Iran's new president is off to an inauspicious start. Ebrahim Raisi's first press conference after he was elected indicated the Islamic Republic's conservative wing's complete hold on power and the entrenchment of its hardline foreign policy. Iran declared that it would not negotiate over its ballistic missile programme or its support of proxy militias throughout the Middle East that have devastated nation states and turned them into mere protectorates of Tehran.
Perhaps this is to be expected from the so-called "hanging judge," a career prosecutor and then leader of Iran's judiciary, who made a name for himself as a part of the revolutionary tribunals that sent thousands of former regime officials and political opponents to their deaths in the early years of the Republic, and who presided over the execution of many activists in the intervening years.
But it does not bode well for the stability of a region that has been wracked by proxy conflicts, many of them instigated by Iran’s insatiable desire to project its power and influence. It raises questions about what can be gleaned from renewed nuclear negotiations that the US has signaled it is willing to partake in – what good is a lifting of sanctions before the talks meant to stabilise the region if they will simply free up Iran’s regime to fund its militias’ adventures abroad?
Mr Raisi's ascent to the presidency in elections held earlier this month was an exercise in democratic pageantry with none of the substance. An uncharismatic leader, he was beaten in previous elections by the outgoing president, Hassan Rouhani, but that was not a problem this time around because the clerical council that decides who can run disqualified every potential rival to Mr Raisi, a loyalist of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This included conservatives, such as former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani.
Mr Raisi has been touted as a potential successor to Mr Khamenei, who is old and in poor health, and the conservative hold on power removes some of the obstacles to continuing Iran’s current trajectory that has made it a pariah on the international stage. The veneer of democracy is fooling nobody this time around largely because, aside from a ballot, the regime has done away with it altogether.
But it is in its foreign policy that more of the same can be disastrous for the region at large.
Despite farcical gestures of reconciliation and rapprochement, Iran has continued to wield its proxies to sow chaos in the region.
Raisi's election and his subsequent public hardline stance shows the Iranian regime's implacable intent
In Lebanon, Hezbollah continues to grip power on the ground. After presiding over the crushing of street protests that preceded the coronavirus pandemic, Hezbollah has remained entrenched in the ruling establishment, shielding it from accountability for the explosion last year that levelled much of the capital Beirut.
The country has since spiralled into a failed state with a reeling economy that has seen its citizens' savings wiped out by a currency crash and an insolvent banking system, rampant fuel shortages and crushing poverty. And it appears unlikely that the situation will change anytime soon.
In Iraq, Tehran-backed militias continue to hold sway, and have used their influence and power to exact punishment from any who dare to protest their hold over the country. The militias have continued to assassinate activists and journalists with impunity at the barest hint of criticism.
In Syria as well, Iran has played a crucial role in keeping President Bashar Al Assad in power – what both regimes think of the will of the people was illustrated during the Syrian presidential elections last month, when Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif offered the expertise of Iranian election observers to help ensure a free and fair vote.
Iran continues to wield influence in the war-torn nation, which is also in the grips of an economic crisis due to the lack of reconstruction funds and ongoing sanctions, having spent a decade crushing a popular uprising and transforming it into a civil war fuelled by sectarianism.
There is little that Mr Raisi can change in the course of Iranian foreign policy, which even the country's outgoing foreign minister admitted was out of his hands. Mr Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guards set the country's trajectory abroad and at home.
But Mr Raisi’s election and his subsequent public hardline stance shows the regime’s implacable intent. It appears to see no reason to make peace with its neighbours, to restrict its hegemonic tendencies, to refrain from obstructing the development of nations that have long been tormented by geopolitical ambitions, all for the purpose of projecting its power.
The only difference now is that the false mask of diplomatic niceties of the outgoing Iranian administration has also been cast aside.
Kareem Shaheen is a veteran Middle East correspondent in Canada and a columnist for The National
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2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
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The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
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Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
