Under present circumstances and in view of the unprecedented economic problems with which all Western countries are grappling, the United States is by no means ready to get involved in another military faceoff in the region. Israel is willing to wage another war in the Middle East at the cost of the United States as this will provide Netanyahu with an opportunity to take advantage of the subsequent chaos and build more settler units on the Palestinian lands.

Following reelection of Barak Obama as the president of the United States and introduction of his new national security team, the main question posed by experts on the US foreign policy as well as international issues was in what direction will Obama’s foreign policy move during his second term?

Although almost two years have remained before the next presidential election in Afghanistan, campaigns aimed at gaining the power have already started at an extraordinary level. It seems that the challenge of power struggle in Afghanistan stems from different realities and various expectations of active political currents which have their roots in specific ethnic and religious affiliations. In a general overview, the aforesaid challenges can be analyzed at two levels.

Under these circumstances, it seems that as long as banking and financial sanctions against Iran are in effect, foreign banks and other financial institutions will remain concerned about the economic and legal costs of possible financial interactions with the Islamic Republic. This situation will greatly reduce the chances of Iranian importers for purchasing necessary medicines and raw materials which are needed for the production of medicines inside the country.

In view of Rice’s approach, it seems that the United States has a long-term plan for the Middle East parts of which are sometimes leaked through such articles. The main pillar of that plan is radical principlism based on the existing conflicts between Shias and Sunnis, on the one hand, and between principlist Muslims and liberal – secular tendencies, on the other hand. War is apparently a major component of the West’s approach to the Middle East and such wars are incited on the basis of endless religious, ethnic and cultural tensions in the region.

Herman M.G. Nackaerts, the deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Tehran on Wednesday January 16, 2013, for intense negotiations with the Iranian officials in order to reach a plan for the resolution of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue. This was the seventh round of talks between the two sides which was held to find an overarching solution to the existing differences between Iran and the IAEA. Before leaving the Vienna Airport for Iran, Nackaerts told reporters that the Agency would aim during Wednesday negotiations to finalize a structural agreement with Iran in order to resume its investigations of Iran's nuclear activities.

The Egyptian president said Cairo does not allow any harm to be done to the security of the Persian Gulf and the Arab countries. He also used a fake name for the Persian Gulf. All these efforts show that Morsi has launched an all-out effort to bring to life the nationalistic sentiments of Arabs, also known as “pan-Arabism.” Morsi's remarks have provided us with a good opportunity to discuss the issue of Arab NATO with experts and ask them about the reasons why Morsi has come up with this proposal and what the outcome(s) of his proposal could be.

The announcement about a 15-percent fall in Iran oil imports by Japan and India on the eve of 2013, though considered by some analysts as a propaganda ploy to obtain waivers from US on Iran sanctions, shows that major oil customers of Iran are carefully assessing the risk of supplying their needed energy from the Islamic Republic.

At any rate, despite growing opposition inside Afghanistan and at regional level to presence of foreign forces in the war-ravaged country, and although the government in Kabul has voiced its discontent with the behavior of the American troops during the past 12 years, the fate of Afghans has been tied to the presence of big foreign forces in that country. This link is expected to remain extant for the foreseeable future. 

The recent wave of tribal unrest in Sunni-dominated provinces in the west of Iraq and increased activities against the central government of Iraq by a Western - Arab axis in the region are notable developments from a number of viewpoints. The above developments followed the recent arrest of Mohammed Al-Majhool, head of the Iraqi Finance Minister Rafie Al-Issawi’s security guard in addition to nine bodyguards of the minister on December 19, 2012.