Vatanka Reports
News and Analysis on the Greater Middle East 
 

Iran's government has characterized an international plan designed to resolve a crisis revolving around the country's nuclear research program as a "step forward."

Despite the woeful rights record of President Islam Karimov's administration, Uzbekistan has been one of the top recipients of US security assistance in Central Asia in recent years.

As I disembarked from my flight at Tehran I recalled my previous visit to Iran in 2000, when Iranian immigration officials at Mehrabad Airport were rather frosty.

After seeing a significant erosion of Syrian influence in Beirut, underscored by the recent Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon, Iranian leaders are working vigorously to preserve Tehran's geopolitical position in the Middle East.

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards (IRGC), Brigadier General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said on 8 October that U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are merely the foundations of an expansionist U.S. military strategy to subdue the entire Middle East, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Azerbaijan is counting on the development of the Caspian Basin's energy resources to secure its economic future.

The Moscow hostage crisis appears to have reinforced Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent to crush Chechen separatism. Despite signs of war-weariness among the Russian population, Putin appears ready to shun negotiations and prolong Russia's military campaign in Chechnya.

Iranian-Russian relations are approaching a reckoning point. In recent months, Moscow has striven to remain on good terms with both the United States and Iran, two countries whose own bilateral relations have been marked by growing hostility.

With just a few days left before Iranians head to the polls, it is clear that the June 28 presidential election is not exciting the country’s voters. After several televised debates, some of which have been mildly contentious, the six men in the race — the only candidates approved by the Guardian Council — have failed to energize the public.

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