The Russian -Iranian relationship lies very much in the development of international issues elsewhere in the world. At the moment, Russia and Iran have a mutual need to maintain their relationship and to play up its importance in order to protect the territorial status and exertinfluence with other neighbouring states.

• July 14, 2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday Iran was gaining the ability to build a nuclear bomb, the strongest criticism of Iran's nuclear program to emerge from the Kremlin under either Medvedev or his predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

• July 13, 2010

Japan, long critical of Indian nuclear policy, is discussing a civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement that could be signed by the end of the year when the Indian prime minister visits Tokyo, Harsh V Pant comments for ISN Security Watch.

• July 13, 2010

Russian gas behemoth Gazprom is trying to get German power company RWE to join the South Stream gas pipeline project, a press report said on Monday, raising the stakes for a rival European programme.

• July 13, 2010

North Korea postpones talks scheduled with the US-led United Nations Command about the sinking of a South Korean warship.

• July 13, 2010

Jordan has always been a moderate monarchy and, taking into account the role of the British Empire in the foundation of the Hashemite Kingdom, one of the most pro-Western regimes in the Arab East. Jordan’s well-established relations with Russia, which have become even closer and warmer during the last decade, might therefore seem surprising. However, in the Middle East, perhaps even more than in any geopolitical regions, neither generalizations nor stereotypes are able to reflect complex realities. Moscow and Amman have a number of reasons to preserve and cultivate their cooperation

• July 13, 2010

The 14 alleged spies deported from Russia and the U.S. remained out of public view over the weekend amid uncertainty over where they had been taken and how they would restart their lives.

• July 12, 2010

The multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline is back on India's agenda with the government planning to hold a bilateral meeting in Teheran on the issue after a gap of at least two years.

• July 12, 2010