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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Increasing pressure from the US on <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword> and other actions in the Middle East have raised concerns that Trump could seek a confrontation before the presidential election.</li><li>At the same time, Iran has been working more closely with <keyword id="2723" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Venezuela">Venezuela</keyword>, another US foe, raising the specter of a showdown much closer to home.</li></ul>Iran and Venezuela are two of President Donald Trump's most frequent foreign-policy targets, and increasing US pressure has only brought the two closer.Their ties are again on display ahead of the presidential election, as US actions directed at Iran <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/25/just-ahead-election-pompeo-is-pressuring-iraqs-leader-raising-tensions-with-iran/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise concerns</a> Trump could seek a <a href="https://quincyinst.org/2020/09/16/is-mike-pompeo-preparing-an-october-surprise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confrontation</a> for political benefit.Such a showdown is a long-time goal for some members of the administration, according to Trita Parsi, an expert on Iran at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank that advocates restraint in foreign policy.The US and Iran have come to blows but stopped short of war, due in part to Trump's seeming <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/world/middleeast/iran-us-drone.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reluctance</a> to start a new conflict. "Now, with the election, depending on how they judge [Trump is] doing, I think you may end up having an opening," Parsi said.<div type="image" title="Venezuela oil tanker" height="1523" width="2500" msid="78481822" hostid="261"></div>That opening may come with Iran's tankers, one flotilla of which has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-tankers-show-venezuelas-role-as-great-power-rivalry-venue-2020-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already delivered millions of barrels of gasoline</a> to Venezuela, where years of neglect and mismanagement have eroded oil production and refining capability.Another flotilla is arriving; two tankers docked there this week, and a third <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-venezuela-iran-tanker/third-iranian-fuel-tanker-arrives-in-gasoline-starved-venezuelas-waters-idUSKBN26O0OO" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entered</a> Venezuelan waters on Saturday.The US has <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/largest-us-seizure-iranian-fuel-four-tankers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already seized</a> Iranian tankers carrying gasoline to Venezuela, and framing future action as enforcing <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> law could make it more palatable to Trump, especially if Iran retaliates, but it may all depend on how Trump sees his reelection chances, Parsi told Insider.Iranian officials have in the past said there would be "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-tankers-show-venezuelas-role-as-great-power-rivalry-venue-2020-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trouble</a>" it the US interferes with its tankers, but in Tehran, the appetite for escalation is likely "very, very low," Parsi said.Iranian leaders "don't want to do anything that could help Trump get reelected," but if the US seizes tankers closer to Iran — "inviting retaliation," Parsi said — "then it's going to be extremely difficult for the Iranians not to do something."<h2>'Many options are on the table'</h2><div type="image" title="Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (R) is welcomed by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran January 10, 2015. REUTERS/Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters" height="519" width="800" msid="78481827" hostid="261"></div>Iran and Venezuela, both <a href="https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founders</a> of OPEC, have longstanding ties, and while low oil prices would ordinarily put them in competition, domestic and international factors — like Venezuela's falling oil production and the US pressure campaigns against both — make the partnership more appealing."Both Iran and Venezuela are caught up in the changing landscape of relationships between Russia, China, and the United States," said Harold Trinkunas, a scholar of Venezuelan <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> at Stanford University.US warnings go beyond fuel shipments, which allow both countries to skirt US sanctions. As the US has tried to extend a UN arms embargo and impose "snapback" sanctions on Iran, failing to get international support for either, officials have accused Venezuela of aiding Iran's malign activity.During a sanctions <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-and-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-defense-secretary-mark-esper-commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-u-s-representative-to-the-united-nations-kelly-craft-and-national-sec/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> on September 21, Pompeo said the US was imposing more sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accusing his government of working with Tehran "to flout the UN arms embargo."Two days later, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/03/marco-rubio-trump-latin-america-policy-390858" target="_blank" rel="noopener">influential adviser</a> to Trump, suggested the embargo's October 18 <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/IF11429.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expiration</a> could bring Iranian arms to the Western Hemisphere.Such sales are "a possibility if ... the conventional weapons ban is lifted against Iran. Now you can see them beginning to share weaponry with the Venezuelan military," Rubio said at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.<div type="image" title="Venezuela Nicolas Maduro military exercise missile" height="933" width="1400" msid="78481828" hostid="261"></div>Criminal and rebel groups in Venezuela could get those weapons, Rubio said, calling it "a catastrophic outcome" if those groups got "advanced weaponry" they could use to target Colombia, a close US ally.Colombia's president recently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-venezuela/venezuela-looking-to-buy-iranian-missiles-colombian-president-says-idUSKBN25G29E" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alleged</a> that Maduro wanted to buy Iranian missiles. Colombia's president didn't offer evidence, but days later Maduro said "it had not occurred to me" was "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-23/venezuela-s-maduro-is-weighing-purchase-of-iranian-missiles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not a bad idea</a>" and asked the defense minister to look into it, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-iran/maduro-says-venezuela-buying-iranian-missiles-a-good-idea-idUSKBN25I0TU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jokingly telling</a> other Cabinet officials to keep it a secret. Maduro tapped Venezuela's gold reserves to pay for Iranian gas, and experts are skeptical he can muster funds for weapons.Rubio said "many options are on the table," including "physical prevention," to stop such a delivery. "I think that includes intercepting vessels at sea," Rubio said. "That's a real possibility. The US has sanctions, and it has a right to enforce them."US officials have said intervening to stop Iranian tankers from reaching Venezuela <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-tankers-show-venezuelas-role-as-great-power-rivalry-venue-2020-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was an option</a>, a threat given weight by the US military's increased presence in the Caribbean for counter-drug operations and <a href="https://twitter.com/chrstphr_woody/status/1311679671969472512" target="_blank" rel="noopener">freedom-of-navigation exercises</a> near Venezuela's coast. (The military <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/world/middleeast/trump-iran-venezuela-fuel-tankers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wasn't involved</a> in seizures earlier this year.)The National Security Council declined to comment on the tankers' recent arrival. A spokesperson for the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said the deliveries were "another reminder of how, through its incompetence and mismanagement, the Maduro regime has destroyed Venezuela's institutions, economy, and infrastructure" and called Iran a "pariah" that was "propping up a despot at the expense of the Venezuelan people."<h2>Foreign policy, domestic audience</h2><div type="image" title="Venezuela fuel tanker protest" height="1667" width="2500" msid="78481829" hostid="261"></div>Despite the rhetoric, US military intervention is considered unlikely."There is no sense here that Washington is looking for an excuse to take military action," said Phil Gunson, senior analyst for the Andean region at the International Crisis Group.But "hardliners lament the lack of it," Gunson said, adding that it was "natural" to see such claims before a presidential election in which a portion of the US electorate with <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-donald-trump-latino-voters-florida_n_5f4ebb61c5b6250f655c193d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outsize influence</a> supports an aggressive policy toward Venezuela.Those claims "are about domestic as much as foreign policy, and they don't appear to be linked to actual action," Gunson added.Trinkunas said additional sanctions were more likely, though with diminishing returns. More sanctions on more countries gives them "more and more incentives to work with each other," Trinkunas said. "In a sense, the more the US uses its sanction power, it undermines the overall effectiveness of sanctions."Iran's need for hard currency means arms sales are possible, but they would come with risks and "may not be the top choice," Parsi said. "It all depends on what other options they have."When tensions rose in the past, so did <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-may-target-us-with-proxies-in-latin-america-2020-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fears Iran could use its networks</a> in Latin America to attack US interests, but that has always been seen as unlikely. (Those networks are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-sanctions-venezuela-vice-president-drug-charges-2017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">believed to focus on</a> activities like money laundering.)Iran has better options closer to its own turf, Trinkunas said, and while Tehran showed a surprising degree "of sophistication and capability" with recent attacks in the Persian Gulf, Parsi said it was hard to believe it could do that so far from home."If suddenly the Iranians showed an ability to strike that far away from them, it would take the US by surprise," Parsi said, "but it would also risk war."

