Category: Iran

St. Petersburg sets the stage for the War of Economic Corridors

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Saturday, 18 June 2022 — The Cradle

In St. Petersburg, the world’s new powers gather to upend the US-concocted “rules-based order” and reconnect the globe their way
https://media.thecradle.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG-20220618-WA0016.jpgAt St. Petersburg on Friday, backers of multipolarity pushed forward integration of their networks * Photo Credit: The Cradle

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum  has been configured for years now as absolutely essential to understand the evolving dynamics and the trials and tribulations of Eurasia integration.

St. Petersburg in 2022 is even more crucial as it directly connects to three simultaneous developments I had previously outlined, in no particular order:

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Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran

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Monday, 9 May 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi (right) in talks with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran, May 8, 2022

The unannounced arrival of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran on Sunday makes yet another wrinkle to the geopolitics of West Asia. In a short trip of a few hours, Assad had meetings with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raeisi and returned to Damascus.

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US resets the containment of Iran

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Monday, 28 March 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Israel’’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (R) welcomes UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan at  the Negev Summit, March 27, 2022.

The summit of Arab diplomats on March 27-28 hosted by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in the southern Negev Desert is doubtless a landmark event. The UAE’s Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Morocco’s Nasser Bourita, and Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry are the Arab participants, while the visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken becomes the sole “extra-regional” participant.

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Vienna talks on Iran at crossroads  

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Monday, 7 March 2022 — Indian Punchline

US President Eisenhower’s propaganda stunt ‘Atoms for Peace’ acquires new meaning as Iran uncovers the mystique of atom

Coincidentally, it was on March 5 that Russia projected its latest demand for sanctions waiver in a written guarantee “at least” from President Joe Biden or at the very minimum from Secretary of State Antony Blinken in regard of its ambitious economic, scientific-technological and military collaboration in the pipeline with Iran.  March 5 also happens to be the anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The fate of the NPT may now hinge on the US response. For, if the Biden administration rides the high horse, that will almost certainly be a deal-breaker for the current negotiations at Vienna on the US’ return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA).

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Russia hits back on “sanctions from hell”

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Saturday, 5 March 2022 — Indian Punchline

Moscow Kremlin has demanded from Biden or Blinken a waiver of sanctions to allow Iran deal to go through.

An innocuous tweet from Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov earlier today in the afternoon said that he met with the EU Coordinator at the Vienna talks on Iran nuclear issue Enrique Mora and “raised a number of questions which need to be duly addressed now in order to ensure smooth civil nuclear cooperation with Iran.”

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Iran Unbound. What it means.

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Thursday, 17 February 2022 — Indian Punchline

Iran’s negotiator Ali Bagheri says nuclear deal ‘closer than ever’

The negotiations in Vienna over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, are almost certainly close to an agreement. The surest sign is that crude oil futures were sharply lower in mid-morning Asian trade Feb. 17 despite bearish developments due to the rising tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border. Even an interim deal could potentially increase oil exports by 700,000 b/d, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics, easing the persistent tightness in oil markets.

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Iran-Russia hit maximum strategy

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Saturday, 22 January 2022 — The Saker

Three ain’t a crowd: The Iran-Russia summit this week, concurrent with RIC military drills in the Sea of Oman, in advance of a Xi-Putin meeting in two weeks, suggests a rapidly-advancing strategic vision for the three Eurasian powers.

By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and cross-posted with The Cradle

Photo Credit: The Cradle

The official visit to Russia by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, generated one of the most stunning geopolitical pics of the 21st century: Raisi performing his afternoon prayers at the Kremlin.

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Meta Censors Anti-Imperialist Speech In Obedience To The US Government

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5 January 2022 — Caitlin Johnson

by Caitlin Johnstone

Listen to a reading of this article:

https://soundcloud.com/going_rogue/meta-censors-anti-imperialist-speech-in-obedience-to-the-us-government

❖

Anti-imperialist commentator Richard Medhurst reports that Instagram has deleted some 20 images from his account and given him a warning that he could face a permanent ban if he continues making similar posts. The posts in question are screenshots from a Twitter thread Medhurst made to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Trump administration’s assassination of renowned Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani.

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Nuclear Talks – Israel Makes Funny Demands

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6 December 2021 — Moon of Alabama

This, from Israel, is somewhat weird:

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Mossad chief David Barnea will push during their meetings this week in Washington with senior Biden administration officials for the United States to carry out a military strike on Iranian targets, Israel’s three main TV news broadcasts reported Sunday night.
…
Along with calling for tougher sanctions, the Israelis will reportedly ask the US to take military action against Iran.

