President Recep Tayyip Erdogan s foreign policy rethink
Turkey is largely isolated in the Middle East. Partners are few and far between. Its closest ally, Qatar, has just made peace with its neighbours. Together with the change of power in the USA, this is forcing Ankara to rethink. Background by Kersten Knipp A good omen for the stability of the entire region : this is how German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the outcome of the talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Monday. Cavusoglu also expressed his satisfaction. The talks took place in a positive atmosphere , he said.
With unwanted AstraZeneca doses on the way, and the majority of the Palestinians not vaccinated, there would seem to be a win-win solution. Except it's not that simple
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel s diplomatic reporter
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during talks in Moscow, Russia, January 26, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has found himself under fire after an interview leaked to the press in which he decries the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Iran’s foreign policy.
Though Zarif has sought to downplay the remarks which were leaked ahead of the June presidential elections in Iran, and as Tehran and world powers discuss ways to revive the 2015 nuclear accord amid a furious reaction from conservative figures and media outlets speculation still swirls around who leaked the three-hour segment.
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel s diplomatic reporter
Yossi Cohen, then the national security adviser, is seen in a committee meeting at the Israeli parliament on December 8, 2015, sitting behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Senior Israeli national security officials are in Washington for their first face-to-face meetings in the United States with their Biden administration counterparts. The focus of the conversations is squarely on the terms of the US return to the 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran has been gradually and openly violating.
Though they are senior figures and well-respected in Washington, Mossad agency chief Yossi Cohen and National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat face a difficult task. As talks on the future of the deal progress in Vienna, it is becoming increasingly clear that the US and Iran will eventually reach an agreement and there’s nothing Israeli officials can do to stop it.