Tuesday , August 25 2026
  • My New Book

    US Energy Diplomacy in the Caspian Sea Basin: Changing Trends Since2001 - Available on Springer

  • My New Book

    US Energy Diplomacy in the Caspian Sea Basin: Changing Trends Since2001 - Available on Amazon

Recent Articles

Iran keeps finding gas. Getting it out is the problem

File Photo: An offshore rig on Iran's South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf

Iran has announced another major gas discovery, but with the world’s second-largest reserves already beneath its soil, Tehran’s problem is not finding gas but finding the money and technology to extract it. Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the newly discovered field in southern Fars Province contains more than 7.5 trillion …

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Trump is trying to tighten the screws on an Iran numb to economic pain

Iran, already drained by years of sanctions and a brutal military onslaught from the United States and Israel, now faces another test as President Donald Trump moves to further tighten the economic screws on the Islamic Republic. The US Treasury Department on Monday threatened sweeping new sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties …

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What to expect as Iran braces for new US economic measures amid war

People shop at a market, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 24, 2026 [File -Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency]

Tehran may count on links with China and others to weather the storm, but average Iranian people will bear the brunt. Tehran, Iran – Iranians are preparing for further economic pain as the United States gets ready to announce a new round of punishing sanctions on Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is …

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Turkey’s gas pivot leaves Iran with fewer cards to play

A worker at a natural gas facility in Iran. Turkey imported 4.536 bcm of Iranian gas in the first half of 2026, up 34 percent from a year earlier.

he expiry of a 25-year gas contract has exposed a shift in the Iran-Turkey energy relationship, with Ankara now enjoying more supply options while Tehran risks losing one of its most dependable export markets. The contract expired on July 29 after governing Iranian pipeline gas supplies to Turkey for 25 …

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Who really owns the Caspian Sea?

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea's legal status has been the subject of lengthy negotiations among its five bordering states

Amir Soltanzadeh 08/19/2026August 19, 2026 Five countries border the Caspian Sea, but none owns a fixed share. A 2018 convention established rules for navigation, security and fishing while leaving some seabed borders unresolved. For decades, debate in Iran over the Caspian Sea has often centered on a deceptively simple question: What percentage …

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Does Geothermal Energy Have a Future in Iran?

A power station in Shiraz, Iran. Shutterstock

Geothermal Projects Carry Substantial Risk Because Unsuccessful Wells or Underperforming Reservoirs Can Absorb CapitalThere is little good news inside Iran regarding electricity. The government long ago instituted rotations of blackouts and brownouts to manage shortages, but even these are no longer predictable. Although Iranian officials might blame the war, the …

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From Manisa to Szeged: BYD’s shifting European investment strategy

BYD electric vehicle. [Photo by Tiago Ferreira on Unsplash]

In June 2026, Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer BYD confirmed that its planned $1 billion electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle factory in Manisa, western Turkiye, had been placed on indefinite hold. The project, signed with great ceremony in July 2024 in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had been presented as a …

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