Iraqi militias attack Kurdistan oil fields for second day in a row

Once dominant mediators in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, both were notably absent as the United Arab Emirates hosted direct talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders late last week.

The meeting—described as positive by both sides—was the first time the two met face-to-face without intermediaries, according to Azerbaijani lawmaker Arzu Naghiyev.

Baku has long sought a way to connect the two territories of Azerbaijan separated by a tract of Armenian land. An existing plan for a 'corridor' is backed by Ankara but categorically rejected by Yerevan.

“Azerbaijan’s position on opening the Zangezur corridor to connect with Nakhchivan and Turkey is unequivocal,” Naghiyev told Iran International. “But the positions of Russia, Iran and others remain unclear.”

Tehran had previously threatened military action to prevent the corridor’s creation. But today, it appears unable to influence the outcome.

Tensions between Baku and Moscow have also escalated following the deaths of several Azerbaijani citizens in Russian custody.

In response, Azerbaijan shut down the Russian state-run Sputnik news bureau in Baku and arrested several of its staff. Meanwhile, Armenia’s pivot toward the West has further strained ties with Moscow.

Energy diplomacy

On July 4, the Nagorno-Karabakh region hosted an Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit attended by leaders from Central Asia, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey.

Russian officials were frustrated by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s participation, according to Israel’s Channel 12, especially as Azerbaijan was arresting Russian nationals.

Moscow made no public objection when Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan held joint drone drills days later.

Baku also hosted the head of Syria’s interim government last week, and reports suggest Israeli and Syrian officials held indirect discussions during the visit.

This followed Azerbaijan’s state oil company Socar acquiring a 10% stake in Israel’s Tamar gas field.

During the ECO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed Azerbaijan’s interest in exporting gas to Syria. A memorandum was signed on July 12 during the Syrian delegation’s visit to Baku.

Qatar has already begun supplying gas to Syria via Jordan, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are backing reconstruction efforts in opposition-held areas—bypassing the Assad regime and its traditional backers, Iran and Russia.

UAE leads the charge

Among Persian Gulf states, the UAE has emerged as the most active in regional diplomacy.

On July 13, Erdogan held a call with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussing the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) disarmament, the Armenia-Azerbaijan talks, and broader regional initiatives.

Trade reflects this deepening partnership: Turkish exports to the UAE surged 65% in the first half of 2025—the fastest growth among Turkey’s trade partners. Exports to Syria rose 46% in the same period.

Direct investment from Persian Gulf states abroad has jumped 50% since 2022, with 90% flowing to Central Asia, according to the Eurasian Development Bank.

Emirati firms manage all of Turkmenistan’s Caspian Sea oil production and own 30% of Azerbaijan’s Absheron gas field—the second-largest in the Caspian.

The UAE has invested more than $12 billion in Central Asia, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar accounting for almost $4 billion.

Arab states are stepping up across the region, increasingly appears to be at the expense of Iran and Russia.

“The investigation's findings revealed that the soldier knowingly maintained contact with Iranian elements and, in this context, carried out tasks for them, including transferring a video of interceptions and photographs of missile impacts and strikes in Israel," the police said in a statement.

"It should be noted that the information did not come to him by virtue of his military role,” it added.

The arrest comes on the back of a new ad campaign by the Israeli government warning citizens against spying for Iran.

Israeli authorities say they have uncovered more than 25 cases of Iranian recruitment over the past year, with more than 35 people indicted on serious security charges.

“The campaign carries significant national importance, especially in the aftermath of (the war with Iran), after which Iranian efforts to recruit operatives and execute missions inside Israel are expected to intensify,” said Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate, which along with domestic security service the Shin Bet, is behind the campaign.

“For 5,000 shekels, is it worth ruining your life or family?” reads one of the campaign's video adverts, referencing the reported amounts some individuals have received for passing information to Tehran.

Since the Gaza war, there has been a 400% surge in arrests related to alleged Iran-backed spy plots, according to the Israeli security services.

The caption to the cartoon cites part of a speech Khamenei made the previous day in which he said Iranian attacks forced Israel to seek US intervention.

"If (Israel) hadn’t bowed down, if it hadn’t collapsed to the ground, if it didn’t need help, if it were capable of defending itself, it wouldn’t have resorted to the United States like that. Turning to the United States means it realized it could not handle the Islamic Republic."

In the speech, Khamenei added, "we deem the Zionist regime a cancer," and called Israel America's "rabid dog".

Iranian officialdom has repeatedly declared victory following a 12-day war with Israel last month in which its Mideast nemesis pounded military bases and nuclear sites and killed hundreds of personnel, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Retaliatory Iranian missile salvos killed 27 Israeli civilians. The conflict was capped by US attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites which President Donald Trump said "obliterated" Tehran's disputed program.

Following the conflict, Iranian state TV aired a song calling for “uprooting the Jews” which aired July 2.

