Looking at the latest phases of the Middle East in crisis, an astonishing sequence of events has erupted along Iran’s axis of proxies and allies.
Tehran has until now operated a variation of the Goldilocks approach to its networks. The operation of convenient alliances has allowed for just enough tension to contain any given showdown from spilling over into all-out or unlimited confrontation.
By sticking to recognisable lines, Iran’s networks have maintained a kind of equilibrium. European officials have been able to work with the constituent parts, and by extension, so has America. In the current crisis, as grave as it is, there has not yet been a departure from the known rules.
Over decades in a situation of near-international isolation, Iran has engineered countervailing leverage against western pressure. The current events, not least in the Red Sea, are a working demonstration of this reality.
As the focus shifts to stopping the spreading conflict in the Middle East, Iran is presented with another opportunity to solidify its worldwide alliance of hardliners. Tehran, it seems, is not seeking direct confrontation but works to ensure that it gains and the US-backed side loses.
The term “Axis of Resistance” is poorly understood, yet it is one of the most important factors in the global security equation today. It is not simply about the survival of the Iranian leadership, though that is paramount, but the rise of a bloc that can defy the West.
Since the emergence of the regime following the exile of the Shah in 1979, the Iranian leadership has nurtured a global vision of anti-western hegemony that is more practical than commonly appreciated. Resistance may be a clunky word, but its meaning is clear.
The word Axis is, wrongly, not taken very seriously either. For example, on a regional level, Iran is often said to back but not control its affiliates. On a global level, not many treat the relationship between Venezuela and Iran as meaningful. But they should when Caracas uses the current situation to threaten to annex Essequibo state from neighbouring Guyana.
When figures such as the late journalist John Pilger propagate a worldview that is all about the conniving and insidious evil of US global power, there is little thought as to how it plays along with the Tehran mindset.
Yet there is a shared agenda that is constantly seeking to expand its own spheres and diminish those of the West. It is about bringing down western powers, and it is not only driven by Tehran’s pragmatic interests but by the deep and shared belief that the day of triumph will come.
The term 'Axis of Resistance' is poorly understood, yet it is one of the most important factors in the global security equation today
Iran has been successful in developing an agenda that perfectly synchronises with the emergence of a new Cold War. Its alliance with Moscow to supply Shahed drones to the Ukraine offensive is a manifestation of the Tehran playbook.
Looked at objectively, there is no guarantee that Iran can play a local or global role of the type it has established. Its diminishing resources are eaten up by its security agenda. In a report in April, the Emirates Policy Centre pointed out that Iran’s military was allocated 21 per cent of the country’s New Year budget.
While noting that the published budgetary figure was only a tiny piece of the puzzle, it also drew attention to the fact that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of five entities alongside the Ministry of Defence, was taking almost one third of the allocation. The IRGC is the operational hub of the Axis and, thus, a vital plank of Tehran’s global strategy.
Given the shrunken size of the Iranian economy due to sanctions and the moribund nature of its oil sector, it is perhaps more significant to note that the military economy may represent one third of Iran’s economic activity.
No one who has visited Tehran can be in any doubt of the visible importance of the Palestinian issue in the country. Apart from anything else, giant posters hang at every strategic location.
A report from the European Council on Foreign Relations noted last week that the first foreign leader to visit the Iranian regime after it took control of the country was Yasser Arafat. But as the Palestine Liberation Organisation sought constitutional politics and entered rounds of negotiation with Israel, the Iranians shifted focus to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Even then there has been a “push me, pull you” nature to those relationships. Islamic Jihad was frozen out of Iranian funds for a time when, in 2014, it refused to back the rise of the Houthi faction in Yemen. Meanwhile, Hamas’s positions on Syria at the outset of its civil war, as well as its 2017 revisions to its charter on the Palestinian consensus, were both too much for Tehran to swallow.
Behind the ideological ambitions, the long interests of operating an Axis mean that Iran treats its network as a franchise. As with a large commercial chain, having visibility and making an impact locally is the most important principle.
That means that local management asserts its interests and makes its own choices. As long as the general direction is broadly intact, the entire Axis functions as planned.
As pressure points have spread around the Middle East, there is no doubt that Iran’s focus on weakening the West is paramount. In 2024, it looks like it will view its capacity for achieving this endgame as having been boosted, not only over the past three months but in recent years.
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
SPECS
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Studying addiction
This month, Dubai Medical College launched the Middle East’s first master's programme in addiction science.
Together with the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation, the college offers a two-year master’s course as well as a one-year diploma in the same subject.
The move was announced earlier this year and is part of a new drive to combat drug abuse and increase the region’s capacity for treating drug addiction.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
