Iran Update, August 25, 2025

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected recent calls by Iranian reformist officials to reform Iran’s domestic and foreign policies.[1] Khamenei delivered a speech on August 24 in which he claimed that “Iran’s enemies” failed to defeat Iran during the Israel-Iran War and are now trying to do so by “creating discord in the country.”[2] Khamenei claimed that agents of the United States and Israel, along with “heedless speakers and writers,” are creating division.[3] Khamenei may have used the term “heedless speakers and writers” to refer to reformist officials who have recently called on the regime to reform its domestic and foreign policies. Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on August 13 for the regime to make concessions to the Iranian people, strengthen societal resilience, and reduce tensions with the West.[4] The Iranian Reformist Front separately issued a statement on August 17 that called for political reforms and foreign policy shifts, including suspending uranium enrichment under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight.[5] Khamenei rejected this and similar calls to engage with the United States in his speech on August 24, stating that the conflict between Iran and the United States is “unsolvable.” Khamenei additionally rejected direct talks with the United States but did not explicitly rule out the possibility of indirect negotiations.

Security Deal With Israel Is Likely, Syrian President Says

Latest Developments

  • Talks in ‘Advanced’ Stage: Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told representatives of Arab media outlets that Syria and Israel are in “advanced” talks on a security pact based on the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, adding that the chances that a deal will be reached are high. Sharaa emphasized that he did not believe it was the right time for a peace deal between the two neighboring states, which have technically been at war since 1948, but added that he “will not hesitate to take” any agreement that benefits Syria.
  • Syria to Provide Security Guarantees for Economic Investment: Details of the deal have been discussed during at least two U.S.-mediated meetings between Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani in July and August. Based on reports of the deal taking shape, Syria would agree to a complete demilitarization of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, prevent the entry of any weapons or terrorists that could threaten Israel’s security, and establish a humanitarian corridor to the predominantly Druze Suwayda region. In return, Syria will be rehabilitated by the United States and allied Gulf states after having suffered economically during more than a decade of civil war.
  • Syria Aims to Stop Continued IDF Operations: Damascus is also pushing to restore the disengagement line established after the October 1973 war as part of the deal. After Sharaa’s Islamist forces overthrew the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad in December, the IDF took control of the Syrian side of the UN-patrolled buffer zone. Since then, Israel has conducted raids against terrorist cells in southern Syria, as well as airstrikes to protect the Syrian Druze minority against attack by pro-government forces.

Understanding China’s New Counterterrorism Ambitions in Africa

Abstract: China has recently been pursuing a much more aggressive stance in African security affairs, including playing a more engaged role in counterterrorism (CT). Where is China engaged in CT in Africa, and by what means? What challenges would China face in engaging more robustly in African CT? Most importantly, why is China newly expressing interest in engaging in the African CT landscape at this particular moment? In the main, this piece argues that despite ostensible rationales related to self-defense of economic interests and solidarity with African states, at its core, Beijing’s primary motivations for entering the African CT space are to diversify its means of influence in Africa beyond its historical “economics-first” approach. Recognizing that engaging in African CT is a high-risk but potentially high-reward activity (which other global powers have recently engaged in with mixed results), Beijing likely believes it has a new genre of CT assistance—less kinetic, more economic, and rooted in equitable partnerships—that represents a fundamentally new and productive means of gaining influence in Africa. Yet, China faces challenges in its African CT pursuits, including reconciling whether its cautious ethos can stomach the turbulent landscape of African terrorism; how to deal with a saturated African CT space; and how not to fall victim to the same pitfalls as other global powers that have recently engaged in African CT. Nevertheless, if China can prove that its cautious non-military-first approach is fundamentally different from existing CT value propositions from external states, Beijing could deeply rival, and potentially replace, Washington as the partner of choice for security cooperation in Africa.

Tactical Victories in Ukraine Peace Talks Will Only Lead to Strategic Defeat

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and subsequent meeting of the U.S. president with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Washington have given rise to new hopes that an end to the Russia-Ukraine war may finally be in sight. After all, for the first time in several years, the parties have begun to discuss the practical parameters of a settlement.

America’s Coming Crash: Will Washington’s Debt Addiction Spark the Next Global Crisis?

For much of the past quarter century, the rest of the world has looked in wonder at the United States’ ability to borrow its way out of trouble. Again and again, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the government has used debt more vigorously than almost any other country to fight wars, global recessions, pandemics, and financial crises. Even as U.S. public debt rapidly climbed from one plateau to the next—net debt is now nearing 100 percent of national income—creditors at home and abroad showed no signs of debt fatigue. For years after the 2008–9 global financial crisis, interest rates on Treasury debt were ultralow, and a great many economists came to believe that they would remain so into the distant future. Thus, running government deficits—fresh borrowing—seemed a veritable free lunch. Even though debt-to-income levels jumped radically after each crisis, there was no apparent need to save up for the next one. Given the dollar’s reputation as the world’s premier safe and liquid asset, global bond market investors would always be happy to digest another huge pile of dollar debt, especially in a crisis situation in which uncertainty was high and safe assets were in short supply.

Israel has already started erasing Gaza City, amid continued international silence

Palestinian Territory – Israel has begun executing its unlawful plan to destroy and occupy Gaza City. The army is carrying out simultaneous bombing and demolition operations across the south, east, and north, advancing from three axes towards the city’s centre in a campaign of comprehensive destruction and systematic erasure. This escalation marks a new phase of the genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, ongoing for 23 months.

Occident – Pourquoi la volonté d’intensification de la militarisation ?

Nous assistons de la part des pays occidentaux et de leurs alliés politiques à une volonté de remilitarisation matérialisée par l’augmentation des dépenses de réarmement à 5% du PIB. Mais à quoi cela servira ? On pourrait penser à la conquête par la force de marchés émergents. Mais cette réponse ne résiste pas à l’analyse.

De Rotterdam à Gênes, les ports européens deviennent (aussi) des bases militaires – Réseau International

Les ports européens sont de plus en plus actifs quand il s’agit de gérer la transition des scénarios internationaux, et par conséquent de leurs activités économiques, vers une phase plus complexe et chaotique, marquée par une incertitude accrue sur le plan géopolitique et une nouvelle importance accordée à la préparation face à de potentielles crises mondiales. En cas de conflit à grande échelle, la logistique portuaire jouerait un rôle déterminant, et les pays européens doivent mobiliser largement leurs infrastructures pour se préparer à toutes éventualités.

Tirana stands in solidarity with Palestine – K2.0

Protestors called for an end to the atrocities and genocide in Gaza.

As global outrage toward the state of Israel grows over the escalating humanitarian crisis and atrocities against Palestinians, several hundred citizens gathered last night in Skënderbeg Square in Tirana to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza.