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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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 operation of the Zionist regime that led to the martyrdom of Yahya al-Sinwar, the indefatigable commander of Hamas, has revealed a violation of international humanitarian law to the international community in such a way that no neutral observer can deny the commission of war crime by the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international law expert said: In case of escalation of conflicts between the Israeli regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, there is a high probability that the countries whose nationals are among the peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) will pressure the United Nations to remove them from the region.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Zionist affairs said that Israel’s Justice Minister Yarvin Levin, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, asked the Attorney General of this regime to open a criminal case to investigate Netanyahu and Yoav Galant regarding the Gaza war. According to the media, the purpose of this action is to circumvent the request of the International Criminal Court to issue an international arrest warrant against these two officials of the Zionist regime.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Recently, the Washington Post published information according to which Congressman Gregory Meeks and Senator Ben Cardin, under pressure from the Biden administration, sold $18 billion worth of military weapons to the Zionist regime. Among them, 50 F-15 fighters have agreed. The cost of these weapons has been mainly financed over a few years by Washington’s annual budget of 3.3 billion dollars for Tel Aviv.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on West Asian issues said: The hearing of South Africa’s complaint against the Zionist regime was held at the International Court of Justice while the genocide and war crimes committed by the occupying regime of Jerusalem are still continuing in the Gaza Strip and every day the number of Palestinian Martyrs is increasing.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Zionist regime’s attempt to make the Al-Aqsa Storm operation look illegitimate and thus legitimize its war crimes, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and its genocidal disaster in Gaza, is a “futile and useless” attempt.
Barsam Mohammadi – Expert in regional 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.