Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Analysis: Update from Iran nuclear talks

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Months of talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to be reaching a conclusion – despite Tehran’s refusal to negotiate directly with the Biden administration. The news from the Vienna talks – which began in April 2021 but were then paused for months following the election…

In Brief: Israel sends diplomats to Vienna for nuclear talks

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Israeli diplomats have travelled to Vienna to meet negotiators involved in talks aiming to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal for the first time since the Vienna talks resumed last April. The Israeli delegation, headed by deputy director general of strategic affairs at the Foreign Ministry Joshua Zarka…

Analysis: Shifting sands in the Middle East

Naftali Bennett lauded a new “regional architecture of moderate countries” in the Middle East as he left Bahrain on Tuesday evening, completing the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister to the Gulf State. What happened Bennett’s visit to Bahrain saw the prime minister meet with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad…

In Brief: Renewed nuclear deal ‘in sight’ but not certain, claims US

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. The Biden administration said on Monday that a renewed deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme was possible, but that any agreement had to be completed urgently as Tehran advances its capabilities. Negotiations in Vienna, which began last summer, were halted at the end of January, before being…

In Brief: US fills International Fund board for coexistence projects

The US Agency for International Development last week announced appointments to an advisory board to recommend how to distribute $250 million in funding for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence projects. The filling of the board is a major step forward since the passing of the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act that passed Congress in December…

Analysis: PLO and behold

Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons A rare meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Central Council held this week strengthened the position of Mahmoud Abbas and dropped further clues as to the long-standing president’s potential eventual successor. What happened Abbas loyalists joined the PLO’s Executive Committee and will head its top decision-making body, the National Council.…

Steps to a two state solution: Ensure enforcement of UNSCR 1701, international action to prevent Hezbollah’s precision-missile project and attacks on Israel

Steps to a two state solution: For Israel, for Palestine, for peace Step Nine: Ensure enforcement of UNSCR 1701, international action to prevent Hezbollah’s precision-missile project and attacks on Israel UN Security Council Resolution 1701 brought to an end the bloody 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and terror group Hezbollah. Hezbollah is committed to the destruction of…

In Brief: Kuwait see calls for diplomatic normalisation with Israel

Map of Kuwait > Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The editor-in-chief of the Arab Times newspaper has written a passionate editorial calling for Kuwait and other Gulf states to normalise diplomatic ties with Israel, ahead of Israeli president Herzog’s historic first visit to the UAE this week. President Herzog landed in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, having flown…

Analysis: Houthis attack UAE as peace with Israel celebrated

President Isaac Herzog meets Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan > WAM handout/AFP President Isaac Herzog arrived in Abu Dhabi this week, paying the first visit by an Israeli head of state to the United Arab Emirates. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a ballistic missile at the Emirates during the visit – the…

In Brief: Gulf states slam Palestinian groups for supporting Houthis

Yemeni civil war map > Ali Zifan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Palestinian terror groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad received sharp criticism from Gulf states over the weekend due to their condemnation of Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain launched scathing attacks on the Palestinian groups for their alleged support…