Pentagon moving carrier strike group toward Middle East

According to The Hill, the Pentagon on Thursday said it is moving a carrier strike group from the South China Sea toward the Middle East as tensions between the US and Iran continue to rise. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group were spotted moving west away from the Indo-Pacific region. The movement of the carrier strike group — which includes fighter jets, guided missile destroyers and at least one attack submarine — is expected to take about a week. 

This movement comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran have spiked amid unrest in Iran over its economy and questions about whether President Trump will strike the country to aid mass protests challenging the autocratic regime.

Trump earlier this week encouraged Iranian protesters to continue pressuring the regime and vowed that “help is on the way,” signaling potential US intervention. But Tehran has pushed back with its own threats.

The president so far has held off on any strikes in Iran, continuing to monitor the situation in the country. He was also advised that a large-scale strike against Iran was unlikely to topple the regime and could instead set off a wider conflict.

Advisers informed Trump that the US military would need more troops and equipment in the Middle East to launch any large-scale strike while still protecting American forces in the region from potential retaliation, according to the Journal.

A senior US official also told The New York Times that Trump is waiting to see Iran’s next move as he considers striking such targets as ballistic missile sites and Iran’s domestic security apparatus, and that any attack “is at least several days away.”

Protests have escalated in Iran since late December in response to declining economic conditions. It’s not clear exactly how many people have died in the protests because of the Iranian government’s internet blackout across the country, but the Human Rights Activists News Agency said more than 2,600 people have been killed and more than 184,000 have been detained. 

Iran has largely been restricting information in and out of the country, and Wednesday it issued a “Notice to Air Missions,” or NOTAM, that flights in and out of Tehran have been restricted.

The US administration on Thursday also announced new sanctions against “the architects of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators” and the “shadow banking networks” alleged to be helping wealthy Iranians divert funds generated by the country’s natural resources.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed since late November, after it departed San Diego with no Pentagon announcement for where it would be sent. 

 

Iranian Foreign Minister claims situation under control

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is “under control” with “many terrorist operatives” arrested.

He told foreign diplomats in a televised meeting that “confessions will be released soon” and said there is “substantial evidence of foreign involvement.”

He also said Iran is ready to negotiate with the US based on “mutual respect and interests.”

“As I have said repeatedly, we are also ready for negotiations — but fair and dignified negotiations, from an equal position, with mutual respect and based on mutual interests,” Araghchi said.

The foreign minister’s statements came after US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran had “called to negotiate,” as his administration weighs potential military options for intervention against Tehran following the demonstrations.

The Iranian government has stated its readiness to negotiate several times in previous months.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the communication channel between Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff “remains open” and “whenever necessary, messages are exchanged through that channel.” He added that “certain points and ideas have been presented by the other side,” referring to the US.

Large crowds of people have gathered in various Iranian cities in support of the country’s regime, according to video broadcast by state media.

People can be seen carrying images of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, holding up copies of the Qur'an and waving Islamic Republic flags in demonstrations in cities including Kerman and Zahedan.

Iranian state agencies had called for nationwide marches on Monday in support of the regime which has faced down more than two weeks of growing protests fueled by spiraling anger over the economy, authoritarian rule and a deadly crackdown on demonstrators.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said all flights are “operating normally and without problems” and airport services are fully functioning.

Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the organization, said travelers concerned about the status of flights because of recent internet-related issues “can obtain up-to-date information directly from airport sources”, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

Iran's president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid ongoing protests in several parts of the country.

Iran’s “enemies are seeking to sow chaos and instability” following the country’s 12-day war last June with Israel, Masoud Pezeshkian told the state television.

His remarks were the first since protests that began last month over worsening economic conditions and the record depreciation of the national currency, the rial, turned violent last week.

Pezeshkian condemned recent attacks on public places, including mosques, in Tehran and other Iranian cities, blaming the US and Israel for the violence.

There are no official casualty figures, but some NGOs outside Iran estimate the death toll at 116, including both security forces and protesters, with over 1,000 injured.

Iranian officials have accused Washington and Tel Aviv of backing the increasingly violent protests, particularly in Tehran, where government buildings, banks, buses, and mosques have been set ablaze by armed protesters in recent days.

Internet connectivity has also been suspended across the country.

Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of “training certain groups” inside and outside the country and bringing “terrorists from abroad” to set mosques, markets, and public places on fire.

“They have killed some with weapons, burned others, and beheaded some. Truly, these crimes are beyond our people’s nature. These are not our people. They do not belong to this country. If someone protests for this country, we listen and address their concerns,” he said.

The Iranian president said his government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially regarding the economy.

