It’s complicated.
Reuters/RIA Novosti
Russia and Iran have always treated each other well when it suits them, but in hard times, their relationship can get very rocky indeed.
Limited centrifuge operations: Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility.
(File photo from 2008.)
Ho New/Reuters
How can the international community be sure Iran is living up to its end of the new nuclear deal?
The great diplomat, c'est moi.
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
“Bibi” spits on the very notion that one can deal with Iran, but now one’s been done, he’s milking it for all it’s worth.
The new era begins in earnest.
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
The sanctions are being lifted, the economy is opening up – and Tehran’s conservatives are furious.
Hasan Rouhani needs to watch his back.
Reuters
With parliamentary elections around the corner, Iran’s deep political conflicts are suddenly on full display.
Iran’s Hasan Rouhani is back on the diplomatic trail.
Reuters
The world’s biggest powers have too much invested in bringing Iran in from the cold to let Saudi Arabia create chaos.
Saudi-Iranian antipathy on the streets.
Reuters/Adnan Abidi
The war of words between the Gulf’s two biggest powers is hotting up, but they’ve been at loggerheads for decades.
Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 people has prompted global protests.
Reuters
The executions on the weekend are notable for the sheer number of people killed. However, they maintain a policy of political crackdown that was reinvigorated in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring.
Reuters
Syria and IS may have dominated the news this year, but the Middle East has plenty of other problems on its hands.
Don’t worry, I’m sure the others’ll be here soon.
SPA/EPA
When is a coalition not a coalition? When you don’t tell the founding members they’re in it.
Assad meets French delegates in Damascus following the Paris atrocities.
EPA
The Paris atrocities came just as Assad’s military position was improving. Can the dictator harness international fury at Islamic State to strengthen his position in Syria?
RTS Z T.
John Kerry and 20 diplomats came together Saturday to seek a way toward peace in Syria. A former Indian ambassador to Syria believes good progress was made.
EPA/Alexey Druzhinyn/RIA Novosti
Moscow’s mixed messages on the future of the Syrian president is fuelling speculation that it might be preparing to desert its long-term ally.
The Bedouin poet Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya.
Laden with animals, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic visions, Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya’s poetry reflects how many Arabs – urban and rural, rich and poor – view the world.
“Smile, everyone”: Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia at the table in Vienna.
EPA/Eduard Pesov
With Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the US all at the table, Russia’s benighted Syria plan may at last have a chance of success.
Iran burns drugs in an annual ritual – but levels of use remain high.
Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Penalties for drug traffickers in Iran are harsh but it also has progressive policies for addicts. Is it time to go further?
A petrochemical complex on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.
REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl
The merest hint of a successful deal over Iran’s nuclear programme is enough to get people excited. And as the country emerges from economic isolation, nowhere is the enthusiasm more keenly felt than in…
Rouhani’s hand grows stronger thanks to Iran’s cooperation with Russia.
Reuters
Russia’s stepped-up role in Syria is likely to bolster Iran and the anti-Western opposition in Iraq.
Smiling again: Hassan Rouhani.
Reuters/Adrees Latif
After years out in the cold, the Iranians have a chance to be heard in the West – and they’ve got Saudi Arabia on their minds.
Rouhani addresses the UN General Assembly, September 28 2015.
Carlo Allegri/REUTERS
Increasing trade and commerce will make it easier to verify the Iranians are keeping their promises under the nuclear agreement.