Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have entered into a mutual defense agreement dubbed “Strategic Mutual Defense Pact” on Wednesday as the former’s Prime Minister is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia. The visit undertaken upon Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s invitation saw this first concrete outcome as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Crown Prince signed the pact at […]

China and Iran both seek to counter American influence in the Middle East and have long cooperated to further that shared goal. China provides Iran with inputs for its ballistic missile program, helps Tehran circumvent international sanctions by purchasing Iranian oil, and has provided limited support to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Together with Russia, both countries regularly conduct […]

The U.S. and Israeli attacks last month on Iran to “obliterate” its nuclear program may have hit another target: Central Asia’s interests in accesses the large Iranian market and use Iran’s transport links to trade with the wider world. Iran’s “Look East” policy was launched by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 to improve relations with Russia, China, and India to […]

ISLAM QALA, HERAT — Afghan migrants recently deported from Iran say they were expelled without notice, while their spouses and children were left behind, separated at the border with no clear means of reunification. Several returnees interviewed at the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat Province said they were detained during routine workdays, held in detention camps, and then deported […]

The Jamiat-e-Islami party, led by former foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani, called on Iran and Pakistan to reconsider their policies of forcibly deporting Afghan migrants, warning that Afghanistan’s current conditions are unsafe for return. In a statement issued Tuesday, the party said many returnees face serious threats under Taliban rule and emphasized that the internal situation in Afghanistan is not conducive […]

Former Iranian diplomat Rasoul Mousavi, who previously served as Director General for South Asian Affairs at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has stressed that Afghan migrants in Iran should not be equated with foreign spies. His comments were published in an interview with a local media outlet and come amid growing tensions related to Afghan refugees in the country. “Afghan […]

Iran’s diplomatic mission in Kabul has called for strengthened border services and infrastructure to support Afghan migrants amid mass deportations and growing pressure on transit routes. According to an official statement released Saturday, Hassan Bigdeli, the head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Kabul, and Seyed Ali Marhamati, Iran’s consul general in Herat, met with senior officials in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi […]

Israel’s military campaign against Iran has exposed the chasm between China’s great power rhetoric and its ability to meaningfully shape events in the Middle East. To be sure, Beijing backs Tehran as its biggest buyer of sanctioned crude oil, and both describe their relationship as a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Yet Beijing has so far confined its response to condemnatory statements […]

On May 12, 2025, Al-Mursalat, a media outlet associated with the Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP), published a Pashto-language article aimed at readers in Pakistan-Afghanistan region and criticizing Muslims who protest and vow to wage jihad against Israel but do not fight unbelievers in their home countries. The article, titled “Isn’t It A Strange Passion!” and written by one by […]