“Where in the world are such protests and behaviors accepted as protests? If this happened in the US, would Americans allow it? Would Europeans allow it? If someone attacked a military base or city center, would they say, ‘Go ahead and loot it’,” he said.

He insisted that those attacking public property are not protesters, but rioters, adding that the government is willing to meet with and listen to those who have legitimate concerns.

Pezeshkian said the US and Israel tried to bring Iranians “to their knees” during the 12-day war in June but failed, and now seek to do the same through “riots.”

“We will build this country with the people’s help and stand firmly against the external conspiracies and riots, with the help of producers and merchants. We will stop them with power,” he said, offering condolences to those who have died in the ongoing protests.

Before the protests turned violent on Thursday night, US President Trump tweeted that the US would “come to the rescue” of Iranian protesters if the government used lethal force against them.

His remarks drew sharp criticism from top Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, security chief Ali Larijani, and Foreign Minister Araghchi.

Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of instigating Iranian youth.

“The same people who destroyed this country and killed our youth and children now instruct these rioters to destroy more.”

He reassured the public that his government will work to solve their problems and urged families “not to let their youth mix with rioters and terrorists who kill and behead.”

“Protest if you must; we will listen and solve your concerns. Let us work together to solve problems. But worsening the country’s economic situation through chaos serves no one,” he said.

Courtesy: Saudi Gazette

 

Iran: US Crafts Miseries and Blames Clergy

Washington continues to promote a convenient narrative that Iran’s clergy-led political system alone is responsible for the economic suffering of its people. Recent street protests—driven by inflation, unemployment, and a weakening currency—are being projected as evidence of regime failure. What remains largely unspoken is the decisive role the United States has played in shaping Iran’s economic distress.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has lived under successive waves of US-led sanctions. These measures were neither symbolic nor limited. These systematically targeted banking channels, energy exports, trade flows, and foreign investment, effectively isolating Iran from the global economy. The consequences are visible: a battered currency, chronic inflation, supply shortages, and restricted access to essential imports. Blaming the clergy while ignoring decades of economic strangulation is a selective reading of reality.

The sanctions regime has been justified primarily by allegations that Iran is developing an atomic bomb. Yet these claims remain unproven. Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons, and international inspections conducted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) found no evidence of active weaponization before the agreement was unilaterally abandoned by Washington in 2018. The parallel with Iraq is difficult to ignore. There, too, unverified claims about weapons of mass destruction were treated as established facts, with disastrous consequences.

Pressure on Iran has also extended beyond economics. Cyberattacks, sabotages operations, and strikes on strategic installations—widely attributed to the United States and Israel—suggest a shift from coercion to destabilization. Such actions have not altered Iran’s strategic behavior; instead, these have increased regional volatility and reduced space for diplomacy.

If concern for the Iranian people were genuine, sanctions relief would be the starting point. Economic normalization offers a more credible path to internal reform than perpetual punishment. Five decades of pressure have neither collapsed the state nor moderated policy, but these have deepened public suffering.

The recent attempt to externally reshape Venezuela’s political order has further fueled fears in Tehran. Many now worry that Iran’s leadership could face similar tactics—arrest, assassination, or engineered collapse.

History offers a blunt lesson: sanctions punish societies, not regimes. Until this reality is acknowledged, the misery of ordinary Iranians will continue to be manufactured abroad and misattributed at home.

Iran exporting oil to seventeen countries

Iran is currently exporting crude oil to 17 countries, including some in Europe. The country will not face any problem in exporting oil no matter who comes to power in the United States, said Javad Oji, Iranian oil minister.

Speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday, he stated that good investment has been made in the past three years in the oil industry.

Iran produced 2.2 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) at the outset of the administration of the late President Ebrahim Raisi, but the current oil production rate is about 3.570 million bpd, showing a considerable hike, Oji underlined.

He went on to say that Iran’s oil exports rose from 182 million barrels in 2019 to 565 million barrels last year.

In addition, the value of the export of oil and gas condensates and other oil and petrochemical products rose from US$10.8 billion in 2019 to US$36 billion last year, registering a 3.5 times growth, the oil minister added.

Iran has risen to become the fourth largest oil exporter within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to a surge in oil production and sales.

The report cited the rise in Chinese oil demand and the expansion of Iran's oil tanker fleet as the main factors contributing to the surge in Iran's oil exports.

 

What does BRICS entry mean for Iran?

On August 24, 2023 BRICS adopted Iran together with five other countries as new members defying Western rhetoric and discourse. The historic enlargement of BRICS will create new opportunities and will enhance global efforts against hegemony and unilateralism.

