Tag Archives: Iran

Russia’s Chaos Theory in the Middle East

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: December 3, 2012

As I was going through my weekly reading of academic journal articles, I came across an interesting set of arguments on Russia’s strategies and objectives in the Middle East by the British American Security Information Council.  Author Shivani Handa takes a crack at explaining the ambiguous motives behind Russia’s policies toward Iran and Syria, but [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Sept 7, 2012

By Citizen M | Published: September 7, 2012

TODAY: Gazprom to refund European buyers, says it doesn’t want a gas war; Shuvalov says APEC bilateral trade will outgrow that of Europe; Putin interview; Russia warns West against attacking Iran; ExxonMobil praises Rosneft partnership; Aeroflot pilot reinstated at request of Moscow court. Gazprom will refund over $2.4 billion to its European buyers to compensate [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Sept 6, 2012

By Citizen M | Published: September 6, 2012

TODAY: Gazprom hits back at European Commission as share price falls; Putin gives interview, flies with cranes; Rosneft begins construction of Far East petrochemicals plant; beverage company investigated on Berezovsky links; Iran to take control of Bushehr; Orthodox priest accused of violence. Gazprom has hit back at the European Commission,which opened antitrust proceedings against it [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – August 1, 2012

By Citizen M | Published: August 1, 2012

TODAY: Navalny charged with embezzlement; 25 detained at Strategy 31 rally; Pussy Riot lawyer complains of detention conditions; the trio receive support from an unlikely source. Romney bashes Russia’s lack of progress; BP sees major losses; Moscow moves to stop Iranian companies from acquiring port assets. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been formally charged with [...]

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Iran Sanctions Create Opportunities for Russia and China

By Citizen M | Published: August 9, 2010

This insightful piece published on Bloomberg today takes a look at the unintentional (but surely somewhat predictable) effect of the sanctions recently imposed on Iran: new business opportunities for Russia and China. Experts quoted in the article say the sanctions are hurting European suppliers while paving the way for greater cooperation between Iran, Russia and [...]

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Sanctions for Breaking Sanctions

By Citizen M | Published: August 3, 2010

A US house representative is calling for sanctions against Russia for undermining the recently-implemented sanctions against Iran. The AFP reports: “It’s time to implement our sanctions laws and demonstrate to Russia and China that there are consequences for abetting Tehran and flouting US sanctions,” Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement. Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican [...]

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Just a Little Bit of Sanctions

By Citizen M | Published: July 27, 2010

Russia’s tightrope walk over the widening chasm between Iran and the Western world is getting confusing. A quick recap: Last month Russia supported UN sanctions imposed on Iran, then promptly promised Iran cooperation in the oil and gas industries, a move many said would undermine the sanctions. Earlier this week Russia called Iran’s criticism of [...]

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Does Russia Need Iran?

By Citizen M | Published: July 22, 2010

Good Question. This very useful Q&A put together by Reuters helps place Russia’s recent offer of cooperation with Iran in the energy industry into a larger context: Russia took steps to soothe Tehran last week when Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi came to Moscow to meet Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and sign a “road map” [...]

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Preventing the Cascade

By Citizen M | Published: March 6, 2009

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, prepare to meet in Geneva today, a Bush administration policy expert on Russia and Eastern Europe offers some advice on post-secret letter U.S./Russia relations in an editorial in The Washington Post. Writes David J. Kramer: “Any ‘grand bargain’ the United States makes with [...]

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Michael Alguire: The Turkish-Iranian Rivalry

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 31, 2007

[I am pleased to announce a special guest column from the political analyst and Trinity College Scholar Michael Alguire, who recently completed a Specialist Program in History at the University of Toronto. In this highly detailed and rigorously researched examination of Turkey and Iran's competing energy interests in Central Asia, Alguire elaborates a theory of [...]

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