Venezuela and Iran's ties grow as warnings are raised about Trump pulling an 'October Surprise' on Tehran

<ul style=""><li style="">The NRC process will be carried out across India, Home Minister <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah">Amit Shah</keyword> said in <keyword id="48510" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajya-Sabha">Rajya Sabha</keyword> on Wednesday while making it clear that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion.</li><li style="">Shah said the Government accepts that refugees - Hindu, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis - who left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious atrocities should get Indian citizenship.</li><li style="">He said there is no provision in NRC that people belonging to other religions will not be included in the register.</li></ul> The NRC process will be carried out across India, Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday while making it clear that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion. Shah said the Government accepts that refugees - Hindu, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis - who left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious atrocities should get Indian citizenship. "The process of National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be carried out across the country. No one irrespective of their religion should be worried. It is just a process to get everyone under the NRC," he said replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Upper House. He said there is no provision in NRC that people belonging to other religions will not be included in the register. "People from all religions who are Indian citizens will be included. There is no question of any discrimination on the basis of religion. NRC is a different process and the Citizenship Amendment Bill is different," Shah said. In <keyword id="6354915" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="assam">Assam</keyword>, the NRC process was carried out as per Supreme Court order, he said and added that when the NRC process will be implemented in the entire country Assam will also be included. The Home Minister said that in Assam, people whose name has not figured in the draft list, have the right to go to the Tribunal. "Tribunals will be constituted across Assam. If any person doesn't have the money to approach tribunals, then the Assam government will bear the cost to hire a lawyer," he said. He reiterated that all citizens of India irrespective of religion will figure in the NRC list. The Home Minister said the government accepts that Hindu refugees, Buddhists, Jain, Christians and Sikh and Parsi should get this country's citizenship and this is why the Citizenship Amendment Bill is there. "All refugees coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on account of religious atrocities will get citizenship under the Bill," he said. He said Lok Sabha had passed the Bill and the Select Committee had approved it but Lok Sabha had lapsed. "Now it will come again. It has no connection with the NRC," he said.

