The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey

The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be hanging by a thread. After fresh fighting erupted and Iranian attacks targeted commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump declared the agreement "over" and warned that American bombings would "get much worse" if Tehran failed to back down. The latest exchange has seen US strikes on Iranian military targets met wit...

The drums of war are beating again in Yemen. A series of recent incidents suggests that both Iran and Saudi Arabia are more assertively supporting their Yemeni allies at the risk of shattering an informal four-year ceasefire in the kingdom’s war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The recent incidents stand in stark contrast to the kingdom's tacit outreach to Iran. Saudi Arabia sent a delegation...

James discusses on CNBC prospects for the US-Iran negotiations and US President Donald Trump’s interview with the network.

Lebanon looms large as a grey swan that could run roughshod over US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war.

Lebanon looms large as a grey swan that could run roughshod over US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war.

Geography gives Iran a leg up in the struggle to determine the strategic Strait of Hormuz’s future and potentially with it the region’s balance of power. Iran’s strategic advantage is rooted in the Marxist principle of possession is ownership. As a result, tensions in the Strait are about who controls the Strait.

Widely diverging US and Iranian attitudes towards Iran’s nuclear programme are not just about preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. It’s also about perceptions of sovereignty and efforts by non-nuclear states, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, to level the playing field with the world’s core nuclear powers, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France, and perceived do...

James discusses the US-Iran negotiations, the Middle East’s changing geopolitics, and Yemen on Radio Islam.

A Turkish-Saudi agreement to revive the Ottoman-era Hijaz Railway tells the story of geopolitical realignment in the wake of the wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, including the future of Iran’s relations with the Gulf monarchies. The agreement is the tale of efforts to reduce regional dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, diverging Gulf attitudes towards cooperation with Israel, dashed US hopes of in...

The negotiations between the United States and Iran remain fragile with both contradicting the other on what may or may not have been agreed. James discusses the negotiations’ prospects on TRT World.

It’s time to rethink policy towards Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The need to think outside of the box has become more urgent with Middle Eastern states and the international community seeking alternative transport routes to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil flows in peacetime.’ Rethinking policy isn’t that far-fetched given the United Arab...

James discusses the US Iran memorandum of understanding on Radio Islam.

James discusses the cost of the Iran war on TRT World.

By James M. Dorsey Out of character, Iran gave US President Donald Trump an unexpected birthday present. It agreed on Mr. Trump’s 80th to the final text of a memorandum of understanding that will end the Iran war and frame negotiations on the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, final arrangements for shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of froz...

James discusses the US-Iran agreement on BFM 89.9

James discusses on Radio Islam this week’s rollercoaster in the Iran war.

There is one thing US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders agree on. They both religiously adhere to the principle that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

With an unprecedented eight teams competing, the Middle East casts its long shadow over this year’s World Cup; not always for the right reasons. The shadow may not always cloud the pitch, even though several teams could spring a surprise. Think of Tunisia in 2022 beating France, Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina, and Morocco reaching the semi-finals in the Qatar World Cup, the first African team to...

James discusses the Iranian-Israeli tit-for-tat, the Lebanon war, and US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war on CNA938.

Like the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and last June’s 12-day Israel-Iran war, this year’s Iran war has reshaped the Islamic Republic. The Iran-Iraq war fuelled the Islamic Republic’s initial embrace of nationalism at the expense of the revolutionary zeal that drove the 1979 toppling of the Shah and the Republic’s first 18 months. This and last year’s war cemented the transition and e...

James discusses this week’s Iran war developments, Gulf splits on post-war relations with Iran, and the Middle East’s shadow hanging over the 2026 World Cup.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stands accused of waging war in his personal rather than Israel’s national interest. Mr. Netanyahu’s critics argue that had the prime minister focussed on Israel’s national interest rather than his personal concerns, Israel would have long sought to end hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon and, perhaps, lobbied US President Donald Trump less hard for military a...

A US-Iranian tit-for-tat in the Strait of Hormuz amounts to a game of chicken that risks spinning out of control. US President Donald Trump’s impatience with the grinding process of indirect negotiations to reopen the strategic Strait and end the Iran war, and the president’s insistence, amplified by senior administration officials, that the United States could revert to military action, enhances...

James argues on TRT World that for Iran and the US a Lebanon ceasefire is not just about Hezbollah. It’s also about leverage in US-Iranian negotiations to end the Iran war.

Disregard the US, European, Iraqi, and Gulf states’ rejection of Iran’s insistence that it will control the Strait of Hormuz no matter what. The fact of the matter is that Middle Eastern states are factoring in permanent Iranian control into their longer-term thinking about shaping the region’s post-war balance of power and security architecture, even though they may not admit as much publicly. Al...