SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The continuation of the Gaza war had become an unbearable issue for Netanyahu, which ultimately forced him to retreat from all war positions and accept a ceasefire under pressure from Trump.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said that establishing a permanent ceasefire was one of Hamas’s important conditions for the agreement, and the Israeli regime will be forced to implement it.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The last round of indirect negotiations between Hamas officials and the Zionist regime, which was conducted in Cairo with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, was unsuccessful due to the Zionists’ “Obstruction.”
Hamid Khoshayand, an expert on regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Assistant to Minister and Director General of West Asia at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting of intra-Afghan groups in Tehran had a special success, added: The Taliban, with its past experience, realizes that it cannot necessarily achieve international legitimacy by military force; rather, international legitimacy is achieved through political negotiations.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs said that Saudi Arabia is trying to somehow save itself from the predicament of the war in Yemen, adding: By taking back the Ma’rib Province, no area in the northern part of Yemen will remain in the hands of Saudi Arabia or Saudi mercenaries and Ansarullah will exercise its sovereignty over all those areas.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa affairs says the Western Sahara government considers the recent intrusion of the Moroccan Army to Guerguerat in Western Sahara as the final seal on the termination of the 1991 peace accord between the two sides.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, outlining Russia’s agreement plan for a ceasefire between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: This agreement has not dealt with resolving the Karabakh conflict and Iran’s mediation efforts to resolve the conflict and full liberation of Karabakh should be continued.
Strategic Council Online: Editorial—The Security Council of the United Nations, having passed four UN resolutions in the primary years of the 1990s, has delegated the issue of the return of peace to Karabakh to regional organizations in particular to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe set up a mechanism under the title of the “Minsk Group”, comprising of nine countries, to deal with the settlement of the issue. The Minsk Group is currently chaired by the United States, Russia and France. Even though the Minsk Group managed to organize a ceasefire between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bishkek on 12 May 1994, it has failed during the past recent years to completely resolve the Karabakh dispute. Given the occurrence of two consecutive military confrontations since the beginning of 2020 with numerous dimensions, the issue of the performance and effectiveness of the Minsk Group is once again placed at the centre of the world’s attention.
Dr Shoayb Bahman, Expert of Russia affairs
Strategic Council Online – Regional players such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are attempting to break up Libya and establish two different sovereignties in the country. Therefore, if the war continues, Libya like Sudan, may be divided into the two eastern and western parts.
Hassan Hanizadeh – Expert on Asian Affairs
SCFR Online – Opinion: The simultaneity of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb has turned the geography of energy and shipping into a new arena for the emergence of new risks, costs, and leverage.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Makkah Pact, signed on August 7, 2026, between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, is more than an answer to geopolitical vacuums; in practice, it faces a “deterrence dilemma” and “differing threat perception.” While this pact symbolizes a transition toward regional self-reliance, its first field tests and the complexities of relations with regional actors will determine its real meaning.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The reason for Washington’s reluctance to enter directly into war with Ansarullah is military and economic limitations, electoral considerations, and concern about the expansion of the crisis at two energy chokepoints.
SCFR Online – Opinion: Ansarullah’s recent lightning-fast operation and surprise advances on Yemen’s western coast have rapidly transformed the equations of the war in that country and developments in West Asia, and have challenged the calculations of Saudi Arabia, the United States, the West, and the Israeli regime.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The intensification of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections indicates Washington’s inability to achieve its war objectives.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The competition between Washington and Beijing over chips and artificial intelligence, simultaneously with the shifting of technological balances, has taken on new economic and security dimensions.
SCFR Online – Opinion: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has created a new opportunity for Iran to transform its membership from a political achievement into economic and transit cooperation.
Strategic Council Online – Note: The Makkah Defense Pact can be seen as a sign of regional countries’ efforts to reduce security dependence on extra-regional powers and redefine the balance in West Asia.