The year 2023 marks the 17th anniversary of BRICS inception. Albeit different in geopolitical locations, political systems and cultural backgrounds, members of BRICS do share development-oriented agendas. Members are either newly emerging economies featuring high economic growth or developing countries aspiring for development.

This is sharply different from the approach of the United States and the West to shape the world with a democratic model defined by their own. In addition, they all enshrine the principle of independence in their foreign policy.

BRICS member states have been very clear that the mechanism will be inclusive adhering to the principle of multilateralism and cultural diversity. The practices of BRICS had particularly demonstrated respect for all member states. That should be one of the reasons why BRICS had proved to be attractive, particularly for countries that had long been oppressed and humiliated by Western hegemonic powers.

The development of BRICS reflected a very strong global trend of anti-hegemony and anti-unilateralism. Most BRICS members, like China, Russia and Brazil, had been vociferous about their dissatisfaction against US financial hegemony and the weaponization of dollar as a payment channel. None of the BRICS members had shared with the US and the West their discourse on the Russia-Ukraine conflicts, and none of them had sided with the US on its efforts to provoke the fire.

The Johannesburg Summit had sufficiently demonstrated the attraction of BRICS. Six countries had been admitted into the mechanisms, more than 20 countries had formally applied to enter the mechanism, more than 40 countries had expressed their wish to be part of the mechanism, and more than 60 countries across the world had participated in various activities of the Summit, which was about 30 percent of the member states of the UN.

The enlargement will predictably make BRICS more important in international affairs as the share of member states in world economy will increase significantly and the political representation of the mechanism will grow. Therefore, BRICS will not only serve to maintain the right direction of global governance in a variety of areas including trade and financial cooperation, which had become dysfunctional as a result of confrontational mentalities of some Western countries. BRICS will also boost business opportunities for both old and new industries of all their members, and will create opportunities for its member states to reshape and even reverse the unreasonable narratives of some western powers on various issues including Russia-Ukraine conflicts and other issues.

Iran’s membership will especially enhance Iran’s international status in the international community. Over the last decades, Iran has made friends across the world in defiance of the efforts of certain hegemonic powers to isolate Iran. Entering BRICS will mean new opportunities for Iran to improve its standing.

Presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Johannesburg summit with delegates from more than sixty countries across the world had signified another breakthrough in its diplomacy against Western efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic.

With the dual memberships in SCO and BRICS, Iran as a nation of great civilizations and economic potentials will see more opportunities to increase its international status. The leaders of BRICS countries have a valuable opportunity to leverage the space that has been created and enhance their mutual and multilateral interactions. If Iran holds SCO and BRICS summits, it will mean that dozens of heads of state and governments will travel to Tehran, which will naturally make Tehran a center of global politics and focus of international media, which will extremely nullify the efforts of the West to isolate Iran.

Multilateral diplomacy will mean natural economic opportunities. By presence at the summits, members have the opportunity to promote their business relations. Iran will also benefit from the joint efforts of de-dollarization judging by the consensus reached on this issue in Johannesburg. It should be considered that economic benefits would not come as soon as political achievements. However, it assumes that the policies adopted by Iran will contribute to the future strengthening of the country's economy.

Iran’s accession into BRICS is also a milestone in China-Iran relations. Iran’s application for BRICS membership, as well as SCO membership, not only demonstrated Iran’s identification with the principles and spirits of the BRICS, which could be generally categorized as inclusiveness, diversity and respect, but also trust for China as a major leading actor of BRICS.

China’s support for Iran’s accession very well indicated that China had been very serious in helping Iran to get further integrated with international community. Mutual trust between the two will be further enhanced after Iran’s dual memberships.

Iran’s accession will secondly enhance China-Iran cooperation on the reconstruction of international order. It had long been China’s policy to oppose sanctions against Iran and to help improve Iran’s status in the international community as the two shared a long history of peaceful exchange of civilizations and shared the same experience struggling for justice and fairness of international order.

With Iran’s membership in both SCO and BRICS, China and Iran with other countries in the two institutions, can work better together on issues relating to the great changes and reconstruction of international order.

On top of all, it will serve to materialize cooperation projects between the two countries. China and Iran both had been working hard to materialize the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced in 2016, the Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement in 2022 and various agreements in 2023 when President Raisi visited China.

Iran’s accession into SCO and BRICS will make these cooperations more feasible. In addition to bilateral mechanisms, leaders of the two sides will predictably meet with each other twice annually respectively within SCO and BRICS frameworks, and they can talk directly about the concrete issues, which will greatly facilitate cooperation between the two.

All in all, the enlargement of BRICS will create new momentums for global governance and the evolution of international order for the benefits of emerging economies and developing countries and the whole world as well.