NRC process to be carried out in entire country: Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
Since November 2013, the Obama administration has engaged with Iran in tense, drawn-out nuclear negotiations which optimists hope could bring an end to decades of hostility and mistrust. 
Throughout it all, Congress has threatened to play the spoiler, with a tough sanctions bill passing the House and looming in the Senate which would almost certainly scuttle the fragile talks over the Iranian nuclear program. 
Now, as the deadline for the end of the talks approaches, a coalition of legislators, advocacy groups, and White House officials are working to hold Congress back from the brink of thwarting what they see as a historic window of opportunity. They're fighting against legislators and conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation and The Free Enterprise Institute who are pushing for the US to take a hawkish stance on Iran and take steps like sanctions that could cause the Iranians to abandon the negotiations. 
Legislators, led by Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, have been maneuvering quietly behind the scenes in Congress to keep the talks alive. At the same time, officials from the White House <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/195477-reid-dems-back-away-from-iran-sanctions">have been leaning heavily</a> on Senate Democrats to refrain from bringing a sanctions bill to the floor.
On the outside, a diverse range of pro-diplomacy groups, led by organisations like the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and the liberal Jewish organization J Street, have found a common cause and rallied together to lobby for restraint. <a href="http://fcnl.org/resources/newsletter/aprmay14/iran_diplomacys_time_has_come/">Even the Quakers</a> are energized.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"This is a do-or-die moment, either we succeed, or we go in a much more negative direction," said NIAC co-founder Trita Parsi at the group's annual conference last weekend. 
Parsi sees the negotiations as a historic moment during a narrow window of opportunity. Presidents on both sides have sunk significant time and energy into the talks and Parsi believes the current leadership in both countries is more likely to make a deal than those who came before - or might come after. 
"The next president, whatever political party they're in, is not going to spend precious political capital battling Congress… [Obama] is the guy," Parsi said. 
Supporters fear that failure of the talks could trigger increased sanctions, the rise of hardliners in Iran, and relations spiraling toward military confrontation.
For his part, Congressman Ellison said he was urging fellow members to restrain from exploiting domestic fears with inflammatory rhetoric.
"What you say on the floor of the house in Washington DC is going to be heard in Tehran," he told the NIAC conference. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Some of the organizations that support the talks have been working on grassroots campaigning while others are utilizing personal connections at higher levels.
"There's been a perception for decades now in Washington DC, that if you step out of line on Middle East issues, in the sense that you fail to enunciate the most hawkish issues, there will be a significant punishment," said Dylan Williams, Director of Government Affairs at J Street.
William's told the conference that while the perception certainly existed, the reality was false. More than 80 significant political donors had written to political leaders to warn them against disrupting the ongoing negotiations, Williams said.
"It is in both Israel's and America's interests to ensure that diplomacy succeed… the vast majority of Jewish Americans understand that and the vast major to Jewish Americans support that," Williams added.
Congressman Ellison said the role of J Street was critical to "helping congress see that there is more than one way to be a friend of Israel."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>As well as pushing back against increased sanctions, the groups have been responsive to diplomatic hiccups, and have been fastidiously laying the groundwork for a potential deal. The deadline for the talks runs out Nov. 24. 
Williams said J Street was committed to seeing diplomacy succeed. Supporters must "make sure congress doesn't screw it up at the eleventh hour," Williams said.
For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has suggested the "short-lived dustbowl" kicked-up by opponents of the negotiations would dissipate as awareness a deal could be a win-win grows on both sides.
Congressman Ellison says representatives have to be prepared for compromises in the deal, "it doesn't matter if you're negotiating international diplomacy or buying a cow, you never get everything you want, that's the nature of a deal."
Urging congressional support, Ellison said, "Whatever comes out of the deal on November 24, it's better - in my opinion - than what is going on now."

Here's Why Some People In Washington Think Congress Might Destroy Obama's Iran Talks

America's most prominent group advocating engagement with Iran was hit with a rough court decision

