Middle Orient

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I arrived at the Taj Hotel in Baghdad’s Jadriyah neighborhood at 6 a.m., worn thin by the long flight from Los Angeles. After sleeping until mid-afternoon, I stepped out into the 90-degree heat on a simple mission: find falafel, fries, and a place to exchange money. A local bus picked …

Une source gouvernementale bien informée a déclaré au Times of Israel que «le président égyptien Abdel Fattah al-Sissi n’envisage pas actuellement de rencontrer le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahou, malgré les informations faisant état des tentatives de Tel-Aviv pour organiser un éventuel sommet au Caire». La source a indiqué que …

The U.S. capture of a tanker accused of carrying Venezuelan and Iranian oil was not an isolated action. It was an escalation—another step in Washington’s long campaign to strangle the Bolivarian People’s Socialist Democratic Revolution and to punish Iran for refusing submission to U.S. diktat. Within hours, Tehran answered in …

Local factions in Suwayda renewed attacks on internal security forces affiliated with Syria’s Ministry of Interior, on the province’s western front, on Saturday, 13 December. Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Daraa (southern Syria) said local factions in Suwayda targeted an internal security vehicle with a bomb-laden drone in the town of …

Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh , in his capacity as chair of the board of Syria’s Insurance Supervision Authority, announced the dissolution of the Syrian Insurance Companies Union and the Insurance Agents and Brokers Union. In a post on LinkedIn today, Friday 12 December, the minister said the move …

President Donald Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” after two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed in an attack in Syria that the United States blames on the Islamic State group. “This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a …

The Iraqi government did the right thing and froze the assets of Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, but once the story made news on December 4, the government walked its decision back within hours. In November, the country’s Committee for the Freezing of Terrorists’ Funds put the two Iran-backed groups on …

If the agreement collapses, violence may be imminent. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have spent months negotiating with the government in Damascus how to implement their March agreement for the SDF to merge with the national armed forces. Mistrust of government centralization and recent sectarian massacres have shaken the …

Official says unresolved disputes over Gaza, Rafah Crossing and security make summit with Netanyahu unlikely despite interest from Jerusalem, Washington Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi currently has no plans to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a government official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel, amid reports that …