Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani arrives for a news conference in Tehran, Iran, in February 2020, with a portrait of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hanging on the wall behind him. Both men have signalled an interest in a new nuclear deal.
(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Joe Biden has said he wants to return the United States to the Joint Collective Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
But the window of opportunity may be closing.
Regional powerplay: the nuclear deal has complex implications for the regin.
Dilok Klaisataporn via Shutterstock
The US president is sending a message to Saudi Arabia. But it might also find that negotiations with Tehran are tougher.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden review the troops from the east steps of the U.S. Capitol during the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington.
(David Tulis/Pool Photo via AP)
From a global perspective, there was nothing unique about the recent raid on the U.S. Capitol. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have backed military coups around the world for decades.
Flexing new muscles: the head of Iran’s revolutionary guard, Hossein Salami, at inauguration of a new missile installation in the Persian Gulf.
SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
Much will depend on Iran’s response to what it sees as Israeli and US provocation, including the November assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.
The president-elect is also likely to be less tolerant of Israel's settlement expansion and the inroads Russia and Turkey have made into the Middle East.
Unlawful killing: the UN condemned the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
EPA-EFE/ Abedin Taherkenareh
Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave a carefully worded statement in response to questions of a prisoner swap. This kind of deal could bring criticism from Australia's allies.
How Donald Trump is portrayed in Iran’s popular press.
EPA-EFE: Abedin Taherkenareh
A Trump election loss would suit NZ's trade, climate and arms control foreign policies. But there will still be the problem of China.
Chinese outlets that once relayed cautious optimism over Donald Trump’s deal-making abilities now express exasperation over his chaotic style.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
In 2016, America's adversaries seemed to cheer electoral chaos and a withering faith in democracy. Now they seem to be hoping democracy can topple a leader they've grown loathe to deal with.
Armenia soldiers allegedly firing on Azeri forces during clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia Defence Ministry press handout/EPA
An 11th-century Persian philosopher, physician, pharmacologist, scientist and poet had a profound influence on both European thought and the Islamic world.
'Beta testing' of bold ideas is rare in foreign affairs, but the UAE and Bahrain have provided just such a test case for the Saudis in their own push to normalise relations with Israel.
Iran is becoming more secular.
Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been detained in Iran since 2018. Her transfer to a notoriously brutal prison this week has pushed a fellow researcher to speak out.
Professor of Middle East & Central Asian Politics, Deputy Director (International), Alfred Deakin Research Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University
Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst