Iran’s nuclear issue has been a focus of attention for both the Republican and Democrat candidates during 2012 election hustings. In fact, Iran was among issues to which both rival candidates have paid special attention since the beginning of election campaigns. 

After serving as the prime minister of Jordan for a short period of five months, Fayez al-Tarawneh was replaced by Abdullah Ensour. Without a doubt, high criticism of al-Tarawneh played the main role in his dismissal, though his deposition has been apparently carried out through legal means. The question is what will be the implication of changing prime ministers and other developments surrounding such a change for Jordan in view of the present circumstances in the Arab country?

Since al-Qaeda has resumed its activities in Yemen after a three-year interregnum, its operations as well as the number of its members and supporters in the Arab country have been constantly on the rise. As a result, during the past three years, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda has been at times described as the most active subsidiary of al-Qaeda in the Arab world. What implications can such horrible punishments, especially public display of such crimes, have for the Yemeni society under the present circumstances in the country?
 

After being invaded by the United States and termination of the protectorate state between two countries, the new Iraq has been trying since 2005 to regain its past regional role. The calculated and pragmatic policies which have been adopted by Iraqi leaders in relation to the ongoing developments in the region have helped the country to get closer to its goals at regional and international levels in 2012 more than any time before.

A review of mutual motivations of Iraq and Russia for the expansion of interactions clearly proves that plurality of power sources at international and regional levels under new global conditions, diversity of political players as well as variations in strategic interests and approaches can give birth to different levels of relations among major global political players and powers.

After the fall of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, Iraq has been the scene of political rivalry between the United States and Iran as two major foreign players in the country, each trying to have its own influence on the new trend of state building in the Arab country.

Almost 11 years after the invasion of Afghanistan by the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under the lead of the United States, and the downfall of the Islamic State of Taliban in Kabul, the International Crisis Group has published a relatively lengthy report about the future outlook of Afghanistan. Focusing on the perspective of the country following the withdrawal of foreign forces in 2014, and the new presidential elections in Afghanistan, the report has expressed obvious concern over the situation in the country.

Europeans should not forget that just in the same way that the time interval between obtaining the Nobel Peace prize and adopting new unilateral sanctions against Iran was only three days, the peace and security in the Middle East can be done away with in even less than three days. However, it will take decades for the international system to restore security and stability to this region.

The world-famous Iranian film director, who is currently making his new film, Muhammad (PBUH) on the life of Prophet of Islam (PBUH), addressed the Istanbul World Forum on Saturday October 13, asking why Israel can stockpile up to 300 nuclear warheads in its nuclear arsenal without allowing international bodies to inspect them. The forum was held on October 13-14, 2012, at Istanbul Congress Center in Turkey.

Awarding this year’s Nobel Peace prize to the European Union last Friday has not only taken many European print media by surprise, but also proved existing doubts about the political nature of the prize.