The number of people who said don’t go to Iran was really astounding, even more so now that I’ve been there and back. The country is a pleasant surprise in many respects. It is very clean, very green, very organised. People are […]
Debate has raged in recent days over an article in Foreign Affairs in which Matthew Kroenig of the Council on Foreign Relations argues that the United States should not flinch from launching a military operation, and soon, to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities before Iran achieves nuclear […]
By Andrew Hammond and Mitra Amiri DUBAI/TEHRAN, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Iran denied on Monday it had any link to an alleged plot to stage attacks in Bahrain and a lawyer for two accused men said reports they had confessed were not […]
Although Saudi Arabia has been manoeuvring to stymie the “Arab Spring” wherever it can, with the drama of an apparent Iranian conspiracy to murder Adel al-Jubair one might say, taking a bad metaphor further, its Springtime in Riyadh. Quite a few bottles of champagne […]
This Wikileaks cable from May 2006 – one of the latest released concerning Saudi Arabia – is interesting in light of the uprisings: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/05/06RIYADH3312.html (released 2 July 2011). It appears to be the conclusion of considerable research by the embassy – and hats off […]
I wasn’t so keen on writing this when I was asked to look into it – it’s highly speculative and who can know. It’s also tough to get anything concrete from Iranians inside Iran. I can see the value in going over […]
Abdelbari Atwan, the editor of al-Quds al-Arabi, says the Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf was looking for investments not direct aid handouts during his Gulf tour last week. But while he was received in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, the door was […]
Kuwait TV drama stirs debate on Gulf Arab ties with Iran http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/20/us-kuwait-idUSTRE69J6K420101020 Tweet
DUBAI Oct 13 (Reuters) – Arab Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims have welcomed a rare religious edict from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against insulting revered Sunni figures that could help stem sectarian tensions in the Gulf region. The fatwa issued on Sept. […]