Iran
J’Accuse Barack Obama!
When President Obama was in his 75-day transition to the Presidency, he initiated correspondence with Supreme Leader Khamenei of Iran…
Dear dictators: don’t lecture the US on how to treat its people
If you’ve been watching the news, you would think the United States is a third world nation on the verge…
Oil on troubled waters: the US-Saudi alliance is crumbling
The US-Saudi alliance is crumbling
What is the US Navy doing in the Persian Gulf?
American alliances and security commitments tend to live on long after the world has changed. Many of our far flung…
The director of Persepolis talks about her biopic of Marie Curie: Marjane Satrapi interviewed
The director of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, talks to Sarah Ditum about her new biopic of Marie Curie, exile from Iran and her fears for the future of democracy
Will coronavirus lead to a US war with Iran?
In a roundabout way, coronavirus may have been responsible for the deaths of two American service personnel and a British…
An Al-Qaeda double agent explains what’s really going on in Middle East
When will the definitive history of the modern Middle East be written? For 20 years and more, a continent has…
The Shia Krays: the whole of Iraq is being held to ransom
The whole of Iraq is being held to ransom
Donald Trump, president of peace
This article is in The Spectator’s February 2020 US edition. Subscribe here. Groupthink is the last thing a country needs when debating…
Portrait of the week: Harry and Meghan quit, America avoids war and the Labour leadership race begins
Home The Queen agreed to ‘a period of transition’ during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would spend time…
I was joking about Meghan and Harry becoming king and queen of Canada
Washington, D.C. On 8 January, I tweeted about the Sussex-Markles: ‘Obviously the plan is to return to Canada, lead a…
Could this be the beginning of the end for Iran’s mullahs?
It is easy to construct a scenario in which tit for tat actions by the Americans and Iranians lead to…
Portrait of the week: Crisis in Iran, fires in Australia and Manchester rapist jailed
Home Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, who had not been told in advance of America’s killing in Iraq of Qassem…
World war three? No, this was about Trump’s second term
If this is the start of the third world war, as some quivering liberal commentators seem to believe, then my…
All forecasts are off if Iran shuts the Strait of Hormuz
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Late last year, a range of forecasts…
Donald Trump has just blown up his goal of isolating Iran
A blood-red flag was raised over the Jamkaran mosque in the Iranian holy city of Qom last week, one normally…
Is there method – or madness – behind Trump’s actions in Iran?
Leaders are often accused of escalating a conflict abroad in order to distract from headaches at home. On Tuesday, before…
The Middle East for dummies
Gstaad The French have a saying: ‘Il n’y a rien de plus bête que le sourire du gagnant.’ In…
The downing of a civilian jet only adds to Tehran’s desperation
Drama and tragedy continue to envelop Iran. Just hours after the regime struck two US bases in Iraq on Wednesday,…
My despair at those who weep for Quassem Soleimani
A few hours into the new year, pro-Assad forces targeted a school in southern Idlib with a cluster bomb. The bombing took…
Soleimani’s assassination has exposed the EU’s big weakness
What a difference a day makes. When I went to bed on 2 January what seemed to be the most…
Could Iran’s retaliation against the United States lead to war?
So it happened. Iran has just struck back against the United States for its killing of Quds force chief Qassem…
Trump’s Iran strategy has finally won over the ‘Never Trumpers’
As a general rule, neoconservatives and hawkish Republican foreign policy officials don’t respect President Donald Trump’s capacities as commander-in-chief. They…
So much for de-escalation
‘We are not looking to start a war with Iran,’ said defense secretary Mark Esper today. ‘We are looking to…
Iran’s generals are weeping for Qasem Soleimani. But soon they will prepare to fight
It has been 24 hours since America droned Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad airport. Now both Iran and the United States…
