While Iran has effectively mobilized its “Axis of Resistance” throughout the Middle East by sponsoring proxy Shia militant groups, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), to challenge U.S. and Israeli forces and reduce their influence in the region, Tehran faces a threat of … Read more
In the past few months, protests have repeatedly erupted in the Pakistani port town of Gwadar against restrictions on trade, especially in Iranian oil across the Pakistan-Iran border. Part of an operation by Pakistani authorities against all informal trade activities in the country, the crackdown at the border is aimed at shoring up the country’s falling … Read more
Along the 582-mile Iran-Afghanistan border, there are at least three legal border crossings and several unmonitored points of ingress and egress. Since the August 2021 seizure of power by the Taliban, these crossings have been used by millions of Afghans to exit into Iran. While most of these journeys have been to avoid persecution at … Read more
Advertisement Last month, a fairly convincing argument could be made that India was trying to fundamentally reorient its foreign policy in the Middle East. The regional infrastructure initiative New Delhi had promoted along with its partners in Moscow and Tehran for two decades, the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), appears to have been jeopardized by … Read more
Advertisement Recent statements by the head of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, about Iran’s plans to establish a permanent station in Antarctica have, unsurprisingly, attracted considerable attention and some skepticism. Whatever Irani’s aspirations and intentions – and those of others in the hierarchy of the Iranian regime, if indeed the remarks are not … Read more
Advertisement When it comes to Armenia and its ethnic exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, India has staked out a fairly defined position over the last few years, from arms sales to transcontinental rail lines to condemnations of Azerbaijan’s aggression in the region. Certainly, this was not without reason. For one, Azerbaijan’s long-time association with Pakistan had turned … Read more
Advertisement Leaders of the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – met in Johannesburg last week, with South Africa hosting the 15th summit meeting of the five-nation grouping. It was their first in-person summit since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting assumed significance amid important geopolitical developments including the … Read more
Advertisement August 15 marked two years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, a milestone the Islamic Emirate celebrated by emphasizing that its rule is “open-ended” and faces no challengers. The Taliban’s chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, also told the Associated Press in an interview that the government is winning “the recognition of officialdom”: “Our interaction with China, … Read more
Advertisement The realm of geopolitics, where states define their fates in the light of their national interests, the intersection of these interests provide incentives for collaboration and cooperation. A pivotal event of this sort unfolded with the first meeting of the China-Iran-Pakistan trilateral consultation on counterterrorism and security. Held on June 7 in Beijing, the … Read more
Advertisement This week the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met virtually for their annual summit. The gathering marked Iran’s newly minted membership but was ultimately dampened by tensions inside, and outside, the group. The SCO originated with the Shanghai Five. Formed in 1996, the initial group — including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and … Read more