Channel 12 news said the target of a US potential attack would be not a nuclear facility in Iran, but rather a site like an Iranian base in Yemen. The aim of such a strike would be to convince the Iranians to soften their positions at the negotiating table.

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As UAE embraces Iran, fizz goes pop for Abraham Accords

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3 December 2021 — Indian Punchline

Iran’s Dy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani (C) with diplomatic adviser to UAE President Anwar Gargash (L) and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Almara, Abu Dhabi, Nov. 16, 2021

The terrible secret about Faustian deals is that they need a Mephistopheles to nurture them. That said, Goethe’s Mephisto is very different from the crude devil of medieval legend. Goethe sketches him as a cultivated, witty, and cynical exponent of materialism and nihilism who preaches a sophisticated doctrine of philosophical negation.

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Why is There Now a Crisis in Relations Between Azerbaijan and Iran?

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5 October 2021 — Origin: New Eastern Outlook

Author: Vladimir Platov 

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Recent weeks have seen a significant military escalation on the border between Azerbaijan and Iran. With belligerent statements made by both sides, Iranian troops are being transferred to the border with their northern neighbor. Explaining the move, Brigadier-General Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said: “We will not tolerate the presence of Israel in our back yard.”

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Iran’s SCO membership is a big deal

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21 September 2021 — Indian Punchline

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi (R) participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Dushanbe on Sept 16-17, 2021

Like in a Wagnerian music drama, there is an associated melodic theme that accompanies the situations behind the two big regional developments last week — the announcement of the AUKUS, security alliance of three “maritime democracies” on September 15 and Iran’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as full member on September 17.

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Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-20

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19 September 2021 — Indian Punchline

Iran’s then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) welcoming Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C), Tehran, Jan. 31, 2021

20. Iran takes good look at Taliban rulers

Some strongly worded statements from Iran deploring the clashes in Panjshir Valley created a perception that Tehran might be distancing itself from the Taliban government. Of course, Tehran is vociferously urging the formation of an ‘inclusive government’ in Kabul.

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Biden Doctrine appears in Persian Gulf

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13 September 2021 — Indian Punchline

M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Iran’s Vice-President & head of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami (second from right) met International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi, Tehran, Sept 12, 2021

The incipient signs of a US retrenchment from Saudi Arabia have appeared in a series of moves in the past 2-3 weeks. On a parallel track, the Biden Administration is factoring in that new Iranian government is returning to the negotiating table at Vienna on nuclear issues.

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Russia, China circle the wagons. Iran is in it

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15 August 2021 — Indian Punchline

10000 troops from PLA’s Western Theatre Command and Russia’s Eastern Military District wrapped up Zapad/Interaction-2021 exercises in Ningxia region, east of Xinjiang, August 13, 2021

The Tehran Times reported on Wednesday that Moscow has conveyed to Tehran that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has reached a consensus on Iran’s admission as a full member of the grouping.

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A new dawn breaks in Tehran

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5 August 2021 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) during the inauguration ceremony for Ebrahim Raisi (R) as president, Tehran, August 3, 2021

On Thursday, Iran’s new president Ebrahim Raisi takes the oath of office in a ceremony in the Majlis in Tehran. This will be a defining moment in the Islamic Republic’s political history, since in many ways, the country is at the crossroads.

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Biden’s Iran Policy Is Already At A Dead End

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29 June 2021 — Moon of Alabama

On Sunday the U.S.bombed three positions of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force at the Syrian-Iraqi border.

The U.S. had no right to do such. The legal reasoning the Biden administration provided for the attack is nonsense. As is the claimed rational of establishing ‘deterrence’ against further attacks on U.S. troops by this or that Iraqi militia group. The last strike in that area in February was supposed to have fullilled the same purpose but obvious did not deter anything. Sunday’s strike was immediately responded to with missiles fired against a U.S. position in Syria. More such incidents will follow.

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US’ pathway to Iran has thorny shrubs

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22 June 2021 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Iran’s president-elect Ebrahim Raisi addresses his first press conference in Tehran, June 21, 2021

It is painful to read the US reports commenting on the result of Iran’s presidential  election. The New York Times carried a blurb on Monday, “Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s ultraconservative president-elect, said that he would not meet with President Biden, and that Tehran’s position on its ballistic missile program was “nonnegotiable.”

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How India lost its way in Persian Gulf

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19 May 2021 — Indian Punchline

M.K. Bhadrakumar

India gets booted out of Farzad-B gas field in Persian Gulf.

There have been two successive setbacks in the past one-year period to the India-Iran relationship. India has been literally eased out of two strategically important projects in Iran that were full of promise to uplift the ties in a medium and long term perspective.

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