Mohammad Mulla Rashid’s article, Turkey and Iran: A Renewed Conflict Amid Regional Changes?, offers a timely and thought-provoking analysis of the geopolitical shifts reshaping the Middle East in the wake of Bashar Assad’s fall. First published on the Annas News website on September 23, 2025, Rashid succeeds in blending historical context with current realities while presenting a clear picture of how regional powers are recalibrating their strategies.
Mohammad Mulla RashidOne of the most valuable aspects of Rashid’s work is his framing of the Turkish-Iranian rivalry. By tracing it back to the Ottoman-Safavid struggle, he demonstrates how sectarian, political, and strategic competition between the two countries has endured for centuries, only to take on new dimensions in the modern era.
The article highlights how the collapse of the Assad regime deprived Iran of its key ally and weakened its land corridor to Lebanon, striking a serious blow to its “Shiite Crescent” project. Meanwhile, Turkey has stepped into the vacuum, strengthening its presence in northern Syria and exploring potential alliances with Damascus and Erbil, raising Tehran’s anxieties.
Rashid also sheds light on Turkey’s new peace initiative with the PKK, which he frames not just as a domestic solution, but as a regional strategy to undercut Iran’s leverage over Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria. This initiative, if successful, could transform a long-standing threat into an opportunity for stability and cooperation.
The piece carefully outlines Iran’s likely counter-strategies, ranging from economic pressure and proxy militias to sectarian manipulation and political maneuvering within Kurdish factions. Importantly, Rashid avoids sensationalism, emphasizing that the rivalry is more likely to unfold through indirect confrontation, rather than direct war.
The conclusion underscores the uncertainty of the current moment: Turkey may reshape the Kurdish question through peace, while Iran seeks to preserve its influence through disruption. Rashid wisely suggests that the future of the Middle East may ultimately hinge on whether Ankara and Tehran pursue escalation or realize the benefits of cooperation.
Ultimately, Mohamad Mulla Rashid’s article is a clear, balanced, and insightful contribution to understanding the post-Assad Middle East. It provides readers with both historical grounding and forward-looking analysis, making it an important reference for anyone seeking to grasp the dynamics of Turkish-Iranian competition and the evolving Kurdish role in the region.
