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.

A few weeks ago, this column detailed how, in the last two decades, U.S. administrations have periodically made war plans and debated conflict scenarios. Both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations did it, and now the Donald Trump administration has come to a similar point of deliberating a military response against Iran.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated dangerously over the past week. Although both sides deny that war is imminent, a violent confrontation grows more likely with every passing day.

US sanctions on Iran may increase Turkey-Iraq trade WHILE the implications of the second round of U.S. sanctions against Iran on the regional economy are being discussed, experts said that Turkish goods could dominate the Iraqi market with the decline in imports of Iranian goods due to the sanctions.

Turkish talks with US to be exempt from oil sanctions unlikely to succeed, warns analyst, leading to sanctions on Turkey

Regime leader Assad wants to claim victory over Idlib to prove he has Syrian lands under his control, says analyst

The war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, entered a new stage, as Iran's president, commonly known as a moderate reformist, moved closer to hardliners such as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and General Qasem Suleimani.

The Trump administration's new Iran strategy, as highlighted by Pompeo in his first public speech, will negatively affect the lives of ordinary Iranians rather than the ruling elites

Since becoming the U.S. president, Donald Trump never ceased to surprise international observers by his sheer speed in deconstructing all diplomatic efforts and compromises reached at multilateral platforms and ardently destroying the legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama.

The Ankara summit, which facilitated closer cooperation between Turkey, Russia and Iran in Syria, fueled two concerns in Western capitals

Turkey's opposition to Iran's expansionist policies does not preclude its objection to outside intervention and instability

The nature of the Gulf-sponsored polarization campaign effectively renders their threats ineffective.

The growing rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which recently caused Lebanese PM Hariri to resign, will soon impact others in the region, too

Decision by the U.S. administration and Congress will have a variety of ramifications for politics in the Middle East and U.S. relations with its partners in the nuclear deal. Remember that actions of the U.S. administration will be judged with U.S. actions and inactions that have taken place in recent years in the Middle East.

Trump's new strategy on Iran and the nuclear deal is likely to also have a huge impact on U.S. allies in the region

Turkey's cooperation with Iran in Iraq and Syria will likely set new developments in motion across the Middle East