Iran to outline foreign policy updates and discuss changing situations in Syria and Yemen
The Third Tehran Security Conference is scheduled to begin today.
Iranian intellectuals and government leaders will participate in 10 different panels on major issues in international relations that impact Iran. Topics of discussion will include the Yemeni Civil War, the on-going war in Afghanistan and international terrorism.
The conference will also give Iran a chance to address relations with the United States. Last Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a major policy speech in Cairo in which he attacked Iran for destabilising the region through its covert activities in conflict zones like Syria and Yemen.
With the US at least rhetorically committed to further making Iran into a regional pariah, the Islamic Republic must decide how it will respond to this added pressure. Iran’s successes in preserving Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and holding off the Saudis in Yemen will likely only motivate Tehran to double down on its covert involvement in the rest of the region’s political and military affairs. Discussions today might turn in the direction of how Iran can further involve itself in other ways in the region—perhaps by further propping up Hamas activities against Israel and Shia interests in neighbouring Iraq.
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