Middle East Archives - Defence Monitor

26 May

The Third Eye: Raisi had built Iran as a key player in the Middle East

New Delhi: Reactions of the world community to the demise of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and some other Iranian dignitaries in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border on May 19, threw light on the importance of Iran as a prime mover behind the recent developments in the Middle East and the geopolitical alignments that are shaping up in the region around the increasing polarisation between the US on one hand and the Russia-China axis on the other. Raisi a hardliner conservative was appointed President of Iran in 2021 -- he had earlier succeeded over his pragmatic rival Hassan Rouhani…

01 Feb

China challenging US influence in Middle East

New Delhi, Feb 1, The International Court of Justice has asked Israel to take measures to prevent any acts that would constitute a genocide in Gaza. China supported the UN court's interim and non-binding ruling in the case brought by South Africa. Israel has rejected the latter's allegations. Since the war started with Hamas attacks on Israel over three months ago, at least 1,200 Israelis and more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed; more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza; and most Gazans are internally displaced. Analysts say China's statements on and diplomatic visits to the Middle East show it…

25 Nov

India caught between ‘West Asia’ and ‘Middle East’ (Pit Stop in DC)

Washington, Nov 24, India is Bharat and Bharat is India. But West Asia is not Middle East, or the other way around because although geographically contiguous, they are a world apart: the former is a geopolitical entity and the latter a byproduct of centuries of colonialism. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his ministry have been using the two terms interchangeably for the region in a marked departure from the past when the Indian officialdom went with "West Asia" from the time the ministry was created, according to anecdotal accounts cited by past and present diplomats. "We are gathered to…

29 Oct

Will Russia’s ‘bold, balanced’ bid for Middle East gain strategic heft?

New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) A day after the Hamas attack on Israel and the relentless Israeli bombardment that followed, Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit chose to head for Moscow to discuss the crisis, and at a joint press conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov unequivocally declared that a Palestinian state was the “most reliable” solution for peace and security, not fighting. Later that week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani was in Russia, and in a joint press meeting, President Vladimir Putin while castigating Hamas for its cruelty, fired a salvo at the US as he stressed that the…