As we are going to press right now, we are monitoring a live feed from Russia Today as it has a panel on the challenges being faced in the aftermath of the It has been very troubling times in relations throughout the Muslim World. It must be noted that we would be refraining from referring to the Middle East as the "Near East" (which will include Afghanistan):
The Russia Today panel featuring Professor Marandi of Tehran University whose views typically reflects Iranian Government Views. What he deemed as the "View from Tehran" was summarized as follows:
It is clear that Saudi Arabia has profound challenges before it. The war in Yemen is not going well at all. Bahrain has been under defacto occupation of Saudi Arabia since Saudi Arabia sent its' National Guard to crush the uprising. Syria remains an inferno ever more as the schism between the two major powers in the region continues in a major way. What was interesting was how the Saudi Foreign Minister noted that Iran had to behave like a "Normal Country" as Saudi Arabia's record is less than stellar on Human Rights, Women's Rights and other key metrics under which countries are measured. On the Yemen Front, it was of note that Kuwait has been the latest country to contribute ground troops to the Yemen War Effort--as it also stepped up its support of Saudi Arabia.
The recent announcement by Saudi Arabia on the massive budget deficit has contributed to the challenges being faced right now by the Saudi Royal Family. There are also apparent schisms within the Royal Family as well which continues to contribute to the on-going challengs being faced. The move by Saudi Arabia to cut ties has seen a rise of support for Saudi Allies and those dependent on Saudi support. As we went to press, Qatar was the latest country to join the stampede to cut relations with Iran. Egypt and Oman (a traditional neutral go-between) have also expressed sympathy with the moves by Saudi Arabia.
As this war of words continues, Iran has tried to dampen the aftermath of the attacks. On the night of the attack, the Tehran Chief of Police underscored that the attackers acted on their own--but our team's subsequent review of late breaking developments reflects the fact that those who have been opposing Rouhani's moves for openings to the west helped orchestrate this move to undermine potential electoral gains by factions supporting the reformist movement
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What is striking is how Iran has sought out to criticize Saudi Arabia even though its' own record on human rights is extremely problematic. A day does not pass by for us here at The Daily Outsider Virtual Studios as we see the plight of writers and screen writers who have been detained for months at at time. Rozbeh Ghilasian and Elaheh Soroshnia were two such brave souls who have been detained for a number for a number of months:
Mohammad Reza Ali Payam, another writer, wrote an open letter to the Minister of Health noting that no one even bothered to ask about how he was doing for 8 hours after he was transferred from Prison to the Hospital to be checked. This is also as Jason Rezayian of the Washington Post continues to be detained. The schism within the ruling establishment in the country is also underscored by the attacks on Rafsanjani as he has come out saying that the Assembly of Experts that has 'oversight" responsibility for the Supreme Leader (Supreme Guide) needs to be enhanced further which has incurred the wrath of the Conservatives. As the elections draws close, further challenges are ever so evident in the Country--One very troubling statistic was a very dubious distinction for Tehran: The 30th polluted City in the World Today--and the 8th Worst City in the World for Traffic as this recent image from Tehran reflects:
The figure that blew us away was an admission by a Iran Government Offical that 18 divorces are being filed every hour on an average basis in Iran Today. This is as Iran may have to contend with $ 15/Barrell price for Oil.
Truly challenging times.......
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