Iran’s accession into BRICS, in addition to SCO, will greatly enhance Iran’s international status and will benefit Iran economically. The world will see how Iran can translate these new political momentums into economic benefits.

 

Moscow considering gas export to Pakistan through Iran

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said his country is considering export of natural gas to Pakistan and Afghanistan through Iran.

Novak said that in the long run, Russia can send its natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan, either using the infrastructure of Central Asia or by swapping from the territory of Iran.

Back in November, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji had announced a plan for cooperation with Russia and Pakistan on gas export to Islamabad.

Under the mentioned plan, Iran can tap Russian gas for a revival of its long-installed pipeline project to neighboring Pakistan.

As reported by Iranian media, Russia has agreed to supply gas to Iran for the purpose of delivery to Pakistan via the Iranian pipelines.

Russia has also agreed to build pipelines in Pakistan that were supposed to be built by the Pakistani side of a 1995 gas supply contract with Iran.

Russia’s contribution to the scheme comes as the country is trying to find new markets for natural gas supplies that were removed from the European markets because of Western sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Iran is also keen to partner with Russia in supplying gas to Pakistan as the country could benefit financially from the project while increased gas supplies from Russia will help the country address potential gas shortages in its northern regions.

Under a proposed swap scheme, Iran will import gas from Russia either through Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan to consume the supplies in its northern regions while committing to deliver the same amount of gas on the border with Pakistan.

Iran has another option to buy Russian gas for domestic consumption in its north without committing to any swap delivery of the same amount to other countries.

That will enable Iran to meet the growing domestic demand for natural gas and increase its gas supplies for the purpose of exports to other countries.

Experts believe both scenarios could benefit Iran although some prefer the swap model because it will lead to more Russian contribution to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.

 

Finally United States kneels down before Iran

The United States announced to re-impose sanctions on Iran. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out from an agreement signed by big powers with Iran. The US government threatened countries to bring down their oil imports from Iran to zero or face similar sanctions. Many critics fail to understand the logic of President Trump as they strongly believe that he will not be able to achieve much by re-imposing sanctions.

Some analysts say that the US administration wishes to maintain a delicate balancing act with the waivers by ensuring the oil market has sufficient supply and avoid a politically damaging spike in fuel prices. The US also wants to ensure that Iran doesn’t collect enough revenue that the US sanctions become irrelevant. Countries that get waivers will be required to pay trough an escrow accounts in their local currency. That means the money won’t directly go to Iran, but will be allowed to use it for buying food, medicine or other non-sanctioned goods from its crude customers.

Let us first of all find the rationale behind re-imposition of sanctions on Iran by the US. I will prefer to use a quote. It says the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran by the US are aimed at achieving two targets: 1) quashing its nuclear ambitions and its ballistic missile program, but also 2) weakening its financial strength to support groups fighting proxy war in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East”.

Some analysts say that the US has imposed proxy war on the above stated countries for establishing its hegemony in Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The US efforts are aimed at weakening these countries so that they don’t become a potential threat for Israel, which has faced humiliating defeat in Lebanon. Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based resistance group smashing Israel’s military supremacy is often termed a terrorist outfit and alleged for receiving funds and military hardware from Iran.

No sooner did these sanctions became effective, the US confirmed granting waivers to eight countries, allowing them to continue to import oil from Iran for the next six months. The countries include South Korea, Japan, India, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy and Greece. The waivers will facilitate these to continue to import oil, although there is a great deal of disagreement among analysts over how much Iran’s exports will fall.

This waiver means that the supply situation will ease further. Reportedly Iran’s oil exports will stabilize at around 1 million barrels per day, and could even increase again in the coming months because Japan and South Korea have hardly been buying any Iranian oil lately. Receiving the waivers will allow them to continue buying. To be sure, not everyone agrees on this point, some believe the hawkish government in Washington will make other efforts to curb Iranian oil export.

Announcement of waivers, are a defeat of the US, seemingly backtracking a policy to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero. However, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues to play the famous US mantra, “maximum pressure” campaign will continue and that the administration hopes to get to zero. The waivers were granted to countries that “need a little bit more time,” he said. 

I am also obliged to refer to what has been said by Professor Frank N. von Hippel, former assistant director for national security in the White House Office of Science and Technology. He said that it was a terrible mistake for the Trump Administration to pull the US out of the agreement between the P5+1+EU and Iran, commonly referred as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The US has lost credibility with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU”. He also warned, “If Iran reacts by ending its own compliance with the JCPOA, we might be on a path to war. The US does not need another unnecessary and costly war”.