Tim Anderson
Prof. Anderson is skeptical of the U.S.-Saudi collaboration in Syria and considers it a “toxic legacy” of the Cold War days: “The relationship between the Al Saud family and Washington is a toxic legacy of the Cold War, passed on by the British, who had learned “divide and rule” from the Romans. The Saudis are a family, not a nation, and it is surprising that their family business is recognized as a state in today’s world.”

Ja'far Haghpanah
The military and Islamic coalition purported by Saudi Arabia is mostly of a publicity nature and has not been created in practice. This issue is mostly due to problems which face the Saudi government in the Arabian Peninsula, especially in Yemen. It seems unlikely that such a coalition could be easily extended to cover Daesh in Iraq or Syria. This is true because in the first place, Saudi Arabia is not well fitted to lead such a coalition and its maneuvering room is more limited than other members of the block, especially Turkey. Secondly, these two countries are pursuing totally different goals. We know that Turkey has the upper hand as compared to Saudi Arabia.

Madawi Al-Rasheed
In an interview with Iran Review, a distinguished Saudi scholar said the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran played into the hands of Riyadh to give up its role as the aggressor and paint itself as a victim of Iranian aggression. Prof. Madawi Al-Rasheed believes tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are detrimental to the interests of the Arab world and give rise to sectarian and religious conflicts.

Pir-Mohammad Mollazehi
Pakistan is a country where, despite the existence of a Sunni majority, Shias are also a big population and due to this reason and also in view of the special position that Islamabad enjoys both in Tehran and Riyadh, Mr. Rouhani’s trip to this country proved that Iran has no interest in fanning the flames of sectarian and religious conflicts and intends to settle the existing disputes through political solutions.

Eli Clifton
An investigative journalist and reporter says the nuclear deal is not a bilateral agreement involving Iran and the United States, and five other nations, including some of the closest U.S. allies in NATO contributed to securing it, so a possible violation of the terms of the deal by the next American President would “pose a major breach of trust to some of the U.S.’s most important economic and military partners.”

‏William Harrop
The development of mutual respect and trust after generations of distance and animosity will be a gradual process in any case, but is possible and quite worth working for.

Sara Vakhshouri
There has been in fact a lot of exploration around the world; so, the companies had already explored a lot of resources globally. Now, they are looking into development. Therefore, development is the biggest kind of activity I think the oil companies are eyeing, and Iran has a huge opportunity for development in its oil industry.

Bahram Ghasemi
The future outlook of Iran's relations with Canada has been discussed in an interview with Bahram Ghasemi, Iran's former ambassador to Canada as well as the Islamic Republic’s former ambassador to Italy, Spain and Ireland. 

Gholamali Khoshroo
At any rate and in the real world, we, as a major regional power, and the United States, as a big global power, which is ectopically present in our region and in our periphery, including in the Persian Gulf will inevitably come face to face in certain cases. For example, such incidents as trespassing of two US Marines’ boats on Iran’s coastal waters and the likes of that can always take place and we must be ready and make necessary plans to prevent escalation of the situation and do not let such incidents get out of hand. 

Shireen T. Hunter
“Iran’s return to international community will undermine Saudi aspirations for regional supremacy, and even more its hopes that a U.S.-Iran military confrontation would weaken Iran to a point that it would not be a contender for regional power,” said Prof. Shireen T. Hunter in an interview with Iran Review.