Strategic Council Online—Opinion: Any attempt by Europe to designate the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps–a sovereign body and part of the official defense force of the Islamic Republic of Iran—as a terrorist organization will affect the interests and national security of European countries before it harms the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hamid Khoshayand—Expert of regional issues
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Politics in general, including foreign policy, followed by political action and diplomatic measure, appears natural and is more welcomed when it can emerge from a country’s worldview and its civilizational, historical, moral, religious and political customs. Otherwise, it will not achieve much success. Compliance with the principles may sometimes cause an apparent loss to the holder in the short term, but compliance with the principles will benefit everyone in the long run.
Mohsen Baharvand – Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A university professor stated that China’s attempt to expand the use of the Yuan has political and economic consequences, adding that the US traditional allies have begun to get closer to China and expand the volume of their trade relations with it and this affects the world economy and US superior role in determining financial policies and international trade and will have consequences on US political and international power.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Europe affairs, stating that Europe does not have its former role in the new US strategy and that the weight of the Union has decreased with the withdrawal of Britain, said: Ideas such as “Made in Europe” cannot, at least in the short term, dissolve the concerns of the Union. In the long run, it may be able to solve some challenges to some extent by creating processes, but such a transformation will not happen in the 3 to 4 year period.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: French President Emmanuel Macron for some time has been thinking about improving Europe’s position and role in NATO and reducing the US influence. But the political and security equations of Europe show against the wishes of the French president.
Morteza Makki – Expert on Europe affairs
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Greek Citizen Protection Minister Teodorikakos has announced that the country has launched a project to build a fence with an aim of preventing the crossing of illegal immigrants and the decision of the Greek government to build a 140 km fence on the Oros border (land border with Turkey) is definite.
Athens will fence the entire length of its land border with Turkey and on the European border with Turkey. Construction of the first 35 kilometers of this fence will begin immediately. The government has made its decision and the Ministry of Civil Protection is obliged to implement it. The Greek Ministry of Civil Protection is currently waiting for the official approval of this project from the Ministry of Finance.
Mahmoud Fazeli – International affairs analyst
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An analyst of international affairs commenting on the European Union’s request that North Korea should take credible and verifiable steps with an aim of complete and irreversible denuclearization of the country said: The issue that European countries, under the current situation, are trying to make comments over North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons, is a matter of great consideration.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert on European issues emphasized that what the Europeans put forward regarding the warnings concerning the end of weapons and expressing hope for the end of the war in Ukraine and the start of negotiations, is analyzed in the framework of their demands, but they do not have the ability to achieve this demand and in terms of military power are also heavily dependent on America.
Strategic Council online – Opinion: In its recent meeting in Germany, G-7 has introduced a new infra-structural plan which is considered, in a way, as a competitor to China’s One Belt – One Road initiative. The objective of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) is to allocate $ 600 billion for global infrastructural projects in countries with low and medium-income within the next five years.
Alireza Samoudi, Expert on European Affairs
Strategic Council Online – Interview: Having stated that signing of Joint Communication on Strategic Partnership is the reflection of European leaders’ concern about expansion of ties among countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council with China and particularly Russia at present junction, an expert of West Asia Affairs said:” Joint Communication on Strategic Partnership may prepare a more suitable ground for increased security presence of Europeans in the Persian Gulf region in future”.
Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Although various questions and hypotheses have been raised about the reason why India and the European Union returned to negotiating table on Comprehensive Trade and Investment Agreement talks after a long pause, despite the importance of economic and trade issues on the foreign policy of both sides, it seems that the most important and essential impetus for New Delhi and Brussels were new geopolitical realities for the revival of negotiations and making effort to reach the Agreement.
Hossein Sayahi, Researcher of International Affaires
Strategic Council Online-Interview: “Even if European countries put the issue of sanctions on Russia’s oil on the agenda seriously, they do not seem to be able to put it into practice such sanctions,” said a professor of political economy.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: An analyst of Europe affairs, believes that Emmanuel Macron has not had a successful economic record in the past five years, noting that if he can lead Europe to an independent defense-security arrangement, he will use it in the election campaign; but despite Europe’s numerous challenges, the EU does not seem to be able to easily achieve its security goals on the basis of an independent defense policy.
Strategic Council Online – Interview: A member of Scientific Board affiliated to the Research Center for Strategic Studies mentioned the lack of pragmatic political will as the most important impediment for realization of the EU Strategic Compass and said:” EU is facing a number of challenges in the process of the realization of the strategy that make its realization doubtful in mid-term and add it to the list of inapplicable aspirations of the Union”.
Strategic Council Online – The deputy of Iran Cyber Defense Command, stating that technological progress, in addition to having different advantages, also creates new problems, said: The United States, the Zionist regime, and their regional allies are working to increase their operational access to our infrastructures by taking advantage of the advancement in cyberspace-related technologies.
Strategic Council Online – Formation of government has always been the most complex and difficult political process in Lebanon, which is typically slow and has become one of the most challenging issues in that country for many years. The new era, which began with the resignation of Saad Hariri as prime minister and following October 2019 protests in Lebanon, entered a complex and tense path up to now when “Najib Mikati” has been appointed by Michel Aoun to form a new government.
Barsam Mohammadi – Analyst of international affairs
Strategic Council Online – An expert on geopolitical affairs believes that since the inauguration of Donald Trump, issues such as bringing NATO under question, the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Union and the US President’s cooperation with China have become very controversial for European countries, especially France, and this issue has been raised that Europe should be independent of the United States and, in fact, stand on its own feet.
Strategic Council Online – An Iranian diplomat, stating that the agreement of European leaders on approving the budget to counteract the effects of the recession caused by the corona outbreak, was the cause of halting or slowing down the divergence process of the Union. He said: They did so in order to preserve Europe, and this is a message not only to the United States but to the whole world, that they are determined to preserve Europe from collapse and to boost its values and capabilities.
Strategic Council Online: Regarding the coordination of European approaches and policies with the United States, especially during the presidency of Donald Trump, it should be noted that Europeans are strategically aligned with the Americans, but the way to realize their goals and tactics is different from Washington.
Morteza Maki – Expert on European Affairs
Strategic Council Online — An expert on European affairs said the current situation and the coronavirus crisis are by far more dangerous than any previous crisis for the crisis-hit European Union, adding “yet the idea that the EU might collapse as a result of these crises is naïve and fanatical.”
