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The Gulf |
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A case of dual use: Iran's free zones
The former president of Iran, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, envisioned Iran's Free and Special Economic Zones (F and SEZ) as a means of increasing the...
23-Oct-2009
Iraqi Kurds elect new prime minister
On 16 September, the parliament of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq elected Barham Salih as the region's new prime minister. According to Iraqi ...
24-Sep-2009
Cash woes overshadow education in UAE
The global economic downturn has taken a heavy toll on the Dubai economy. Yet its speed and severity means the emirate's slump has not been...
24-Sep-2009
Tehran's nuclear perspective
Viewed from the United States and Israel, the controversy over Iran's nuclear programme seems insoluble. Despite US President Barack Obama's diplomatic opening to Iran, the...
24-Sep-2009
Grand ayatollahs focus on regime legitimacy
In the days following Iran's contentious 12 June presidential elections, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani travelled to the city of Qom, Iran's theological centre, to...
27-Aug-2009
The future of GCC integration
In May, the London-based, pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi delivered a bleak assessment of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) progress on the 28th anniversary of ...
10-Aug-2009
Baghdad gives Sunnis rude Awakening
In 2007, Sunni militias in Iraq were confronted with a choice between imminent defeat by government-aligned Shia militias, which they saw at the time as...
13-Jul-2009
Saudi Arabia's king changes the guard
saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud carried out a major reshuffle of key ministries and institutions on 14 February, including replacing nearly every ...
12-May-2009
Leaders' mortality may sway Iraq's health
US President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq is predicated on an assumption that Iraq's stability is durable. On 29 January 2009, General...
17-Apr-2009
Ahmadinejad fails to budget for dissent
The global financial crisis has amplified Iran's economic woes in ways that have political implications for both the current government, which is facing a re-election...
03-Apr-2009
Iran's vibrant feminist movement
The far right Islamist faction ('Osoolgarayan' or principlists), who are in the ascendency since the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, considers Iran's burgeoning...
27-Mar-2009
Persian Gulf security: in flux or crisis?
The Persian Gulf security system is characterised by three enduring features. First is the vital importance of the region's oil and gas to the wellbeing...
25-Mar-2009
Ahmadinejad splits Iran's conservatives
On 1 February 2009, the conservative wing of Iran's 290-member parliament (known as the Fraktion-e Usulgarayan in Persian) witnessed the establishment of a smaller group...
20-Feb-2009
Indoctrinated to Intervene: Iran's IRGC
The political leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran is generally believed by both Iranian and foreign analysts to secure civilian control over the Islamic...
06-Feb-2009
Iran and Saudi Arabia's Shia
In 1979 the world witnessed some of the most remarkable and unforeseen events in the modern history of Islam. The first was the February overthrow...
23-Jan-2009
Global jihad versus national jihad
The word "jihad" comes from the pattern "j-h-d" and is related to the notion of intense effort. "Jihad" appears just four times in the Quran....
14-Nov-2008
Lines drawn over Iran's resources
Since the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988, cross-Persian Gulf trade in natural resources has looked like drawing Iran and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states...
30-Oct-2008
Nuclear nationalism radiates in Iran
- Did you hear that the Iranian government has just designated the date as the "national" fruit? - Why date? - Because it gives ...
10-Oct-2008
Fearing multiple insurgencies in Yemen
A perfect storm made up of a multi-front insurgency, a water crisis, declining oil production and rampant population growth threaten to further destabilise and fragment...
18-Aug-2008
Militants and the Kurdish question in Iran
The assertion of Kurdish demands for cultural rights and local autonomy is an enduring feature of the political landscape in Iran, much as it is...
31-Jul-2008
The militarisation of Iran's politics
With Iran facing formidable challenges in its nuclear stand-off with the West, and given the internal pressures for political and economic reforms, the political leadership...
20-Jun-2008
The way ahead for Moqtada al-Sadr
Reports over the past months that Moqtada al-Sadr is attending a theological seminary in Qom, Iran, have focused attention on the Iraqi politician's status in ...
14-May-2008
Sunnis and the bombing in Shiraz
An explosion on 12 April in the Iranian city of Shiraz at Hoseyniyeh (religious centre) Seyyed ol-Shohada led to scores of deaths and has spurred...
21-Apr-2008
Iran-Pakistan relations: renewal with results?
During the post-Saddam Hussein period, Iran, which has emerged as the predominant regional power in the Persian Gulf, has sought to project its influence not...
08-Apr-2008
Turkmenistan's cold surprise for Iran
On 13 January Iran's oil minister, Gholam-hossein Nozari, called Turkmenistan's decision to halt gas deliveries to Iran an "immoral act". The decision was taken when...
26-Mar-2008
Iran's Sufis in the limelight
Aside from a handful of pilgrims paying their respects, silence reigned inside the Soltani shrine in the village of Beydokht. Just a few minutes remained...
25-Feb-2008
Tehran's suspicions of Moscow
Russia has begun to supply uranium fuel to Iran's controversial reactor at Bushehr, and Moscow maintains that Iran has proven sufficiently co-operative with the International...
25-Jan-2008
The other surge: Iran's success in Iraq
Since March, there has been a colossal increase in cross-border activity between Iraq and Iran not seen since the 1960s, and the growing engagement is...
29-Nov-2007
Qatar's foreign policy endgame
In the years following independence in 1971, Qatar had a very low international profile, but it has since become a country with big ambitions on...
20-Nov-2007
Syria's Alawis ponder post-Assad era
The minority Alawi community is synomymous with ruling power, if not total domination of Syrian society. In reality, the community is broadly diverse both ...
29-May-2007
Across the Gulf: Yemen's stake in Somalia's security
In early January, three senior members of the retreating Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fled advancing Ethiopian troops to reach safe haven in Yemen ...
20-Feb-2007
Qatar punches above its weight
The small Middle Eastern state of Qatar is witnessing its most comprehensive period of economic transformation since independence was achieved from Britain in 1971. ...
13-Feb-2007
Yemen's addiction to khat
Yemen's khat chewing tradition continues to grow, despite its negative effects on the economy, society and the environment. Jane's examines why the government seems ...
17-Jan-2007
Old and new political loyalties in Yemen
Yemen's recent multi-party presidential elections, despite marking a substantial move towards democracy, also legitimised the dominance of General People's Congress. Jane's investigates what this ...
14-Nov-2006
Moqtada al-Sadr's ties to Hizbullah
In his final memo to Whitehall, William Patey, the former British ambassador to Iraq, revealed a rising fear among Western diplomats that Moqtada al-Sadr's ...
14-Sep-2006
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