Author: Jawaad Kamali

The countries raised their concern with the Islamic Republic’s announcement of its further nuclear program expansion, which they explained has “no credible, peaceful rationale.” The US, UK, France, and German governments endorsed a resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding its nuclear material, the countries announced in a joint statement on Saturday. The endorsed resolution addressed Iran’s failure to cooperate on the clarification of issues related to undeclared nuclear material and was created by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The countries raised their concern with the Islamic Republic’s Friday announcement of its further nuclear program expansion, which they explained has…

This would create a difficult situation for Russia, which is reliant on higher crude prices. Russia’s wartime economy could face a tougher time securing needed oil revenue if Saudi Arabia tanks global crude prices. The kingdom has reportedly signaled that crude could drop as low as $50 a barrel if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries does not commit to reducing oil output. In other words, Riyadh is hinting that it could flood the market with oil supply, analysts say. The move would slash prices and penalize OPEC members who have not cooperated in reducing oil flows — including Russia. “With Russia…

Russia has largely inherited the Soviet Union’s Middle East foreign policy. China may be best positioned to take advantage of this historical relationship. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has not only resurrected the specters of the Korean War in the 1950s and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s but has also driven a large wedge between Russia and Western nations, creating a rift deeper than any witnessed in recent history. Concurrently, Russia has been forging increasingly strong ties with other nations, including those in the Middle East. As Russian-American and Russian-European relations continue to be dissected in numerous scholarly…

Sanjiva Weerawarana is a Sri Lankan success story. He founded enterprise software firm WSO2 in 2005, got it close to $100 million in ARR as its CEO, then sold it to private equity firm EQT for $600 million in May. He sometimes drives for Uber, too. Sri Lanka isn’t renowned for its startup ecosystem, but one company has been something of an outlier in the South Asian island nation these past two decades. WSO2, an open source enterprise software provider with customers such as Samsung, Axa, and AT&T, recently agreed to be acquired by private equity giant EQT, at a valuation TechCrunch reported at the time…

Stocks were seen on the rebound as investors showed relief that a wider conflict in the Middle East might be averted. Gold and the dollar eased back as crude oil prices slipped following Iran’s Friday comments that it is not looking to retaliate after Israel’s reported drone attack. With a majority of European stock markets posting a three-week losing streak, investors will be turning their attention to the manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) from major economies. Additionally, SAP and Saab AB are poised to release their first-quarter earnings. Reflecting Wall Street’s trajectory, European stock markets declined for the…

Berlin (29/2 – 30) Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russian advances could gain significant momentum by the summer unless their allies can increase the supply of ammunition, according to a person familiar with their analysis. Internal assessments of the situation on the battlefield from Kyiv are growing increasingly bleak as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold off Russian attacks while rationing the number of shells they can fire. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Thursday that mistakes by frontline commanders had compounded the problems facing Ukraine’s defense around Avdiivka, which was captured by Russian forces this month. Syrskyi said he’d sent in more…

The parliaments of Iran and Tajikistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to expand cooperation between the two legislative bodies. The signing ceremony, reported by the Iranian Students’ News Agency, took place in Tehran, with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and National Assembly of Tajikistan Chairman Rustam Emomali leading the initiative. The agreement was further endorsed during a meeting between Emomali and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who emphasized the importance of this collaboration as a support for the political and economic partnerships between the two nations. President Raisi also highlighted the role of bilateral cooperation in combating…

A delegation of parliamentarians, including Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab and MPs Alain Aoun, Neemat Frem, Yassin Yassin, and Assaad Dargham, continued their visit to Washington. They met with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf during their visit. The emphasis was placed on the necessity for the Lebanese people to work towards electing a president, completing state-building, and working to neutralize the specter of comprehensive war in Lebanon. Leaf affirmed that the Quintet Committee seeks to assist Lebanon in finding a solution to its political crisis, but it cannot replace the Lebanese in reaching…

Almost two million people in Gaza – more than 85% of the population – are reported to have fled their homes in the two months since Israel began its military operation in response to Hamas’s deadly attacks of 7 October. The Strip has been under the control of Hamas since 2007 and Israel says it is trying to destroy the military and governing capabilities of the Islamist group, which is committed to the destruction of Israel. The situation for ordinary people in Gaza – a densely populated enclave 41km (25 miles) long and 10km wide, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea…

British-Palestinian families have urged the government to create a visa scheme for stranded relatives in Gaza. A letter, sent to Foreign Secretary David Cameron on behalf of 80 families, calls for a scheme similar to the Ukraine Family Scheme visa. A petition on Parliament’s website calling for a new visa scheme also has more than 22,700 signatures. The government said it was “working around the clock” to get those “who want to leave” out of Gaza. More than 270 British nationals and their dependants have left Gaza so far, it added in a statement to the BBC. British nationals currently need to…