In the Middle East, which is already coping with the Qatar-Saudi Arabia tensions, comes another pressure point.
Iran has supplied Iraq with fighter jets to help it counter the belligerent offensive by Islamist militants who have taken over large swathes of territory, a media report said in London.
Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari told Iran's state TV the apparently male attackers wore women's attire.
Rouhani, who is on his maiden visit, will meet President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday and will discuss cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
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'By annoying the Arabs and cozying up to Iran, Pakistan may end up losing Arab economic support, annoying the Americans and increase Shia-Sunni tensions domestically,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) points out.
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The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
To the extent the nuclear race in West Asia is slowed down by the Iran nuclear deal, the world as a whole has reason to be happy, says Virendra Kapoor.
Pakistan is making efforts at multiple levels for the Taliban government to have a soft landing, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The US has being trying to stop such private donors in the Gulf oil states sending funds to the ISIS
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India is apprehensive about the Taliban's return as it would mean loss of access to Baluch rebels and help to the restive tribals of Waziristan. This would be a setback to the Indian strategy of returning the compliments of death by a thousand cuts to Pakistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Al Qaeda, the Islamic State or Daesh, as it is also called, will continue to exploit the fault lines and the many contradictions in the approaches of different countries, says Hardeep Puri.
'If the Iran nuke deal holds, Iran becomes a gateway to Afghanistan, and a better one than Pakistan because the route is not so mountainous. Correspondingly, I imagine Pakistan's value to the US will fall,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
At least 25 Shia pilgrims returning from Iran were killed when militants attacked their buses in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province, officials said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday came under attack globally a day after it carried out mass execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a vocal critic of the government and the Saudi monarchy.
Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran following attacks on the kingdom's embassy and consulate in the Islamic Republic over the execution of a Shiite cleric.
'Saudi Arabia's standing internationally and in the West is going to take a big hit even if MBS is dethroned.'
'Mr Trump is too capricious to be trusted,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia on Monday, including a shocking attack at Islam's second holiest site, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, where four security guards were killed.
The possibility of a deal between Iran and the world on its nuclear programme has some perils but much promise for India, says Uday Abhyankar
Indians must remember that Pakistanis hate losing to India, at war or in cricket, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
ISIS' advances in Iraq and Syria are not just tactical but strategic victories -- born of US errors and confusion
'What needs to be pursued as the operations progress is a degree of reconciliation amongst the other parties, less the more orthodox Al Qaeda affiliates.'
Talmiz Ahmad is a former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE. In an interview with Aditi Phadnis, he says the disequilibrium in Iraq will continue to prevail. Ahmad also says there are indications that the US is now anxious to avoid intervening militarily in West Asia, and that this is the appropriate moment for Asia to assume responsibility for its own security. Edited excerpts:
Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least 142 people on Friday at mosques in the Yemeni capital, in an attack targeting Shiite worshippers including Huthi militiamen.
Much as we'd like it to, all hasn't changed. In our country, the revolution must be polite and careful not to offend. Still, Raja Sen assures, there is hope.
Rediff.com lists a few other dramatic and frightful hostage situations that sent governments and security agencies into a tizzy.
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Iraq is on the verge of collapsing and foreign military intervention is inevitable. But for those who follow the developments in Iraq and the Middle-East will understand the current situation is nothing but a culmination of US and western policies toward the region, says Dr Waiel Awwad
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Can Modi and Obama forge a common outlook on international terrorism?
'Islamist terror groups have never been challenged ideologically. As long as their ideology survives, like cancer, these groups will sprout somewhere else, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
