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Al-Monitor – Hot Take: Five takes on Biden’s UN speech and the Iran nuclear deal Washington doubles down on diplomacy … In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21, President Joe Biden drew a pointed contrast to his predecessor and said the United States will shift to “relentless diplomacy” to deal with the world’s problems. He said the United States …

Al-Monitor – The recent announcement that Iran would start the process of becoming a full member in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was celebrated in the media. On the Iranian side, a heated public debate is taking place on what this development means and whether it was an achievement of the previous or the current administration. There are also debates about the potential economic upside …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s demands for US forces to withdraw from a critical air base in Iraqi Kurdistan coupled with threats to expand operations against “American and Zionist mercenaries” are sending jitters across the Kurdish enclave, with many asking how far Tehran will go and what, if anything, the United States will do to stop it. Mohammed Bagheri, senior commander in …

RFL/RE – European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he will meet with his new Iranian counterpart on September 21 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, but Borrell said no ministerial meeting of the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal is on the agenda. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said earlier that the …

Iranwire – President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi has not attended the 76th United Nations General Assembly in person, instead giving his first address to the UN in a pre-recorded video. Raisi’s speech, played on Tuesday at the opening of the week-long summit in New York, was marked largely by antipathy toward the US and Israel. It was heavily edited, with several discernible cuts in …