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biden is visiting <keyword id="11894587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="saudi-arabia" source="Orion">Saudi Arabia</keyword> next month amid rising concerns over gas prices.</li><li>Foreign policy experts say this effectively means <keyword id="12353362" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mbs" source="Orion">MBS</keyword> got away with Khashoggi's murder.</li></ul>President <keyword id="99719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="joe-biden" source="Orion">Joe Biden</keyword> entered the White House vowing to recalibrate US relations with Saudi Arabia after years of President Donald Trump shielding Riyadh and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from punishment over the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist <keyword id="12189716" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jamal-khashoggi" source="Orion">Jamal Khashoggi</keyword>. Biden said Saudi Arabia would be made a "pariah" on the global stage and pledged to pursue a foreign policy centered on human rights — including by ending US support for the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen conflict. But with gas prices rising amid the war in <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> and midterms on the horizon, Biden is set to visit Saudi Arabia in mid-July to discuss the escalating oil crisis, among other issues. Following reports on the visit, the White House on Tuesday <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-confirms-trip-to-saudi-arabia-despite-pledging-to-make-it-a-pariah-2022-6">officially confirmed the trip was happening</a> and said that Biden was expected to "see the crown prince" while in Saudi Arabia. With the US and its European allies embargoing Russian oil over the war, the Biden administration is looking to Saudi Arabia to help blunt the impact of the sanctions on global markets.The visit is a sign that Biden has been forced into a corner and feels he has to prioritize business over ethics, foreign policy experts told Insider. By visiting the oil-rich country, the experts said Biden is effectively declaring that maintaining friendly relations with Prince Mohammed — the de facto ruler of the kingdom who is often referred to as MBS — is more important than punishing him for Khashoggi's murder and other human rights abuses. "A presidential trip to Saudi Arabia right now is going to be confirmation, validation not just that it's business as usual but that MBS got away with murder," Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat who advised multiple secretaries of state on the Middle East, told Insider.Last year, the Biden administration released a declassified intelligence report that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-report-on-khashoggi-killing-directly-implicates-saudi-arabia-mbs-2021-2">directly implicated MBS in Khashoggi's murder.</a> Sanctions were slapped on a number of Saudis in concert with the release of the report, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wont-punish-mbs-sanctions-khashoggi-murder-sends-mixed-signals-2021-3">but MBS was not among them.</a>Biden has framed the war in Ukraine as part of a global battle between democracy and autocracy. Along these lines, Miller said he'd ask the president, as he fervently defends democracy in Ukraine, why is it a "good idea to meet with a man who's among the most repressive authoritarian leaders" in the region. "I don't think there's any way to change that optic," Miller said, adding that Biden is sending a "pretty powerful signal that it's OK now to do business with MBS." But Biden also seems "genuinely torn about this," Miller said, noting his desire to prioritize upholding democracy and human rights in his foreign policy. "Biden was being very aspirational," Miller said.Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Insider that it's fair to say MBS is "getting away with murder." But he added it's not just the murder of Khashoggi, but the "murder of plenty of Yemeni children." MBS is the architect of the Yemen war, which has seen over 10,200 children killed or injured since Saudi Arabia first intervened in 2015, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/12/47-children-killed-maimed-in-yemen-in-two-months-says-unicef">according to the UN.</a>Hatice Cengiz, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/khashoggi-fiance-rips-into-biden-over-expected-meeting-with-mbs-2022-6">Khashoggi's fiancée,</a> in a recent statement to CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/politics/us-saudi-relationship-reset-jamal-khashoggi/index.html">said</a>, "President Biden's decision to meet MBS is horribly upsetting to me and supporters of freedom and justice everywhere." <h2>'Serious mistake'</h2><div type="image" title="Putin and MBS" height="1364" width="1819" msid="92005308" hostid="261"></div>Dalia Dassa Kaye, a senior fellow at UCLA Burkle Center on <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> Relations, told Insider that Biden visiting Saudi Arabia is a "serious mistake, and not just because of human rights concerns.""It's just not clear what the return will be on any conceivable interest, whether oil, normalization with Israel, or great power competition with China and <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>. And what's unfortunate is there are alternatives to advancing these issues and maintaining a working relationship with Saudi Arabia without a presidential visit to Riyadh. This is a bad deal for Biden — he's risking his reputation and compromising on principles for modest returns," Kaye said. But Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC, told Insider that a presidential visit to Saudi Arabia is not particularly "unexpected" under the present circumstances. The bottom line is that Biden is not doing anything that any responsible US president wouldn't do, Ibish said. "Statecraft often involves making difficult choices."Ibish also underscored that it's not only the economic consequences of the Ukraine war that the administration has to take into consideration. The ongoing, indirect talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are stalemated, and if the pact can't be revived, the US has to consider other ways "to help isolate, contain, and deter an Iranian regime that appears determined to get a nuclear weapon," Ibish said. "The US-Saudi relationship is built on some pretty solid foundations of shared interests," Ibish said. "These are two status quo powers, and Saudi Arabia needs the United States to guarantee its fundamental security, whereas the United States needs a partner in the Gulf region to help secure the energy resources of our major trading partners and the global economy."<h2>'It is a failure, but it is a failure by choice'</h2><div type="image" title="biden" height="4466" width="5955" msid="92005310" hostid="261"></div>In recent remarks at <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-the-foreign-affairs-magazine-centennial-celebration/">an event</a> marking the 100th anniversary of Foreign Affairs magazine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration's approach to relations with Riyadh. He said the administration had largely succeeded in both recalibrating and "preserving" ties with the kingdom, describing Saudi Arabia as a "critical partner" in confronting extremism in the region and in "dealing with the challenges posed by Iran."Blinken added that energy was a "critical piece to this, too," emphasizing that the administration wants "to make sure that there is sufficient supplies of energy on world markets at a time that this is being increasingly challenged."But Parsi said that the Biden administration could've avoided this situation if the president had returned to the Iran nuclear deal via an executive order during his first days in office. Parsi said that Saudi Arabia's influence over global oil prices has been "enhanced by the fact that the Iranian oil has been off the market." After former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, he <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/trump-expected-to-end-iran-oil-waivers-try-to-drive-exports-to-zero.html">reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil</a>. Restoring the deal could see the US lift such sanctions."It is a failure, but it is a failure by choice," Parsi said of Biden's approach to Saudi Arabia, adding, "It is not a failure because his efforts were due to fail. He gave up and that's why it failed. And he made bad decisions along the way."Biden "could have stood firm," Parsi said. "Instead, a year and a half into his presidency, he's essentially caving to MBS."

Biden's Saudi Arabia trip shows MBS 'got away with murder' as the Ukraine war forces him to put business over principles, experts say

As promised, BI India brings you the fifth company in our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/IndependenceDaySpl-The-evolution-of-Indian-Advertising-sinceIndependence/articleshow/48453416.cms">Independence Day</a> Special series- <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Digital-India-Ratan-Tata-ties-up-with-Google-Intel-for-technological-empowerment-of-women/articleshow/47925414.cms">Tata</a> Group. <keyword id="6355725" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Group">Tata Group</keyword> was founded by <keyword id="120090" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jamsetji-Nusserwanji-Tata">Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata</keyword> as a trading company in the then Bombay. In its existence of nearly 150 years, the company has diversified into several businesses and is definitely a name to reckon with globally! Enjoy the story on how another Parsi family has successfully written India's growth story during the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Independence-Day-Special-Heres-how-the-Wadia-Group-blossomed-in-British-India/articleshow/48393383.cms">British Raj</a> and continues to do so even now. 
 
Image Credit: www.tata.com

#IndependenceDaySpl: From then to now, here's how Tata Group penned India's story in preindependence era!

