Robert Tait

Also by Robert Tait

• January 18, 2011

  Afghans Seek New Fuel Source As Warm Relations With Tehran Turn Frosty

  It is a dispute that has severely strained relations between Iran and Afghanistan; for weeks, more than 1,600 diesel fuel tankers bound for Afghanistan have been stranded on the Iranian side of the border without apparent explanation. Now, amid shortages and soaring fuel prices, the government in Kabul has approached Afghanistan's erstwhile foe, Russia, in a search for an alternative energy source.

• January 11, 2011

  Turkish Friendship Offering To Armenia Riles Erdogan

  It was meant as a symbol of friendship that would help to heal the wounds of a long history of bloodshed, bitterness, and recrimination between Turkey and Armenia. Instead, an imposing monument in the eastern Turkish city of Kars near the two countries' border threatens to become yet another victim of their tortured relations after incurring the wrath of Turkey's mercurial prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

• January 07, 2011

  Return Of Iraq's Prodigal Son?

  What does the staunchly anti-Western cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's return mean for the future of Iraqi politics?

• December 22, 2010

  Salehi Stands In As Iran's New Foreign Minister -- But For How Long?

  On his first official trip abroad as Iran's new foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi accompanied President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to Turkey. But more than a week after his appointment, doubts remain as to whether he's really Ahmadinejad's man.

• December 20, 2010

  Economists Say Iran Subsidy Plan A Weapon Of Political Control

  Iran has finally introduced a program of drastic subsidy cuts that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has vowed will save the government $100 billion a year and target aid to the poorest. But economists warn that the new system of cash handouts is being used to punish and intimidate those deemed politically suspect or disloyal.

• December 14, 2010

  Mottaki Doomed By Personal Animus, Not Political Visions

  Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's firing of Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki was sudden and brutal. But the firing may say more about Ahmadinejad's personal style and preferences than about disagreements over foreign policy.

• December 03, 2010

  Is An Apocalyptic Vision Driving Al-Qaeda's Quest For The Bomb?

  Do we "get" Al-Qaeda and its goals? According to a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist, Al-Qaeda's drive to transform the world through a devastating attack on Western interests is inspiring it to seek weapons of mass destruction.

• November 29, 2010

  WikiLeaks Cables Suggest Arab Fears Over Iran Mirror Israel's

  Several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, pressured the U.S. to carry out military strikes against Iran's nuclear installations, according diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks. The disclosures reveal that America's Arab allies and Israel were surprisingly at one in their assessment of the Iranian nuclear threat.

• November 24, 2010

  Iran Dealt Losing Hand In Gambia Gambit

  Gambia may not be the most obvious candidate for a diplomatic collision with Tehran. But this week the tiny West African state announced it was severing economic ties with Iran and ordered all Iranian representatives to leave within 48 hours.

• November 15, 2010

  From Russia, Without Much Love

  Their alliance has long been a thorn in the side of the West's attempts to isolate Iran diplomatically and economically over its disputed nuclear program. But now the once-close ties between Tehran and Moscow appear to have frayed after Iran's president accused Russia of "selling out to Satan" over its cancelation of a missile deal.

• November 11, 2010

  Obama's Speech Fails To Reach Beyond Indonesia

  It was billed by some aides as a follow-up to last year's epic message to the Muslim world, delivered amid great fanfare in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. But President Barack Obama's remarks about Islam this week in Jakarta, Indonesia, were much more modest and low-key -- and may have failed to reach many Muslim ears.

• November 02, 2010

  Turkey Facing East-West Dilemma Over NATO Missile-Shield Plan

  Turkey's role in NATO is facing its sternest test in years over plans to station a missile-defense shield on its soil. U.S. officials say the system is aimed at protecting the alliance from attack by Iran, with whom Turkey has strong ties. But Turkey says it will only agree to the system if Iran and other neighbors are not defined as threats.

• October 26, 2010

  Iran's Regional Money Bags

  The disclosure that Iran has been passing large sums of money in plastic bags to an aide of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has caused consternation in Washington, where it is seen as evidence of the Islamic republic's malign influence.

• October 21, 2010

  Iraq's Kurds Emerge As Kingmakers As Iran Tries To Flex Its Muscle

  Iraq's Kurds have invited the leaders of the country's other main political blocs to a roundtable discussion aimed at breaking an impasse that has seen the fragile country without a government for seven months.

• October 13, 2010

  Ahmadinejad Gets Hero's Welcome In Lebanon, As Israel, West Watch With Suspicion

  Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad arrived in Lebanon to a hero's welcome, his first visit to one of Iran's most strategically important regional allies since taking office in 2005. The trip is expected to act as a show of support for the Shi'ite Islamist organization, Hizballah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006 with Iran's backing. Israel has labeled the visit "provocative."

• October 10, 2010

  Outcry Over Rampant Jailing Of Journalists In Turkey

  Fears are rising over freedom of expression in Turkey amid reports that 48 journalists are currently languishing in prison and around 700 others face possible lengthy jail sentences under the country's press and antiterrorism laws.

• September 22, 2010

  Iran's Ahmadinejad Harks Back To Koran, Cold War To Turn Tables On The West

  Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has adopted the old Cold War approach in charging the West with hypocrisy for expressing outrage over the fate of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning while staying silent about an American woman on death row in Virginia.

• September 20, 2010

  Roma Expulsions Challenge Europe's Benevolent Self-Image

  They have long been Europe's forgotten people, pushed to the margins by poverty and discrimination. But now the Roma have been propelled into the spotlight as never before -- as a consequence of the expulsion policies of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Why have they become fair game and what does their treatment say about contemporary politics in the European Union?

• September 13, 2010

  Turkey Referendum Triumph Paves Way For Third AKP Term, New Constitution

  Turkey's prime minister is likely to seize on his stunning referendum triumph on constitutional change as a platform for a third successive election victory for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He has also pledged use it to pave the way for an entirely new constitution, a move that could transform the country's political landscape and remold its hitherto secular political order.

• September 11, 2010

  Facing Constitutional Change, Turkish Voters To Offer 'Yes' Or 'No' To Erdogan

  The government says a "yes" would herald a more democratic and transparent political arrangement. But vague on the detail, many Turks will cast votes based on their view of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Load more