Strategy for Strengthening Leadership in Political Islam and Deepening Relations with the West

Amid the escalating tensions in the Middle East, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu embarked on a critical diplomatic mission with shuttle visits to Iran and Azerbaijan. This initiative followed the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which has heightened the crisis in the region. Shoigu's visit underscores Russia's strategic interests and its determination to assert its influence in an unstable geopolitical region.

Iran has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the recent killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’s Political Bureau.

Turkey has reacted sharply to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress, which was made without postponing his visit to the United States. With Netanyahu's visit to the US, no softening of President Erdoğan's stance should be expected. Ankara has focused its attention on quickly normalizing relations with Cairo.

Membership in BRICS and the SCO will turn Azerbaijan into a logistics center between East and West, increasing transit revenues to compensate for the lost income from declining oil exports.