Vatanka Reports
News and Analysis on the Greater Middle East 
 

The US views talks with the Houthis as a way to contain the scope of the conflict with Iran, while Tehran sees them as a means to translate military gains in the Red Sea into political gains

Europe did not choose the war with Iran, and most European governments still resist describing themselves as participants in it. But six months of military basing, missile-defense drawdowns, energy shocks, sanctions pressure and planning for possible migration crisis have made that distance harder to sustain.

Renewed US engagement with the region before the midterms and an understanding with Iran are necessary to seal the success.

The appointments show how Tehran is drawing lessons from successive wars and preparing for a prolonged period of insecurity

The US is betting that a sustained blockade can force Iran to make concessions on Hormuz. Iran is betting that rising economic pressure from the strait's closure will force the US to blink first.

While Ruhollah Khomeini built the revolution, his successor Ali Khamenei built a state designed to survive him. With his son and heir Mojtaba absent from the funeral, what next for the regime?

If the United States wants the cease-fire to last, it needs to take Tehran’s politics seriously.

The war exposed how divided Iran's right has always been and handed each faction a new weapon to wield against the other

Tehran has emerged from the US-Iran war more willing to take risks, less constrained by fears of escalation, and more convinced military pressure can yield results

In March there was talk of armed Kurdish fighters opening a second front in Iran’s north-west, but it never happened—for several very good reasons.

The argument is over the price and presentation, not the basic instinct to preserve the system

The standoff in the Hormuz is not simply a question of whether Tehran can survive economic pressure, but whether Washington can sustain the pressure at an acceptable cost.