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran's relationship with the United States has been antagonistic at best.
1979 was the year Islamist revolutionaries overthrew the sometimes brutal US-backed dictator, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Islamists took 53 Americans prisoner for over a year, demanding the return of the former dictator who had fled to America on "medical grounds."
In the US, the hostage crisis helped sink Jimmy Carter's presidency and burned Iranian chants of "Death to America" into the public's collective consciousness. In Iran, opinions were later hardened by America shooting down a passenger aircraft and killing 290 Iranian civilians in 1988, and when <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/25/secret_cia_files_prove_america_helped_saddam_as_he_gassed_iran">President Reagan backed Saddam Hussein</a> while he used chemical weapons on Iranians in the Iran-Iraq war.
But with historic nuclear talks now underway, a reformist president in Iran, and joint interests in combatting ISIS and stabilizing Iraq, now marks the highest point for the relationship in decades. It helps that Iran already is one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-iran-2014-9">more liberal and stable countries in the Middle East</a>.
While it's by no means certain, the idea of Iran and the United States developing further ties through military and economic cooperation is starting to look likely.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
<h3>Allied Against ISIS</h3>
"Both Iran and the US view the expansion and threat of Islamic State as extremism that could spill over, it's a Sunni extremist ideology it could also be a threat to Iran's Shiites and its influence in Iraq," Princeton-based Iranian expert Emad Kiyaei told Business Insider.
"Iran and the US have clear common interests. Had it not been for political obstacles domestically and internationally, [an alliance] would be a complete no-brainer," said Trita Parsi, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Single-Roll-Dice-Obamas-Diplomacy/dp/0300192363" target="_blank">"A Single Role Of The Dice: Obama's Diplomacy with Iran</a>."
Both Kiyaei and Parsi lead American-Iranian advocacy organizations, and both told Business Insider the emergence of Islamic State as a primary US adversary is only the latest in a series of common US-Iranian security issues.
After 9/11, Iran assisted NATO with its military strategy and aided in the formation of a new government in Afghanistan - though the US State Department has also accused Iran of supporting anti-government elements fighting against the US in the country, including the <a href="http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/08/state_department_ira.php">Taliban</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242756">Haqqani Network</a>.
Despite divergent visions for Iraq's future, the US and Iran also both supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, with Iran having fought a long and brutal war with the dictator in the 1980s.
"It is in the national interest of United States to cooperate with Iran on Islamic State - they have the intelligence, knowhow and people on the ground," Kiyaei said.
America <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-rules-out-military-cooperation-with-iran-against-isis-2014-9">reportedly reached out to the Iranians</a> earlier this week, only to be slapped down publicly by Iran's outspoken supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Political power in the country is balanced between the hardline supreme leader and the more moderate, internationally-minded president, Hassan Rouhani.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Kurds battling Islamic State in northern Iraq report that Iran was the <a href="http://time.com/3196580/iran-kurds-isis-erbil-iraq/">first country to respond</a> when they requested support. Although they're not publicizing it, reports <a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2014/08/01/Report-Iranian-forces-arrive-in-Iraq-s-Kurdistan-.html">from al Arabiya</a> show the country has been has been supplying weapons and even ground forces to fight against ISIS for more than a month.
Even if direct coordination with Iran is out of the question, the two countries appear to have been working in tandem on key issues.
Kiyaei told Business Insider that after the US urged Iraq's divisive leader Nuri al Maliki to stand down in June, it was the Iranians who eventually forced his resignation last month. "Tehran was the straw that broke the camel's back in Iraq, with a successor approved by both the Americans and the Iranians," he said.
Currently, Kiyaei believes the military establishment in Washington may be further ahead on the idea of Iranian cooperation than politicians. "That's not really not an unusual thing considering that they are fighting the same enemy in three major military theaters Afghanistan, Iraq, and the mess that is Islamic State," Kiyaei said.
Kiyaei pointed to reports that Saudi Arabia, a close American ally, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding" target="_blank">is the largest sponsor of Islamist terror groups</a>, arguing that "the US has more in common with Iran than Saudi Arabia at this point."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>However, Washington still has a way to go before it catches up, "Washington's foreign policy in the Middle East has not shifted enough to see convergence of Tehran and Washington interests," he said.
But while common security interests are strong pragmatic motivators, there is still a long list of issues both sides will have to work through.
<h3>Strident Opposition</h3>
For one, there's the ongoing nuclear talks, with Western powers attempting to curb Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program in exchange for relief from punishing sanctions. 
With Rouhani staking his presidency on mending ties with the West, there's a strong incentive for him to strike a deal this November. "Political isolation has created tremendous economic and political problems for Iran," Parsi told us. 
Iran's more hardline and conservative Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, appears to be in no mood to become friends anytime soon. Khamenei - often at odds with his President - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-iran-supreme-leader-spurns-us-overture-to-fight-islamic-state-2014-9" target="_blank">reportedly intervened</a> to prevent talks on further cooperation, and is publicly critical of the US role in the region.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
Parsi explains that older revolutionaries like Khamenei still appeal to the sentiments behind the '79 Islamic revolution. "Hard-liners in Iran don't want to lose their revolutionary credibility by collaborating with the US," he said.
Kiyaei told Business Insider that while President Rouhani wants better relations with America, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-might-be-more-worried-about-the-us-military-than-it-is-about-isis-2014-9">the Iranians still consider the US to be it's primary strategic threat</a>. "Iran does not fear Israel, it does not even fear Saudi Arabia, it considers it's number one concern the US presence in every country which is surrounding it," he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="font-size: 15.5555562973022px;" lang="en">
US goal in planning a war on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> is to dominate the region&amp; turn <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash">#Iraq</a>&amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pakistan?src=hash">#Pakistan</a> where it can commit <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/crimes?src=hash">#crimes</a> whenever it wants.
- Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) <a href="https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/511449745601347584">September 15, 2014</a></blockquote>
Officially listed as a <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2012/209985.htm">state sponsor of terrorism</a> by the United States, Iran has shrewdly armed insurgents and terror groups to act as proxies against adversaries it deems as threats, such as Israel and America. The country provides material support to <a href="http://www.cfr.org/iran/hezbollah-connection-syria-iran/p30005">Hezbollah</a>, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-gaza-hamas-iran-20140804-story.html">Hamas</a>, <a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/irans-unwavering-support-to-assads-syria">Syria's Assad regime</a>, <a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/from-karbala-to-sayyida-zaynab-iraqi-fighters-in-syrias-shia-militias">Iraqi sectarian militias</a>, and allegedly the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/world/middleeast/aiding-yemen-rebels-iran-seeks-wider-mideast-role.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">Houti rebel insurgency</a> in Yemen.
America's allies in the region would also prefer to keep the US and Iran at odds.
"There's a lot of losers if the U.S. and Iran mend their relationship and unfortunately the mentality for the Israelis is that it will be at a cost to their security, it's the same mentality the Saudi's have," Kiyaei said.
But Kiyaei believes that far from destabilizing the region, a closer relationship between Iran and the US would de-escalate tensions and reduce Iran's strategic impetus for proxy support.
Parsi says neither Israel nor Saudi Arabia have been particularly helpful to the Obama administration, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actively working against a potential nuclear deal. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Parsi told us that Netanyahu's condemnation of any deal with Iran resonates strongly with Congress. "It's difficult for the Obama administration to convince Congress that this is a good deal when they hear from Benjamin Netanyahu that it is a very very bad deal," he said.
But while the opinion of allies might hold sway in America, Iran sees them as no real threat. 
"They don't think the Israeli's have the balls to attack Iran, and they don't think the Saudi's have the capacity," Kiyaei told us.
<h3>Closer Values </h3>
Common security interests in the region aren't the only things which could bind Iran and the US together. Compared to many other countries in the Middle East, they have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-iran-2014-9/">surprisingly similar values as well.</a> 
Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran allows women to work, drive, vote, travel alone and even serve in government (though not as president). Women form the majority of Iranian university students, leading to Islamist reactionaries at some universities calling for affirmative action for male students and banning women from certain courses. 
Opinion polls also show<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-iran-2014-9/" target="_blank"> the majority of Iranians hold a favorable opinion of the United States</a>, making Iran second only to Israel as America's most supportive country in the Middle East. As reported in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/the-iran-we-dont-see-a-tour-of-the-country-where-people-love-americans/258166/" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a>, a clear majority of Iranians want the current Iranian-US nuclear talks to succeed.
Yet the country still doesn't live up to Western standards of liberalism. Iran has <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/11203-who-are-the-political-prisoners-in-saudi-and-iran">850 political prisoners</a>, and is rated "<a href="http://www.freedomhouse.org/country/iran#.VBsoVa1g5vk">not free</a>" by Freedom House. Homosexuality is <a href="http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/20-detainees-in-iran-could-face-death-for-homosexuality-and-devil-worship">punishable by death</a> and Ba'hai groups claim roughly the country's roughly 350,000 Ba'hais suffer <a href="http://www.bic.org/media/Current-situation-Bahais-in-Iran">systematic persecution</a> with their leaders <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/19/iran-mounting-pressure-baha">frequently arrested</a>. Iran was also the world's <a href="http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2013.php">second-biggest jailer of journalists</a> in 2013, ahead of China and behind only Turkey.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>In a statement released on the resumption of nuclear talks this week, Parsi said both sides still faced domestic political challenges, but that "negotiators should not forget the dangers of returning to the escalatory route which will only put us back on the path to war."
"Each side has stepped firmly away from that dangerous path and have invested time and political capital to achieve a diplomatic resolution. Neither side can afford to turn back now and squander the opportunity to finally resolve this standoff peacefully ... History will judge whether the parties make the most of this pivotal opportunity."
Ultimately, both Iran and the United States have much to gain from an improving relationship. However, with <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/09/18/why_rouhani_could_walk_away_iran_nuclear_negotiations">hawks on all sides</a> working against any reconciliation, the skill and influence of presidents Obama and Rouhani will be sorely tested.

