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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.
SCFR Online – Note: Articles from Western think tanks confirm that, contrary to Western assumptions, the war has failed to cause Iran’s economy to collapse, and this situation has led Washington to seek a pathway for exiting the quagmire.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An American affairs expert stated that in recent weeks, U.S. policy toward Venezuela has undergone a distinct redefinition, shifting toward hard power tools. According to media reports, during Donald Trump’s presidency, the White House reviewed options for military operations “against drug cartels”. It even introduced a deadly attack on a suspected boat leaving Venezuelan waters as the beginning of a new phase of its campaign. This approach has been reinforced by the deployment of significant military assets to the Caribbean periphery, including cruisers equipped with cruise missiles and attack submarines, as well as the stationing of F-35 fighter jets in Puerto Rico. It is complemented by labeling Nicolás Maduro a “narcoterrorist” and doubling the bounty for his capture.
Although Trump, when asked about “regime change,” said, “We’re not discussing that,” by linking Venezuela to the anti-drug mission, he has effectively redefined the “maximum pressure” strategy within a security-military framework. At the regional level, the resurgence of the old concept of “gunboat diplomacy” in America’s backyard sends a deterrent message to Caracas and its allies on one hand, while increasing the risk of sliding into proxy and attritional conflicts on the other. At the structural level, the merging of U.S. domestic considerations, including the “crackdown on drug trafficking” agenda, with geopolitical calculations to control energy resources and routes of influence, indicates that the Venezuela issue is not merely a criminal-security matter but rather a reflection of great power competition and a test of the resilience of the Latin American regional order—an order that, with each crisis escalation, simultaneously creates opportunities and threats for both extra-regional and regional actors.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in an interview with the German newspaper “Die Welt” stressed that the time is ripe for the implementation of “Plan B” against Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand – Expert on regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: On October 14, a group of Lebanese people, invited by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Amal movement, gathered in front of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, between Ain al-Rummaneh and Tayouneh areas, to protest the political process of investigation into the Beirut bombing, especially the performance of the judge investigating the incident, Mr. Tariq Bitar. The demonstrators were shot by the assailants affiliated to the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, “one of the parties to the Lebanese civil war and one of the present allies in the Western-Arab axis,” was witnessed which led to the killing and wounding of many protesters.
Hossein Ajorloo – expert on Middle East affairs
Strategic Council Online – Signing of the 25-year document on Iran-China strategic cooperation is still the most important political and economic event of the day. At the end of the 2016 visit of President of China to Iran, who had also an important meeting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, a joint 20-point statement was issued emphasizing promotion of relations to “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Hamid Khoshayand – Analyst of international affairs
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 – Note: By disregarding Iran’s deterrence capabilities and political economy leverage in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has reached a strategic deadlock from which military means are unable to extricate it.