SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.
Strategic Council Online: Although the increase in the number of US troops deployed in eastern Syria cannot significantly affect major developments and the security order in the West Asian region due to its small number, but it could contribute to continuation of Syrian and Iraqi crises as well as affect the oil markets.
Dr. Hossein Ajorlou – Middle East affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: Michigan Journal on International Law forecasts $15 to $19 billion in sanctions losses caused by losing export markets, which is equivalent to 200,000 to 260,000 jobs lost.
Reza Tavakoli – International Economic Relations Researcher, Office of Economic Diplomacy Studies, Imam Sadegh University
Strategic Council Online: An international relations professor said that the Iranian military operation against the US military base in Baghdad was merely a blow to American grandeur and that Iran’s response will be given in due time and within the geography of the Resistance. The Americans should estimate their response within the new calculations not the previous evaluations that Iran exercised restraint.
Strategic Council Online: The most important key obstacle for Americans leaving Iraq is the absence of a strong government in the country at the current juncture. The incumbent government has been severely weakened by the recent US-led turmoil and does not have the authority required to decide about territorial integrity and respect for national sovereignty in Iraq.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs expert
Strategic Council Online: An analyst on African and West Asian affairs, referring to Algeria’s presidential election and the subsequent unrests, said the opposition’s capacity was not big enough to accomplish their goals behind the protest rallies; so it seems that the government would eventually succeed in forcing the opposition to stop their demonstrations first by giving them promises and then by threatening them.
Strategic Council Online: An expert on Turkish issues has called Ankara’s policies toward Syria “ambitious” and said that under the current conditions Turkey faces challenges in the field of terrorism, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Kurdish separatism near its border that may face its internal security with a challenge.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Baghdad believes Iran-Iraq relations are strong enough so that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Najaf under the provocation of third parties, or the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi cannot disrupt the foundation of those ties.
Strategic Council Online: At present, given the unrest in the region, some of the protests in Iraq and the foreign intervention in the Middle East and Muslim affairs, the Arbaeen ceremony can serve as a model for the solidarity, unity and security of Muslim nations.
Sadallah Zarei – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: The recent three-day visit of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq is a clear sign that a new chapter has been opened in the strategic relations between Tehran and Baghdad. This is an indication that bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a sustainable and very crucial stage. Relying on the good cooperation between the two sides over the past 15 years, the two sides have now entered a much wider and more productive partnership.
Jafar Ghanadbashi – Middle East Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: In commentaries, Americans seem to have finally accepted that the political establishment in Syria under the leadership of Bashar Assad cannot be changed; also the possibility of toppling Assad’s government and the US desired changes in Syria will not be realized; therefore, Europe and the United States will gradually but informally proceed towards recognizing the status quo.
Amir Ali AbolFatah, American Affairs expert
SCFR Online – Opinion: The direct war of the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran, disruption of nuclear inspections, and intensification of great power competition have taken the non-proliferation crisis beyond the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
SCFR Online – Opinion: In the Iran–U.S. equation, China pursues a cautious balance between its energy and transit interests with Tehran and considerations related to sanctions and competition with Washington.
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.