The US And Iran Are Getting Close And Could Get Much Closer

<ul><li>Pallonji was once believed to be India’s richest Parsi and probably one of the richest Irishmen too. </li><li>He was nicknamed The Phantom of <keyword id="275791" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bombay-house" source="Orion">Bombay House</keyword> as he wielded a lot of power at the <keyword id="6355725" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-group" source="Orion">Tata Group</keyword>’s headquarters at one point in time. </li><li>When Pallonji’s father Shapoorji was bankrolling Mughal-E-Azam, the younger Mistry was nervous about the ballooning budget, and advised his father against it.</li></ul>Very little is known about <keyword id="6689214" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pallonji-mistry" source="Orion">Pallonji Mistry</keyword> who was the chairman emeritus of the <keyword id="261354" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shapoorji-pallonji-group" source="Orion">Shapoorji Pallonji group</keyword> – but has been crowned one of the Moghuls of real estate. And why not? The unlisted company had built every iconic building of South Mumbai – be it the Taj Colaba or the Oberoi Hotel. Abroad, the company built the places of Oman’s king and the President of Ghana. In fact, their ability to build seems to be how they ended up as one of the biggest shareholders of the Tata Group. They had started accumulating shares during Pallonji Mistry’s father’s time when Shapoorji Pallonjigroup was building factories for Tata Steel and Tata Motors – and were paid for, in shares. The <keyword id="14307253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="richest-irishman" source="Orion">richest Irishman</keyword>, the richest Parsi These shares in the rapidly expanding group are what made Pallonji a billionaire who is now worth around $28.9 billion according to<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/pallonji-mistry/#xj4y7vzkg"> the Bloomberg Billionaires index</a>, which makes him the 41st richest Indian. Most of his wealth comes from their 18.4% stake in Tata Sons – which they have decided to offload following a feud. While his own construction company has interests in India and the Middle East, he also owns the consumer goods company, Eureka Forbes — a name that most of India’s households heard when water purifiers became a thing. At one point in time, however, Pallonji was believed to be India’s richest Parsi and also counted among the richest Irishmen too. Pallonji had given up his Indian citizenship in 2003 as he was married to an Irish woman, Patsy Perin Dubash. He however continued to reside at his sea-facing bungalow in the uptown Walkeshwar area of Mumbai. The Phantom of Bombay House The reticent billionaire was also nicknamed The Phantom of Bombay House due to the power he had wielded over the Tata Group’s headquarters at one point in time – though he was not ever present. However, all his friends – be it Adi Godrej, the chairman of the Godrej Group, Deepak Parekh, the chairman of HDFC and others know him as a warm and caring person and a good host. But only a select few people have the privilege of knowing him. Coomi Kapoor’s book ‘<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/how-shapoorji-pallonji-jr-built-his-construction-empire-and-why-khojeste-mistree-is-a-religious-pop-star-among-the-parsis-7431872/">The Tatas, Freddie Mercury &amp; Other Bawas</a>' however has an interesting tidbit about him. When Pallonji’s father Shapoorji was bankrolling India’s biggest movie production, Mughal-E-Azam, the younger Mistry was nervous about the ballooning budget of the movie and the fact that it was being reshot. He tried to talk his father out of the ‘dead investments’, but the senior did not listen. However, the movie crashed all box office records of time – paying off his father’s penchant for perfection. Pallonji’s son Cyrus Mistry seems to have taken a leaf from it. After he became the chairman of the Tata Group – a similar discord over funding expensive businesses is what led to the famous Cyrus Mistry-Ratan Tata feud – which became one of India’s long-drawn corporate battles — leading to their decision to sell off their interest in Tata Sons, that’s been held for decades. With Pallonji’s death,<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/cyrus-mistrys-father-pallonji-mistry-passes-away-at-93/articleshow/92509875.cms"> the phantom of Bombay House ha</a>s now literally exited the building and the business. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/cyrus-mistrys-father-pallonji-mistry-passes-away-at-93/articleshow/92509875.cms" style="">Cyrus Mistry's father, Pallonji Mistry passes away at 93</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/four-of-every-10-fiis-are-from-the-us-most-others-are-from-tax-havens/slidelist/92510427.cms" style="">Four of every 10 FIIs are from the US; most others are from tax havens</a>

