🇮🇷🇮🇱 The recent confrontation between Israel and Iran reaffirms the known fact that the policies of these two countries are a major cause of the instability that has plagued the Middle East for decades. 

The Israeli colonial occupation of Palestine and its genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, on the one hand, and Iran’s interventionist policies and the use of armed militias to expand its influence, on the other, have been a constant source of tension and conflicts. Washington’s total support of Israel has also contributed to the escalation of conflicts in the region.

Iran is aware that Israel will not accept the new reality created by the Saturday night attacks and will not be satisfied with its limited response, especially since targeting the nuclear facility in Isfahan is a message sent by Israel that it can destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, so Tehran will seek to accelerate its enrichment programme to possess a nuclear weapon that will provide it with the only safe guarantee against any aggression that Israel may launch in cooperation with the United States, writes Saleh Muhammad Al-Khathlan, Professor of Political Science and Senior Advisor at the Gulf Research Center, Saudi Arabia.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-israel-iran-conflict-a-view-from-riyadh/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #Iran #Israel

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On June 28, at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion on the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the potential for the development of Iranian-Russian relations.

The internal political situation in Iran has traditionally aroused considerable interest in Russia, as this country is associated with several international projects that are priorities for Moscow, including the development of the North-South transport and logistics corridors, military-technical cooperation, efforts towards stability in the Middle East, and the peaceful resolution of inter-state conflicts in South Caucasus.

Iran is currently one of the major players in the global stage, consistently pursuing a sovereign foreign policy in the Middle East and maintaining relations with major world powers. Furthermore, in recent years, Iran has actively expanded its participation in new international frameworks, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2022 and BRICS in January 2024.

❓What are the current political and economic circumstances in Iran, and what could be the outcomes of the upcoming presidential election on June 28?
❓What are some of the key achievements and future prospects for relations between Iran and Russia?
❓How could the election results impact the development of Russia-Iran cooperation?

These and other questions will be discussed by participants.

🎙️ Speakers:

🇷🇺 Vitaly Naumkin, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Doctor of Historical Sciences; Professor; Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences

🇮🇷 Kayhan Barzegar, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Research Unit of the Islamic Azad University (Iran)

🇷🇺 Alexander Maryasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Thailand and Permanent Representative to ESCAP (2010-2014), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Iran (2001-2005)

Moderator:

🗣 Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-club-to-discuss-the-presidential-elections-in-iran/

Working languages: English, Russian.

ℹ️ Information for the media: Dear journalists, to be accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website. If you have any questions about the event, call +79269307763.

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen. 

#WiderEurasia #Iran

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📆 TOMORROW, June 28, at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion on the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the potential for the development of Iranian-Russian relations.

❓What are the current political and economic circumstances in Iran, and what could be the outcomes of the upcoming presidential election on June 28?
❓What are some of the key achievements and future prospects for relations between Iran and Russia?
❓How could the election results impact the development of Russia-Iran cooperation?

These and other questions will be discussed by participants.

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen. 

#WiderEurasia #Iran

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🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting a discussion on the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the potential for the development of Iranian-Russian relations.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239198

#WiderEurasia #Iran

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🗣 On June 28, 2024, the Valdai Discussion Club held a discussion on the presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the potential for the development of Iranian-Russian relations.

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 Video

#WiderEurasia #Iran

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🇮🇷 The victory of the moderate reformer Masoud Pezeshkian in Iran’s early presidential elections came as a surprise to many, both in the Islamic Republic and abroad.

It cannot be ruled out that what happened was the result of a well-thought-out tactic by Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei, who, by allowing Pezeshkian to participate in the elections, wanted to increase voter turnout and to confirm the legitimacy of the Islamic system, and give reformist circles the opportunity to resume the negotiation process with the West on the Iranian nuclear programme, with the prospect of lifting or at least weakening Western sanctions.

The implementation of the multi-vector foreign policy course proclaimed by the new president, which provides for the restoration of ties with the West, the development of cooperation with Russia and China, and the establishment of good neighbourly relations with Arab states, will be strictly controlled by numerous conservative bodies and the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who has the final word on the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy.

We can assume that the new Iranian president and his pro-reform team will strive to pursue a more balanced foreign policy course; without highlighting any of its directions, it will advance where circumstances allow, without crossing the “red lines” outlined by Iran’s top leadership, Alexander Maryasov writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/presidential-elections-in-iran-the-impact/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #Iran #Pezeshkian

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🛤️ The opening of the 37-km railway of the Rasht-Caspian project near the southern part of the Caspian Sea on June 20, 2024 is an important development in the cycle of “multimodal transportation” and “combined transport” (CT) in the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

It could play a very important role in “multimodal transportation” and Combined Transport (CT) by sea, land and rail in the INSTC.

🔹 The speed of passenger trains, according to this plan, is 120 km/h and the speed of freight trains is 80 km/h.
🔹 It is expected that three million tonnes of cargo and 300 thousand passengers will be moved in the first year of operation.
🔹 It is also expected that eventually the amount of cargo that will be moved along this line will reach seven million tonnes and the number of passengers will reach 600,000 people.

The primary purpose of the Rasht-Caspian Railway is to enhance connectivity and facilitate transportation and trade links in Iran, the Caspian Sea littoral states, as well as with the railway network southward, Vali Kaleji writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-rasht-caspian-railway/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #Iran #CaspianSea

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🇮🇷 On July 5, 2024, Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as the 14th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During the presidential champions, he emphasized that he would try to remove the economic sanctions through interaction with the West, recovering Iranians economic livelihood and welfare.

He also published an article in Tehran Times daily on July 13 entitled, “My Message to the New World” defining his core foreign policy objective as to create “balance” in relations with all countries. In the same article, he emphasized that his administration will prioritize strengthening relations with Iran’s neighbors, increased relations with Russia and China, and interacting with the West from an equal political angle. 

A careful reading of the Iranian new president’s political positions demonstrates that he is seeking for an “accommodation” in foreign policy through constructing a political consensus in the domestic politics, bridging the reformist and conservative forces, Kayhan Barzegar writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/in-search-for-an-accommodation-iran-s-foreign/

#WiderEurasia #Iran #MasoudPezeshkian #MiddleEast

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