeymoon period between Iran’s leadership and the Taliban, growing tensions have been brewing. Kourosh Ziabari explains why he believes this is a doomed political relationship. In August 2021, when the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan after an impetuous US withdrawal, authorities in Iran mutely celebrated what they saw as an auspicious departure of a […]