Iran’s military has built a wall along more than 10 kilometers of its eastern border with Afghanistan, the main entry point for immigrants, Iranian media reported Monday. “More than 10 kilometers of walls have been built on the border and another 50 kilometers is ready to be walled off,” ISNA news agency said, citing General Nozar Nemati, deputy commander of […]

For most of its just over 30 years of independence, Turkmenistan has been left out of discussions on Central Asia as well as both north-south and east-west transportation routes linking the region to the rest of the world. Over the last two years, however, the situation has changed dramatically as Ashgabat has opened up and assumed a more active role […]

It is ironic that Pakistan and Israel are both countries created in the name of religion, at around the same time (in 1947 and 1948, respectively), and yet they have no formal relations. All Pakistani passports include the inscription that the document is valid for travel to all countries around the world, except Israel. While Pakistan’s animosity toward Israel is […]

It’s unrealistic that China would ever abandon its investments in Russia or Pakistan, but those two’s connectivity roles for it vis-à-vis the EU and West Asia/Africa respectively can be complemented by Turkey and Iran via the Middle Corridor. Up until the beginning of this year, China’s grand strategy was to rely on a network of connectivity corridors across its Belt […]

While China expresses public support for Iran’s right to “defend its sovereignty,” Beijing’s assertive rhetoric belies deep-seated anxiety surrounding the possibility of a wider regional conflict erupting. Not long after Iran vowed revenge against Israel following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took to the phone and told his Iranian counterpart, Ali […]

After the tragic helicopter crash on May 19, in which President Ebrahim Raisi and his associates lost their lives, and the subsequent period of mourning, Iran has begun to look toward the future. Despite the shocking loss of high-ranking state officials, the challenging geopolitical situation in the world requires competent and responsible Iranian leadership that cannot afford major mistakes. In […]

The continued pricing dispute over the Power of Siberia II gas pipeline might lead to Russia prioritizing its new gas MoUs with Iran and Azerbaijan to pioneer a southern-directed pipeline for facilitating Russian-Iranian gas swaps with India. The South China Morning Post reported earlier this week that “Future murky for Russia-China pipeline as Mongolia omits project from long-term plan” after […]

As the Taliban celebrated three years of its reign in power, many scholars still ponder on how the group rose to take the seat at Kabul; some still jittered from the memories of evacuation on the dawn of 15 August 2021. The group undoubtedly had favourable factors behind their successful takeover, but the significance of Qatar cannot simply be ignored […]

The successful 1979 Iranian working-class struggle against the monarchical dictatorship was eventually snatched away from people and hijacked by reactionary religious forces, with the covert support of imperialist and colonial powers led by the CIA. The progressive character of the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and justice gradually faded, giving way to the rise of reactionary ruling elites who concealed […]

Setting aside “Axis of Evil,” or its calibrated stepchild “Axis of Upheaval,” what might be a better name for the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea cluster? Consider an acronym—”CRANK,” representing China-Russia-Iran-North Korea. A deepening alignment among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea is drawing considerable attention as the United States and its allies confront new challenges from these four nations, both individually and […]