Dr Omid Shokri
Omid Shokri is a Washington-based Senior Energy Diplomacy, Energy Security Analyst and analyst at Gulf State Analytics (GSA), currently serving as a Visiting Research Scholar in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Omid holds a PhD in International Relations. His primary research interest lies in Energy diplomacy, US energy policy, geopolitics of energy, Iran-Turkey relations and Iran-Russia relations. He is the author of "US Energy Diplomacy in the Caspian Sea Basin: Changing Trends Since 2001."
![National Security Advisor of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L) meets Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani (R) in Tehran, Iran on December 6, 2021 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20211206_2_51185073_71346236.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Iran's relations with neighbouring Arab states have experienced many ups and downs in recent years. Qatar and Oman have mostly had good relations with Iran, but those with the...![Azerbaijani military officers in Zangilan, Azerbaijan on 8 November 2020 [Arif Hüdaverdi Yaman/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Zangilan-city-of-Azerbaijan-freed-from-Armenia_24.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
In 1991, Israel was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As a neighbour of Iran, Azerbaijan's expanding relations with Israel have...![Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov (R) meets with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Baku on December 20, 2017 [TOFIK BABAYEV/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GettyImages-895787794-scaled-e1633530522978.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have fluctuated in recent years, with the Islamic Republic's policy toward the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War increasing tension. After the end of the Second Karabakh...
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been strained in recent years. Both countries pursue conflicting interests in particular issues in the region with a specific ideology in foreign...