Strategic Council Online: Afghan ambassador to Iran says Iran and Afghanistan are set to sign a comprehensive cooperation document, covering such domains as economy, water, culture, security and immigrants.
Strategic Council Online: The declared goal of the US and its allies’ maritime exercises in the Persian Gulf is to limit Iran’s maneuvering power and controlling the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, and Oman Sea, and it looks like the US will continue to maintain its naval fleet in the Persian Gulf for the next three decades.
Strategic Council Online: US discontent with Adel Abdul Mahdi’s foreign policy shift toward China and Russia and the issue of the Resistance are among the factors fueling the recent protests in Iraq.
Hadi Alami Fariman – Foreign Policy Expert
Strategic Council Online: Most of the OPEC member states are Saudi allies who have taken anti-Iranian positions on various occasions, and more than OPEC they have sought to strengthen the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.
Reza Majidzadeh – Researcher in Political Economy of Development
Strategic Council Online: Russia seeks to thwart US efforts to build coalitions in the region. Moscow sees the US plan as very dangerous that could both increase military presence in the region and enhance the likelihood of conflicts. So the Kremlin is trying to prevent the US-led coalition from escalating tensions in the region.
Mahmoud Shouri – Russia Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: A strategic affairs expert says a new round of tariff war between Europe and the United States appears to have been shaped. He added that a series of issues has made trade disputes between the two sides more complex, especially if Trump puts into effect his threat to significantly raise car import and parts tariffs from Europe to the United States it would be like a bomb that would completely change the bilateral trade relations.
Strategic Council Online: A university lecturer on international relations says although German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to China apparently portrays a picture of limited economic and political cooperation between the two countries, nonetheless, the event reveals that behind the scene, the world’s two big economic powers with their economic potential have declared an unannounced war against US President Donald Trump’s trade war. The negotiations held and the agreements reached between Berlin and Beijing too point to this very point.
Strategic Council Online: As international economic observers and analysts expected, the joint meeting of world central bank governors held in New York was more newsworthy than the previous years.
Central Bank of England Governor’s remarks that the world should end its risky reliance on the dollar became the most controversial position taken by a senior economic official at the summit.
Hamideh Safamanesh – International Relations Researcher
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, referring to the country’s rich oil and natural resources, said Russia and China have great interests in Venezuela and if the current situation continues there, it could turn into a war between the major powers.
Strategic Council Online: China-US trade war has become one of the most important issues in international relations over the past two years and has experienced numerous ups and downs including imposing mutual tariffs on imported goods and the on and off-trade negotiations between the two countries.
Assadollah Kaveh – China Affairs Expert
