Seyed Hossein Mousavian
Anyone who follows international politics knows that the rivalry between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is bitter and has exacerbated the various conflicts raging across the Middle East. Relations between the two Persian Gulf power centers took a turn for the worse after the Arab Spring, as power vacuums emerged throughout the region, and further deteriorated when the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers successfully concluded in 2015. In recent months, however, there have been signs of progress toward reconciliation between Iran and the GCC.

The first comments following the official meeting between Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi Prime Minister, and Donald Trump, the US President, in Washington are indicative of a new approach in Iraq’s political scene.

Jamal Abdi, Adam Weinstein
When Trump won the elections, many worried that it could lead to war between the United States and Iran, due to his desire to kill the Iran nuclear deal. Now, thanks to the U.S. Senate, we may be one step closer to this nightmare scenario: The Senate is poised to pass legislation that will place President Trump’s trigger-happy finger on the ignition switch of a deadly conflict with Iran.

Mark N. Katz
The successful meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Moscow on March 28 indicates that the two leaders have similar views not just on Syria, but on several other issues. Still, areas of disagreement between them remain, even when it comes to issues on which they’re broadly cooperative.

Hamidreza Azizi
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is on an official two-day visit to Moscow, meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues. 

Abby Sewell
Despite tough talk by US President Donald Trump, Iran is still committed to the nuclear deal agreed in 2015, according to analysts at a conference on nuclear energy in the Middle East.

Jahangir Karami
In practice, Iran and Russia had significant security cooperation in the past few years of the Syrian crisis and this extended to the operational level in the military field. Although this cooperation is vital and effective for their interests and for stability and security in the Middle East, but can we really consider these actions as a strategic alliance or strategic cooperation?

Gary Lewis
Returning to the barren landscape after almost four years, I was able to see water. Not nearly enough, but much more than last time. The lake is reviving. And this revival is the result of an immensely successful collaborative effort involving many players – some Iranian, some foreign.

Hossein Malaek
President Hassan Rouhani will pay an official visit to Moscow on March 28, 2017. The importance of Rouhani’s visit lies in the fact that Tehran-Moscow relations have now moved to a new level, and there is need for talks at a higher level between officials of the two countries.

Melkulangara Bhadrakumar
The common thread running through the two major ‘hot spots’ in the Middle East today – the conflicts in Syria and Libya – is undoubtedly the threat to international security from the extremist groups operating in these theatres