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UN Warns ISIL/Daesh Remains a Persistent Global Threat at the Security Council Briefing
22 August 2025
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Region
Iran and Afghanistan
Stories under this heading cover Iran and Afghanistan.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan Transit Requires Bilateral and Regional Dialogue
31 July 2025
Uncertainty has again emerged along the Armenia-Iran border as the risk of the long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan turning into further geopolitical competition continues. What was once a post-war localised disagreement over territory and sovereignty is now entangled in a web of regional interests and strategic manoeuvring. Increasingly, peace risks being shaped less by the needs of local populations but more by the calculations of distant capitals. External interference has rather delayed progress almost five years since the 2020 war. If peace is the objective, then the region needs inclusive not selective diplomacy and definitely not new geopolitical fault lines.
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Israel launches an air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure
13 June 2025
On Friday (13 June), a series of powerful explosions were heard and seen across Iran, following a large-scale Israeli air campaign targeting the country's military infrastructure. In a prerecorded video released early on Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the strikes were aimed at nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile factories inside Iran. According to Netanyahu, the strikes were necessary to delay what he described as an imminent nuclear threat.
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Oman to mediate high level Iran – US nuclear talks in Rome
19 April 2025
The United States and Iran are set to resume high-stakes talks on Saturday 19 April on Tehran's nuclear programme, a week after an initial round of discussions that both sides described as "constructive". Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will hold the Oman-mediated talks in Rome. They come one week after the two sides held what Iran called indirect talks in Muscat. Those were the first talks at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.
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Opinion: Iran's Nuclear Program - Behind Sanctions and Diplomatic Tensions
17 March 2025
The history of Iran's nuclear program coincides with the period of the Shah’s regime, when relations with the United States were significantly stronger than they are today. In 1957, during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Tehran signed a "civil nuclear cooperation agreement" with its ally, the United States. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and in the context of the events that followed, including the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, relations between Iran and the U.S. sharply deteriorated. These events also had a negative impact on the steps taken within the nuclear program.
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US launches powerful air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen
17 March 2025
The US has launched what it called a decisive and powerful wave of air strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday as part of efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Yemen's Houthi rebels say there have been fresh US strikes against them, with the number of dead rising to 53, including five children. Targets in the Al Jaouf and Hudaydah areas were hit early on Monday, according to the rebel group, while the US Central Command said its forces had continued operations throughout the weekend. Washington says some key Houthi figures are among the dead, but the group has not confirmed this.
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Opinion: Third meeting of 3+3 and reconfiguration of the South Caucasus geopolitics
23 October 2024
On 18 October, the 3+3 regional cooperation platform which hypothetically includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia “plus” three surrounding powers (Türkiye, Iran, and Russia) convened the third meeting at the ministerial level, though again without the participation of Georgia. Hosted by Türkiye in Istanbul, the meeting took place amidst a sensitive security situation in the wider region due to the ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine war, the potential Iran-Israel war, the upcoming fateful parliamentary elections in Georgia, and certainly, the persisting challenges in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.
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Russia agrees to withdraw border guards from the Armenian-Iranian border
9 October 2024
On Tuesday (8 October), Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed at the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to withdraw Russian border guards from the Armenian-Iranian frontier as of January 2025 and replace them with Armenian border guards. In addition, the Turkish border will be guarded by both Russian and Armenian guards.
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US strengthens military fleet in Middle East
12 August 2024
In a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Gallant, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin promised that an aircraft carrier already on its way to the Middle East would be speeded up. The US is also sending a nuclear submarine with guided missiles - the USS Georgia - to the region. The US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has been in the region for some time and will soon be joined by the USS Abraham Lincoln, which will carry advanced Joint Strike Fighter jets.
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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iranian capital Tehran
31 July 2024
Hamas's top political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in the Iranian capital Tehran, Hamas and Iranian state media reported early Wednesday morning (31 July). Haniyeh was killed in an attack on the house where he was staying, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said in a statement, according to international news agencies. One of his bodyguards was also killed in the attack. Hamas called it "a cowardly act that will not go unpunished".