Iran
China’s high-stakes diplomacy: Managing Middle Eastern turmoil
Chinese foreign policy faces an important test in the Middle East.China’s bilateral trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran totalled more than $300 billion in 2023,…
The curious international silence about Iran’s new reformist president
When Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crashed on 19 May, killing all on board, it was hardly foreseeable that the heart surgeon turned reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian would…
IRGC Navy flexes its long-range threat capability
An Iranian warship sailing the deep waters of the Indian Ocean should set alarm bells ringing. The IRGC Navy (NEDSA) completed a pioneering long-range cruise in May, claiming to…
Diplomacy at a funeral
The helicopter crash that killed Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi came almost two years after Japan’s former prime minister Abe Shinzō was gunned down on the election campaign…
Pariah states and the Olympic Games
As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the intersection of international politics and sport once again takes centre stage. The participation of so…
Iran: Consequences of the vacant presidency
Iran’s government on 20 May confirmed the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in north-western Iran the previous…
Trouble together: How North Korea sees its growing interests with Iran
Following months of strengthening its relationship with Russia, North Korea is expanding its horizons, by sending a diplomatic delegation to Tehran to explore potential avenues…
Iran-Israel: The escalation calculus
Events in the Middle East over the weekend have brought the longstanding Israel-Iran shadow war into the spotlight, compounding fears that the Gaza conflict will spill over into a…
Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects
The killing of five Chinese engineers in a 26 March suicide attack in Pakistan’s northwest has renewed concerns about the safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects in…
Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry
The sunny days of free-riding are receding. In some form or another, most countries have leeched off American power for the last three decades. The preponderance of US military…