James Spencer
The Washington Post reports that “The Pentagon is looking to increase support for Saudi Arabia’s two-year-old war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Pentagon views increased support for the Saudi-led coalition as one way of potentially pushing back against Iran’s influence in Yemen, as well as shoring up ties with an ally that felt neglected by the previous administration.”

Roy van Eijsden
International port and shipping sector is looking to Iran as one of the most interesting growth opportunities in years and volume growth is imminent.

Tyler Cullis
Congress is in an apparent race with the Trump administration to see who can pose the greater threat to the sustainability of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)–the nuclear accord between the United States, other major world powers, and Iran.

Zabihullah Jafari
Following the nuclear agreement with the world powers, the peaceful nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran was officially recognized and Iran’s nuclear rights within the framework of international covenants were fully respected.

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.