Tehran’s most recent political moves reflect the beginning of a new discourse, with Iran valuing regional Shiite political actors to the extent that they serve its national interests

Tehran is facing severe political, economic and social problems domestically such as the negative impacts of the long-time U.S. sanctions, poverty, unemployment, drought, migration and growing uneasiness among different segments of society

We asked the leading Iran experts in Turkey and around the world to analyze the reasons behind the protests in Iran, the demands of the protestors, the Iranian administration’s attitude, the likely future of the protests and their impact on Iran. We present the assessments of those experts below.

‘Samarkand and New York summits have shown Türkiye’s determination of following an independent, diversified and global-scale foreign policy’

As the great power competition gains momentum, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Sochi. The items on today’s agenda include the grain corridor, Ukraine, Syria and bilateral relations, starting with economic cooperation.

Ultimately, the Astana Process reflects the nature of politics today.

We reached out to several experts for more on how to understand the developments in Iraq and what possible future scenarios may be derived from the current situation.

What kind of Türkiye does Iran prefer? Which Türkiye can satisfy Iranian regional expectations?

Türkiye has pursued normalization with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel and Saudi Arabia over the last two years, which enabled that country to strengthen its bilateral cooperation with the participants of both summits.

U.S. President Joe Biden paid a three-day official visit to the Middle East between July 13-16 in order to renew its engagement with the region and strengthen its strategic partnership with the regional allies.

Under the current circumstances, it seems impossible for the U.S. to discover a new kind of engagement that would contain Russia and China in the Middle East as well as address Iran’s problems with Israel and the Gulf. It is highly likely that the fresh diplomatic efforts by Washington, which cannot even appreciate Türkiye’s balancing and stabilizing/securing role, will prove to be a complete waste of time.

US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East reassures regional allies of continued engagement, but it is unlikely to mobilize them around US goals

With its regional mindset and strategy, there is now a way for Tehran to be productive in the South Caucasus

Since the killing of Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last week, there have been debates, questions and concerns about the potential implications of this attack on U.S. foreign policy and the international relations of the Middle East in general. The missile attacks of Iran on a base in Iraq and the debates about a Ukrainian airlines plane presumably shot down by a missile increased the level these discussions.

Trump's Iran policy completely differs from the former U.S. administration's as it contains the possibility of both winning or losing in the region

This week's attack on the facilities of Aramco, Saudi Arabia's national oil company, was no mere skirmish among proxies. Iran has allegedly fired missiles, loaded on drones, to strike at the heart of the Saudi oil industry. Although Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed the attack, already some fingers are pointing to Tehran. Hence a series of questions: have tensions in the Gulf, which have been escalating since May 2018, already spun out of control? Is the policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran giving way to war? Why did U.S. President Donald Trump escalate tensions right after sacking John Bolton, his hawkish national security adviser? What will be the Trump administration's military response to an attack that it considers a casus belli? As world leaders pack their bags for the United Nations General Assembly's opening session, the world is still trying to answer those questions.

Çankaya Palace in Ankara was home to a historic trilateral summit on Monday. The presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran met for the fifth time in two years to discuss the situation in Idlib, refugees, the most recent developments in northeastern Syria and the proposed constitutional committee.