World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding to halt the war and reaffirm the sixty-day ceasefire, with half of that period devoted to a transitional phase aimed at addressing outstanding, difficult, and highly complex issues, places at its center, without doubt, the nuclear file, which served as the…

The main fighting between the United States and Iran has come to a halt. In line with the logic of negotiations, the occasional controlled skirmish continued to occur, reflecting both sides' shared determination to avoid a return to war, each for its own reasons. The signing ceremony, conducted…

We want complete and genuine peace around us and throughout the world. How can we achieve that? First, Iran must abandon its ambition to dominate the world under the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih (the Guardianship of the Jurist). It must recognize that its recruitment of militias such as the so…

During his visit to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on June 15, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, met with Prince Yazid bin Mohammed bin Farhan, adviser to the Saudi foreign minister on Lebanese affairs. The two sides discussed “the latest developments in…

In waiting for the clouds to clear from the American-Iranian understanding and its terse provisions, and to see whether what is announced will differ from what has been kept secret; in waiting to identify the “relative victor” and the “relative loser,” and for the contours of a new strategic…

History may repeat itself. We don't forget the iconic scene of Iranian Minister Javad Zarif standing on the balcony of the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna eleven years ago, waving to journalists with a big joyful smile after signing the comprehensive agreement. It was a spectacular Iranian…

By the time you are reading this column US President Donald J Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian have electronically initialed from a distance of 6,000 kilometers a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to halt the latest episode of a war that started between the two nations 47 years…

Among the supplications frequently repeated by preachers from mosque pulpits is this prayer: “O God, destroy the oppressors by means of the oppressors, and bring us safely out from among them.” It is a prayer that fosters an extraordinary degree of passivity, encourages an unnatural kind of…

The Structured Dialogue Committee has concluded and presented us with recommendations copied from previous agreements, offering nothing new. Foremost among the recommendations is the formation of a new transitional government for no more than two years that is tasked with preparing for the…

It will be a long time before Lebanon regains its political, economic, and social health. The latest war it was dragged into, and Israel’s vindictive and disproportionate response, deepened Lebanon’s divisions. They have gone from traditional disagreements to a major rupture that will not be easy…

G7 meetings (between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan) are no longer what they were, just as NATO did in the security and strategic spheres. The overarching problem is that the world has entered a period of militarization and violence. The “fifth Gaza war”…

Many people imagine that courage has but one form: a raised weapon, a booming voice, striking and thrusting. There is no doubt that these are among the manifestations of courage and valor, and on the battlefield the mettle of men is tested and the heroism of warriors revealed. Yet courage takes…