“Behind Ali, obedient to the Leader’s command, we are all proud soldiers; we will uproot the Jews with power,” the song said.

Iran’s state media has repeatedly promoted antisemitic themes across films, festivals, and official speeches.

In 2001, the government aired a mini-series titled Saint Mary that depicted Jewish communities at the time of Jesus’s birth as “lacking compassion and rationality.” The Jewish Association of Tehran criticized the series for reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

In 2005, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted an international Holocaust cartoon competition. Ahmadinejad, who publicly denied the Holocaust, once said Israel should be “wiped off the map.” The contest continues today with backing from official cultural institutions.

Despite the official hostility, Iran maintains a Jewish population estimated between 8,000 and 10,000. The World Jewish Congress notes the community’s historical presence in Iran since 586 BCE, with roughly 100 synagogues still in operation.

“Our forces are fully prepared to resume combat from exactly where it stopped,” said Major General Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), during a meeting in Tehran with Major General Amir Hatami, commander-in-chief of Iran’s army.

“The aggressors will not be spared,” he added. “The will and resolve of the Iranian people and our armed forces have triumphed. We stand together.”

Earlier in the day, a senior Iranian lawmaker also warned that Iran would respond to any future Israeli attack with a blow more severe than last month’s conflict.

“If the Zionist regime again makes the mistake of acting against the Islamic Republic, it will be hit even harder than it was in Operation True Promise 3,” Esmail Kowsari, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, told reporters i Tehran.

Hatami said Iran would not wait for external threats to materialize. Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the war with Iran "is not over".

“The Zionist regime is a danger to regional and global peace,” Hatami said. “If given the opportunity, it would strike others in the region. We will not allow it.”

The commanders’ statements came amid Israel’s airstrikes on Damascus. Israel wants a demilitarised buffer zone in southern Syria.

US President Donald Trump expects Iran to return to nuclear negotiations, saying that diplomacy is in Tehran's best interest, according to the State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

“I know that he expects them to begin to negotiate because that's in their best interest,” Bruce said in an interview with Fox News. “He has believed and continues to believe that diplomacy will work here."

Trump has warned that if Iran's nuclear program continues to pose a threat, he would "absolutely" consider more strikes, "without a question".

Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful.

Khuzestan, home to much of Iran’s oil wealth, posted a misery index of 46.6, surpassing all other regions. The index combines unemployment and inflation to gauge pressure on livelihoods.

“While Khuzestan leans on oil, Kerman on copper and coal, and Hormozgan on its ports, the misery index in all three has reached unprecedented thresholds,” Rokna wrote.

The national index hit a 42.2 high in the same period, the report added.

The outlet warned that concurrent surges in joblessness and inflation were not only eroding consumer power, but “also endangering social and psychological stability.”

Rokna described Khuzestan’s situation as alarming. The province reported a 35.6% inflation rate and 11% unemployment in spring, despite commanding vast reserves of oil, gas, sugarcane, steel, surface water and port access.

“The water crisis and dust storms, widespread climate-driven migration, high unemployment among local populations, weak health and education infrastructure, and systemic corruption in resource allocation are among the main challenges facing Khuzestan,” the report said.

Since 2018, US sanctions have sharply curtailed Iran’s oil revenues and foreign trade, but recent developments—especially the coordinated US–Israel military strikes on nuclear sites and the threat of renewed UN snapback sanctions—have deepened the economic toll, paralyzing investor confidence and further isolating Iran from global markets.

Kerman, which ranked second with a misery index of 45.9, struggles with inflation in consumer goods, low wages in the mining sector, youth out-migration and limited rural access to credit, according to the report.

The province contains some of the country’s richest copper and mineral resources, as well as solar potential and arable land.

Hormozgan, in third place with a 45.8 index reading, continues to suffer despite its strategic coastal position in the Persian Gulf and role in maritime trade.

“Rising informal settlements, unregulated housing, inadequate education and high inflation” are key drivers of the hardship, Rokna wrote.

The publication cited official income data showing that disparities in Bandar Abbas, the provincial capital of Hormozgan, rank among the widest in Iran, particularly between the port’s core and surrounding settlements.

The economic struggles are also evident in the inadequate minimum wage for the current year, which is set at around 109 million rials (over $125). This amount covers only one third of the estimated cost of living for a typical household, calculated recently at about $600 based on the official data.

The rising costs of essentials such as food, housing, healthcare, and education have made it increasingly difficult for workers to make ends meet.

“The misery index is not just a number; it reflects unbalanced policies, unrealistic planning, and a social rupture in some of the country’s most resource-rich provinces,” Rokna wrote. “When regions endowed with wealth rank highest in misery, it means the distribution of resources and welfare has failed.”

The outlet warned about the intensification of “social dissatisfaction, migration, and even regional instability” in the country, and called on Masoud Pezeshkian’s government to prioritize changing the provincial governors.