SCFR Online – Opinion: The presence of high-ranking delegations from the member states of the “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement” in Tehran, at a time when the region is embroiled in military tensions and the fragile process of Iran-US negotiations, is considered a turning point in the security equations of the Persian Gulf and West Asia.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and his meeting with Donald Trump on September 24 and 25, 2026, accompanied by a ceremonial welcome at Andrews Air Force Base, was more a diplomatic display for managing the level of tensions than an indication of a breakthrough achievement in relations between the two powers.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Recent developments in the political geography of West Asia, from rising tensions in the Persian Gulf to missile and drone activities in the Red Sea and the recent warning by Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, regarding the threat to freedom of navigation, indicate a key pattern shift; the US-Iran war has moved beyond the scope of a regional and local confrontation and has linked two vital passageways for the global economy: the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Since the beginning of the Israeli regime’s attack on the Gaza Strip, one of the primary and serious concerns surrounding it was the shaping of a comprehensive and regional war involving various countries in West Asia and international powers supporting the multiple sides of the war. Of course, the concern of all regional actors about this all-encompassing war was not and is not the same. While Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran have always tried to manage tensions and avoid engaging in a large-scale war desired by the Zionist regime, the current criminal and rebellious actor in the region, the Israeli regime, who apparently has been granted authorization by the world powers for any action to maintain its security, has other motives in mind.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: In a situation where, in recent months, the United States made extensive efforts to establish relations between Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime, and a few Arab governments in the region also started their relations with Tel Aviv, on the anniversary of Yom Kippur War, the surprise and large-scale attack by Hamas forces on occupied territories were carried out under the codename “Al-Aqsa Storm” and by launching five thousand rockets to nearby Jewish settlements and some areas in the center of Israel. In the meantime, Hamas forces entered the areas occupied by the Israelis – an attack that caught the world by surprise and overshadowed other important crises and wars, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Karabakh crisis.
Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri – University professor