TEHRAN - In a note, Kayhan addressed Iran's power in the region and said: Iran has won the “regional chess” competition against America.

American and European intelligence officials say they do not believe the Iranians want direct conflict with the United States or Israel. But it seems that Iranians desire to demonstrate their capabilities and target U.S. bases and ships carrying goods and fuel in a coordinated and feasible way. U.S. intelligence officials say that Iran did not stimulate the Hamas attack on Israel. But as soon as the war against Hamas started, the Axis of Resistance launched attacks on Israel, its allies and its interests. According to Sanam Vakil, the deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program, Iran is in a good position, which has undermined America and its interests in the Middle East. Iran is active on all fronts, resists any kind of change, and enriches uranium to alarming levels.

Iran: Iran is not isolated

In an analysis, the Iran newspaper discussed the ups and downs of secret diplomacy between Iran and America. The paper said: Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, Iran no longer sees itself in isolation. Iran has found itself in a kind of alliance with both Moscow and Beijing, two members of the UN Security Council which, in the recent past, were working alongside Washington to limit Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA, which was terminated some five years ago by then-President Donald Trump, is dead; now Iran has two major powers not only as allies but as clients that don’t honor sanctions. Some analysts believe that the unwritten agreement between Tehran and Washington was a temporary and deceptive peace. Suzanne Maloney, director of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution and an expert on Iran issues, says: That agreement was a desperate step that they hoped would preserve the peace of the region until the American elections.

Shargh: The new era of conflict

In an explanation, Shargh discussed the vague relations between Iran and America. It quoted Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, writing in Middle East Eye saying: The US House of Representatives passed a bipartisan measure on 30 November to block Iran from ever accessing the $6bn.

Washington and Tehran are on a collision course. In addition to the escalation of the regional clashes, the Biden administration continues to issue new sanctions against Iran and, in response, Tehran continues to escalate its nuclear program.

Based on the most recent IAEA report, Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent is theoretically enough for three nuclear bombs.

As the war in Gaza goes on, and in the absence of US-Iran talks and the failure to revive the Iran nuclear deal, the possibility of regional escalation is greater than it has been in years.

Moreover, an end to decades of US-Iran confrontation is required to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the Middle East.

The leaders of the US and Iran need to find the courage to engage in a broad dialogue to achieve a comprehensive deal, including reviving the temporary agreement and the JCPOA and resolving all other disputed issues.

If this is unrealistic, the eight countries around the Persian Gulf - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain - need to strike a grand regional deal on a new security and cooperation structure in the Persian Gulf that includes a regional nuclear deal and a region free from nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction.

Hamshahri: A framework for security cooperation

In an article, Hamshahri discussed the terrorist attack in Kerman with a Tajik taste [one of the suicide bombers was a Tajik national and the interior minister has said the second one is most probably from Tajikistan] and the crisis that the countries in the Central Asia region are facing in this regard. It wrote: According to experts, Central Asia has become a favorable platform for the recruitment of ISIS and other terrorist groups. The existing threats from the activities of terrorist groups have become one of the main axes of Tehran-Dushanbe cooperation in recent years, and senior officials from the two countries have emphasized the adoption of joint strategies to effectively deal with terrorist groups in bilateral meetings and discussions. On the other hand, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has also become a framework for regional cooperation to effectively deal with terrorist activities in Central Asia as common threats in this region have led the members to expand their anti-terror interactions more than in the past. Regarding this approach, the president in his recent meeting with Rustam Emomali, Speaker of the National Assembly of Tajikistan in Tehran, pointed to the security cooperation between the two sides and emphasized that the fight against terrorism, organized crimes, and drugs is one of the requirements of cooperation between the two countries.