https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-talk-ukraine-energy-shock-iran-with-qatars-emir-us-officials-2022-01-31/ President Biden will be holding talks with Qatar’s Emir on monday which will be aimed on energy security post the potential invasion on Ukraine by Russia. The talks are with Qatar due to the emirate being the largest supplier of liquified natural gas, the emirate stated that it may move supplies to Europe if the Russian invasion intrudes on… Read more »
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/exclusive-iran-nuclear-agreement-unlikely-without-release-us-prisoners-malley-2022-01-23/ The 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the US has once again joined, is likely not to pass if US prisoners are not released. Though U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, has said like he said before that the release of the prisoners is not related to the deal, it is a prerequisite for the agreement to move… Read more »
https://www.reuters.com/world/skorea-says-iran-regain-un-vote-after-delinquent-dues-paid-with-frozen-funds-2022-01-23/ After not being able to pay their dues because of US sanctions, Iran lost their voting rights in the UN. Though South Korea paid their dues with frozen iranian funds. These funds have stayed frozen because the vote which would unfreeze them requires the United States to approve of them. Though it’s unlikely because the US States rejoined the… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/28/guards-clash-again-on-kyrgyz-tajik-border-ceasefire-falters The two Central Asian countries and former Soviet Republics Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have recently reignited conflict on their border which had been more or less quelled since they agreed to a ceasefire in May of 2021. The border along the southwesternmost parts of Kyrgyzstan and the northwest of Tajikistan have long been controversial ever since the boundaries were first… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/24/iran-nuclear-deal-unlikely-without-us-prisoner-release-report Since the United States dropped the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, the United States has been barred from holding direct talks with Iran and now mediators are needed for all communication between the two states. The 2015 deal was struck in order to loosen the constricting trade embargo on Iran enacted by the United States in 1995…. Read more »
A UK law firm has brought up a request to bring charges onto the Indian military chief and an Indian senior government official. The requested charges states that the officials have extensive evidence that the two officials are responsible for the torturing and killing of civilians and journalists. There are over 2,000 testimonies in the request written up by the… Read more »
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/17/iran-to-reopen-oic-representative-office-in-saudi-arabia The two countries of Iran and Saudi Arabia are ready to reconcile their diplomatic ties, albeit tentatively, with the reopening of an Iranian embassy in Saudi Arabia. This is the prospective result of the fifth set of talks in a series of negotiations since April of 2021 looking to move past the two states’ rocky history in order to… Read more »
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/political-unrest-sweeps-kazakstan This article reports on the recent protest in Kazakhstan in response to a Russian peacekeeping force occupying Kazakhstan’s former capital. The peacekeeping force was brought in due to rising tensions between the government and the people over a recent oil price decision. In this decision, the price of oil rose exponentially doubling in under 24 hours. This was to… Read more »
https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-middle-east-iran-tehran-kabul-de05324080d6021df3a4cd44a7d2b87f This article details a recent meeting between Taliban leadership and Afghanistan resistance fighters who opposed Taliban rule and fought against them. The resistance fighters were forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August. The resistance group was invited to have a meeting with the Taliban in Iran, a perceived neutral ground between the two factions. The Taliban… Read more »
Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/business-china-beijing-sri-lanka-africa-e6b1e60b2a1aab035bcc6e65ebe507b7 Amidst its tremendous debt crisis, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Rajapaksa has asked China to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka to prevent further economic disaster. Sri Lanka currently has approximately $7.8 billion in debt, 3.38 of which is owed specifically to China. This does not include loans to state businesses, which the Associated Press reports as… Read more »