Pallonji Mistry, the elusive but powerful phantom of Bombay House

<div type="image" wfid="348918"></div>

 
 <keyword id="630348" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Taj-Mansingh-hotel">Taj Mansingh Hotel</keyword> situated in <keyword id="6442584" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="lutyens-delhi">Lutyens Delhi</keyword> towards the southwest of<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=india+gate&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> India Gate</a> is one of the rare examples of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mughal+architecture&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mughal architecture</a> in the city. Constructed entirely out of pink Dholpur sandstone and set amidst a garden, Taj Mansingh is an epitome of luxury and indulgence and while a lot of people dream of actually living in this five-star property, one man actually made that very wish come true- that too for 37 years. 
 Meet <keyword id="2354145" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dadi-Balsara">Dadi Balsara</keyword>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=parsi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Parsi</a> businessman who had lived in Taj Mansingh Hotel for a whopping 36 years- becoming Taj Mansingh Hotel’s long-standing guest until he passed away in 2014 at the age of 71. 
 
Balsara and his wife Christina Stone (who passed away in 2009) both made the Room no 901, one of Taj Mansingh’s luxury suite their home and lived and loved the hotel as his own. The couple had no children. 
 
According to hotel sources, Balsara never felt the need of buying a house in the city as he considered Taj Mansingh as his home and the hotel staff his extended family. He not only knew the hotel like the palm of his hand, but was also incredibly close to the staff. In the course of his 36-year-long stay, he had grown close to a valet who was considered more of Balsara’s personal aide, rather than a hotel staffer. 
 
He was also the first member of the Taj InnerCircle loyalty programme. The hotel staff also talked of how co-operative Balsara was. 
 

	<div type="image" wfid="348917"></div>

 
 
 
“Whenever we would have a VIP guest- such as the Prime Minister or President of some country staying with us, who wanted the floor to be cleared- we would inform of him of the same and he would promptly comply with their wishes and would return only when the guest had left the hotel.” 
 Infact, it was Balsara who had set up the largest natural mineral water plant in Dhaula Kaun in Himachal Pradesh in with an investment of $20 million and created the niche Himayalan mineral water brand. Manufactured by his <keyword id="3543750" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mount-everest-mineral-water-limited">Mount Everest Mineral Water Limited</keyword>, he ensured that Himayalan stands out in the highly competitive bottled water segment in the country. 
 
And, as luck would have it, taking his association with the hospitality brand one step closer, he sold off his priced asset, the Himalayan brand to none other than the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tata+group&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Tata Group</a> in 2007. This marked Tata Global Beverages foray into the Indian packaged water segment. 
 
Contrary to popular belief, Balsara was not born a billionaire. He was born into a family of modest means and began his career as an LIC officer in Nagpur, earning a meager salary of Rs 600. He later went on to the US to study psychiatry on a scholarship and started his own practice after obtaining a doctorate. 
 
Unfortunately, he was forced to look at other career options when his practice failed as hardly anyone turned up for a consultation. 
His big break came when a Japanese television channel decided to host his ‘holistic lifestyle’ programmes which as time passed became a roaring success and finally money started to roll in. 
 
It was only uphill from there. Balsara later settle in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=singapore&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Singapore</a> where he earned the title of ‘Perfumes king of Asia’ by selling perfumes. In 1991 he decided to come back to India and settled in Delhi. 
 
With a business empire spread across 63 countries, Balsara was one of the richest NRI at the time of his death. He reportedly had Rs 250 crore in his bank account.

