News : Middle East

By INU Staff

INU - Last week, two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman were attacked. The United States, very soon afterwards, said that it was clear Iran was behind the attacks. Iran, of course, denied playing any part in it.

There are major concerns that this is going to spark a war – something that the region does not need considering all the recent bloodshed. The Trump administration is also claiming that it does not want there to be a war, but admits that it cannot just ignore Iran’s actions.

By INU Staff

INU - On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Tehran for the purpose of adding to a series of efforts by international policymakers to counteract the escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States. It was the first visit to the Islamic Republic by a Japanese head of state since the current government was founded in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

By Edward Carney

It was reported on Wednesday that Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen and permanent resident of the United States who has been held hostage in Iran since 2015, is scheduled to be released in the coming days. Zakka was one of several US nationals who were taken prisoner on false or unsubstantiated charges in the aftermath of that year’s Iran nuclear agreement, even though its implementation coincided with the release of four individuals who had previously been arrested and prosecuted. His pending release is arguably a rare sign of progress in discussions related to the Iranian regime’s penchant for hostage taking, although it may also be interpreted as a response to Zakka’s Lebanese nationality, rather than his American residency.

By Edward Carney

Escalating tensions between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran were prominently featured in global media on Monday, after White House National Security Advisor John Bolton issued a statement the prior evening, announcing the deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the waters of the Middle East. Details of the deployment were sparse, but Bolton identified the destination as the area of operations for the US Navy’s Central Command, which is based on Bahrain and is responsible for managing threats from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf.

By Dr Salem Al Ketbi

The Iranian mullahs have no other project than the sectarianist, expansionist plans of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that have brought chaos and turmoil to the Middle East.

Considering that the military arm of the mullahs’ regime is the IRGC, and not the Iranian army, the major powers have long refrained from tackling the threats of these reckless militias.

By Edward Carney

On Thursday, the White House’s strategy of exerting pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran through regional partnerships faced a new obstacle when it was reported that the Egyptian government had pulled out of an emerging alliance of Middle Eastern nations, a major focus of which is curtailing Iranian influence and imperialism. The prospective coalition, known formally as the Middle East Strategic Alliance and informally as an “Arab NATO” is to be coordinated by the United States in partnership with Saudi Arabia, with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Jordan all serving as members.