Strategic Council Online: Under the current circumstances, the US will maintain a presence in Syria, in the form that it will relinquish less important regions either to Turkey or even indirectly to Russia or Damascus central government, but it will still keep sensitive centres like oil wells or strategic points that it thinks could cut off the communication lines between Iran and the Mediterranean under control.
Amir Ali Abolfateh – American Affairs Expert
Strategic Council Online: Any insecurity on the international waterways will not only disrupt the security and infrastructure of the regional countries, but will also increase the insecurity of international politics and economics due to the link between world economy and politics and the region.
Nozar Shafiei – Expert on Foreign Policy Issues
Strategic Council Online: An expert on regional affairs said that the situation in Turkey is very fragile nowadays, noting that the United States has actually put Turkey into a wasp nest that would be very difficult for Ankara to get rid of.
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: Norway’s ambassador to Iran said, unfortunately, unilateral US sanctions after the Iran Nuclear Agreement (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) made it difficult for Norway and Iran to cooperate in the field of energy.
Strategic Council Online: A university professor said the recent developments in the region made it less likely for a Persian Gulf maritime alliance to get shaped, adding that when tension rises countries may declare in the political arena that they favor coalition or not but in the true dimensions of the coalition, countries are much less likely to welcome the idea because there is concern that the alliance would actually engage in military conflict.
Strategic Council Online: A Middle East affairs expert says the Saudi policy is one of destructive proxy policy, adding that the Saudi behavior is a function of the policies of the United States, the West and the Zionist regime. He further pointed out that despite Saudi policy of “buying security from the US”, the recent strike on Saudi oil facilities showed the weakness of the military-security structure of the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Strategic Council Online: Former Iranian ambassador to China says given China’s capabilities and its willingness to counter US demands, the opportunity for cooperation between Tehran and Beijing has increased in certain contexts.
Strategic Council Online: On the one hand, Iran is sending a message to the West that Tehran has many different options for coalition making in the Persian Gulf, and on the other hand, the Russians are sending a message to Western countries that if they want to raise the level of tension in the region Moscow is also capable of playing a role in the Persian Gulf.
Shoaib Bahman – Russian Affairs Expert
