Strategic Council Online—Interview: A university professor, referring to the national reconciliation and peace accord in Libya, said conditions of the peace accord in Libya is fragile because the weight and share of Libyan groups have not been properly examined and these issues will be influential in the period after elections.
Strategic Council Online – The former Director-General of the Middle East Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the interests of governments and regional powers in the Middle East are in conflict and trans-regional players too are not interested in its stability and security, said: In case relations with Saudi Arabia are organized through diplomacy and differences are resolved through negotiation it would help improve the two countries’ position in the world.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Africa studies says the United Nations Secretary General’s proposal to send international observers to guarantee and monitor the ceasefire in Libya aims to expedite the process of state-building in that country.
Strategic Council Online – An analyst on Caucasus affairs said: It seems that one of the consequences of the Second Karabakh War and lack of the Russian support for Armenia was that Russia, under geopolitical and territorial pressure, influenced the energy transfer issue and brought the war to a point to play its role in the ceasefire.
Strategic Council Online – An analyst of the Caucasus affairs believes that in negotiations in the aftermath of the second Karabakh war, issues have been taken into consideration that is not in the interest of lasting peace in the region, but in line with addressing the targets and objectives pursued by regional and trans-regional players. According to him, now the main issue has been overshadowed by the secondary issues.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of geopolitical issues says rapprochement between Qatar and other countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and Saudi Arabia’s backtrack in its primary positions and conditions indicated the failure of Riyadh unilateralism.
Strategic Council Online – Turkey has started its foreign policy in the New Year with fear and hope. Its relations with the United States, the European Union, Greece, Russia, the Zionist regime, Syria and Saudi Arabia are among Turkey’s most important challenges.
Mahmoud Fazeli – International affairs analyst
Strategic Council Online – Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy Department at Allameh Tabatabaei University, explaining the features of the Russian and Chinese SWIFTs, said: What could become the strong point of the Chinese and Russian SWIFTs is that if the volume, number, and scope of US sanctions expands in the world; those could become the SWIFT of the US-sanctioned block, and they could gain tremendous maneuvering power in the world of economics.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of Turkish affairs says growing relations between Turkey and Lebanon in political and economic fronts and other areas of mutual interest would pave the way for more role-playing even limited by Turkey in the political scene of Lebanon.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of West Asia affairs says political Islam enjoys the capacity of turning into a model of community among the Muslim Ummah, adding that the Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are opposed to political Islamic because they think it threatens their rule.
Strategic Council Online – Note: Iran and Turkey are the two important countries in the West Asia region and inheritors of great empires and historical hegemony that have always been in “competition and cooperation” with each other. Although the two countries have different and sometimes competitive roles and effects in the region and disagree on various issues, those differences have never meant ignoring and overshadowing the many common interests in bilateral relations.
Hamid Khoshayand – International Affairs Analyst
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of the subcontinent issues says there is now an opportunity for Pakistan to return to the relations and cooperation it had in the past with Iran and Turkey within the framework of the regional cooperation organizations.
Strategic Council Online – Joe Biden, despite repeatedly emphasizing his support for Israel, opposes some of Trump’s unilateral actions on the issue of peace, the annexation of more territories in the West Bank, and calls for the US to return to the two-state solution.
Dr. Tahmoures Gholami – Expert on American Issues
Strategic Council Online—Interview: An expert of West Asia affairs says efforts and measures taken by General Soleimani would be recorded in history as an utter fiasco for the United States as he played a significant role in establishing security and stability in the region.
Strategic Council Online—Editorial: Due to consciously cooperation with Russian arms company Rosoboronexport and the purchase of the S-400 missile defense systems, Turkey has gone under US sanctions of CAATSA as Washington does not tolerate interaction with Russia in military domains by other countries. The purchase of S-400 missile defense systems by Turkey has endangered the safety of the US military personnel and technology and would provide access for Russia to the armed forces and defense industries of Turkey. The main goal of US sanctions on Turkey is to prevent Russia from reaping huge financial gains and accessing and impacting the NATO defense systems. US Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo has asked Turkey to resolve the issue of S-400 with long-term cooperation in the defense sector and adapt once again itself with the rules of NATO and the purchase of arms compatible with this military alliance treaty.
Mahmoud Fazeli, expert of international issues
Strategic Council Online – Europe is pursuing a kind of “tilt but don’t spill” attitude towards Turkey, based on which it is neither indifferent nor reacts harshly.
Afshin Zargar – PhD in International Relations, Faculty Member
Strategic Council Online – A faculty member of the School of International Relations said that after a hard Brexit, in the medium and long term we will be witness to a decreased political, military and economic presence of Britain in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, adding: The United Kingdom will increase its coordination with the United States in the Persian Gulf, while trying to introduce new cards for playing in the region.
Strategic Council Online – A faculty member of Tarbiat Modares University, stating that Turkey seeks to revive its soft power with the idea of regional convergence, said: Details of this plan, its common interests and threats are not clear and there is an ambiguity that basically to what extent bringing those countries together can be realistic and practical.
Strategic Council Online – An expert on West Asia affairs assessed the US letter to Ansarollah and the attempt to negotiate with them as a sign of the effectiveness of the Resistance and said: One of the factors that led Mohammed bin Salman to resort to the United States for putting an end to the war in Yemen is the issue of balance of power which has now changed in favour of Ansarollah.
Strategic Council Online—Interview: A researcher of the Caucasus region says the opposition of some political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan to the ceasefire deal with the Republic of Armenia can play a significant role given the Caucasus conflict has not yet been finished.
