An Analysis of the Makkah Defense Pact
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.
Strategic Council Online—Opinion: It is noteworthy that Bashar al-Assad’s government was an ally of the Islamic Resistance Front and that his fall from power is a challenge to this front. However, for various reasons, such an event can never be considered a “defeat” for the Resistance Front in the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia twice and met and conferred with the kingdom officials. Tel Aviv Riyadh’s “reconciliation process” and the establishment of diplomatic relations were the most important agenda of the US secretary of state in his recent meeting with Saudi authorities (January 6, 2024).
Hamid Khoshayand – expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Palestine affairs said: Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, has recently sent an important and long message to the head and members of the political bureau of the movement, in which he mentioned that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) have launched an intense, harsh and unprecedented battle against the usurper forces, and the Zionist army has suffered heavy losses of life and equipment. In that message, Sinwar added: Al-Qassam brigades targeted at least 5,000 soldiers and officers during the ground war, one-third of whom were killed, one-third were seriously injured, and the last one-third suffered permanent disabilities. 750 units have been completely or partially destroyed at the level of military equipment and vehicles.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: There are various signs that indicate the failure of the US “New Middle East” plan in the region, as the Al-Aqsa Storm is the last sign of the failure of the old US plan to create a new Middle East, which could have unprecedented consequences in geostrategic and geopolitical dimensions. Barsam Mohammadi – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Israeli affairs, saying that the blow the Zionist regime has received from the “Al-Aqsa Storm” operation severely shattered the notion that the regime is an immutable reality that must be dealt with in the region noted: The crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza will remain in the minds of the people of Islamic countries for a long time and will be a serious challenge for normalization.
Strategic Council Online: In an interview with Al-Alam Network, the President of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations emphasized that in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of Israel, and said: United States should prevent the continuation of Israeli crimes because if the current trend continues, there is a high possibility of the spread of the war.
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
Strategic Council Online – Interview: The president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said: The Israeli regime is not only an apartheid regime but also a child-killing regime, which is committing genocide by continuing its war crimes in Gaza.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on international affairs stated that due to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Palestine, the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime will be suspended and seriously challenged, adding: In this situation, with an increase of conflicts and human casualties, considering the sensitivity of public opinion, in the short term, less governments in the region will dare to raise the issue of normalization.
SCFR Online – Opinion: On Friday, August 7, the heads of state of three countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan – signed a text under the title “Makkah Joint Defense Agreement.”
Strategic Council Online – Note: The initiative to revive the Hejaz Railway, beyond being a transportation project, constitutes an attempt to redefine geopolitics, the economy, and Turkey’s regional position; however, its realization appears to face significant financial, security, and institutional challenges.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Strait of Hormuz crisis is no longer merely the consequence of a military confrontation, but rather a sign of the transition from the US-centered maritime order to a new energy security structure involving the participation of emerging and influential powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Iran’s active deterrence strategy, while increasing the costs of US intervention, has increasingly exposed the hidden rifts between Washington’s interests and those of the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The escalation of verbal and strategic tensions between Turkey and the Israeli regime, although not increasing the likelihood of direct war, indicates the formation of a new order in West Asian geopolitical rivalries.
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.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Ukraine war was not merely a European crisis, but rather the starting point for the rearrangement of the global balance of power and a shift in the strategic behavior of great powers.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Great power competition is now pursued more in trade, currency, technology, and global supply chains than on the battlefields of military confrontation.