The curious story of Dadi Balsara, the Parsi billionaire who stayed
at Taj Mansingh Hotel for 36 years

<ul><li><keyword id="6356895" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cyrus-Mistry" source="Orion">Cyrus Mistry</keyword> was once liked by Rata <keyword id="8555" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tata" source="Orion">Tata</keyword>, who called him astute and humble, and later anointed him as his successor in 2012.</li><li><keyword id="6391150" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mistry" source="Orion">Mistry</keyword> went on to become the sixth <keyword id="6355725" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tata-group" source="Orion">Tata Group</keyword> chairman, and only the second without a Tata surname.</li><li>However, Mistry’s ascension to the top of India’s biggest conglomerate was short-lived, with <keyword id="6360722" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ratan-tata" source="Orion">Ratan Tata</keyword> himself ousting Mistry in a ‘palace coup’ in 2016.</li><li>Here’s a run down the memory lane of the history between the Mistrys and Tatas, India’s most prominent Parsi families.</li></ul>Cyrus Mistry’s untimely death in an accident near Mumbai has come as a shock to many, but it has also re-opened the saga of his prolonged battle with the Tata Group and Ratan Tata. Mistry was otherwise a very reclusive, private person, and not much is out in the public about his life. However, his battle with the Tata Group was as public and explosive as it could be, where he locked horns with Ratan Tata, the group’s managing trustee at the time, R Venkataramanan, and other senior officials. Mistry was the chairman of the Tata Group for four years, from 2012 to 2016. During his tenure as the chairman, Mistry is credited for turning around Tata Motors, but he seems to have ruffled feathers during his tenure. His reclusive nature meant he did not host a single press conference during his four years as the group chairman. But what could have gone so wrong that two of the most prominent Parsi families of the country ended up standing against each other, despite a partnership of over 90 years? <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tatas and Mistrys – how it all began" comment="subhead" text="Tatas and Mistrys – how it all began">Tatas and Mistrys – how it all began</cmsannotation> Tatas and Mistrys share nearly a century of relationship spanning over three generations. It all began in the 1930s when Shapoorji Pallonji acquired a 12.5% stake in Tata Sons – the owner of the Tata Group – from FE Dinshaw’s estate. The SP Group’s stake increased to 18.5% after a rights issue in 1996. Since then, the Pallonjis have remained quiet partners in the Tata Group. By some estimates, their investments amounted to just $11 million for the stake they have in the Tata Group, but the value of those investments has surged to several billion dollars over the years. Buffett who? <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Who was Cyrus Mistry?" comment="subhead" text="Who was Cyrus Mistry?"><keyword id="14894773" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Who-was-Cyrus-Mistry" source="Orion">Who was Cyrus Mistry</keyword>?</cmsannotation> Cyrus Mistry was the grandson of Shapoorji Pallonji and the son of Pallonji Mistry. He is survived by his wife and two children. Born in 1968, Mistry got a civil engineering degree from Imperial College London. He joined his family’s construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji &amp; Co., as a director in 1991. His connection with the Tata Group began in 2006, when he took up the mantle of a director a year after his father retired. He was subsequently elevated as the deputy chairman of the Tata Group. When Ratan Tata finally retired as the group chairman in 2012, Mistry replaced him and became the sixth chairman of the Tata Group – and only the second to not bear the Tata surname. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="‘An appointment of convenience’, and not conviction?" comment="subhead" text="‘An appointment of convenience’, and not conviction?">‘An appointment of convenience’, and not conviction?</cmsannotation> Unlike Ratan Tata’s ascension to the throne as the head of the Tata Group, Mistry’s elevation was seen by some in the industry as an “appointment of convenience”, not conviction. Further lending credence to this thought is Ratan Tata’s eventual return as the Tata Group chairman in just four years. When Mistry entered his family business in 1991, Ratan Tata was elevated as the group chairman by his uncle, JRD Tata. Since then, the family patriarch has ruled over the group’s businesses. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How the Tata-Pallonji’s decades-long partnership broke down" comment="subhead" text="How the Tata-Pallonji’s decades-long partnership broke down">How the Tata-Pallonji’s decades-long partnership broke down</cmsannotation> Mistry, despite his reserved nature, pulled no punches when it came to steering the Tata Group’s future. He voiced his opposition to the group’s often expensive decisions – like the one to acquire Jaguar Land Rover, or rolling out Ratan Tata’s pet project, the ₹1 lakh Nano car. <div type="image" title="Ratan Tata Cyrus Mistry1" msid="94000761" hostid="261" sizebytes="84758" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Mistry also voiced his opposition to investing the cash sink that is the aviation business – Tata Sons eventually ended up acquiring a 51% stake in a $100 million venture, far above Mistry’s agreed promise of a 30% stake in a $30 million equity. Mistry’s ouster from the Tata Group has been called a ‘palace coup’ by many in the industry. His pushback against the Tatas and attempts to steer the group to a low-debt high-margin regime eventually led to his downfall. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="An ugly, public spat" comment="subhead" text="An ugly, public spat">An ugly, public spat</cmsannotation> While Mistry liked to maintain a low profile, his spat with the Tata Group was as public as it could get. Eventually, Tatas’ relationship with Cyrus Mistry broke down so much so that Mistry was unceremoniously ousted as the chairman. This resulted in a legal tussle a few months later, going from the NCLT to the Supreme Court of India. India’s top court eventually ruled against Mistry, and dismissed a review petition filed by the SP Group earlier this year, thus bringing an end to the 6-year long ugly legal battle that frayed ties between India’s two most prominent Parsi families. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/modi-and-industry-leaders-express-condolences-on-cyrus-mistrys-death/articleshow/93986009.cms">Cyrus and I shared a laugh last month on a bench in London, says former strategy head of Tata Sons</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/life-and-times-of-cyrus-mistry-the-most-low-profile-man-with-the-most-high-profile-exit/articleshow/93986896.cms">Life and times of Cyrus Mistry – the most low profile man with the most high profile exit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/remembering-cyrus-mistry-10-things-to-know-about-the-former-tata-sons-chairman/slidelist/93994782.cms">Remembering Cyrus Mistry: 10 things to know about the former Tata Sons chairman</a>

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