Iran

While the Turkey deal represents an advance on the Iran nuclear issue, it remains to be seen if it would lead to more constructive solutions in addressing concerns generated by the Iranian nuclear programme.

While the United States charges Iran of being in non-compliance with its NPT obligations, Iran points out that the United States and other NPT nuclear weapon states are in non-compliance of Articles IV and VI, among other provisions.

With the possibility of ‘smart’ sanctions in the near future and muscular US military moves in the Persian Gulf, the grids for the end game on Iran’s nuclear intransigence are getting strengthened.

A soldier may not bother about the causes of hardship, but one always cares for his close comrades, their safety and welfare and most importantly, their opinion of him as a friend and as a man

Although Iran’s regime is under no immediate danger of being toppled, it however faces a growing number of internal and external threats which will necessitate prudent redressing.

The failure of the government to stem Houthi-led violence and the involvement of the external powers in Yemen’s sectarian problems has aggravated the country’s stability. Yemen has been turned in to a theater of conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

From its base in Pakistan’s Baluchistan, Jundallah has had opportunities to forge cooperative ties not only with the ISI but also with the Taliban as well as with the intelligence services of countries interested in stoking anti-Iranian activism.

The draft deal is envisaged as a test of Iran’s intentions, and from the Iranian point of view as a test of Western countries’ assurance to facilitate its peaceful nuclear programme.

The ramifications of an end to dollar-based oil trade would extend far beyond the oil market and would herald the beginning of a new international political order.