Middle Orient

E_011_26Download

“They came in the night after Assad fled,” said Mohammed, a resident of Kodena, a small village perched upon rolling hills of rocky soil, about a mile and a half east of the unofficial border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli forces “rode in jeeps, hummers, armored personnel carriers, …

The SDF has suffered a series of defeats to government forces in recent weeks, but the future for Syrian Kurds need not be bleak, say analysts At the time of writing, the demise of Rojava appears imminent, a project intended to provide an egalitarian space in Syria away from the …

Turkey has banned all gatherings in a southeastern province for six days following an outpouring of anger over an offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters Turkish officials in the southeastern Mardin province bordering Syria on Monday announced a six-day ban on gatherings following an outpouring of anger over an offensive against …

A conversation with Karim Sadjadpour and Robin Wright about the recent protests and where the Islamic Republic might go from here. Aaron David Miller: What’s happening with the protests? Robin Wright: When we look at this moment, we need to put it in context. The revolution in 1978–79 took fourteen …

In a recent parliamentary session, Iranian lawmakers donned military uniforms and vocally condemned the US and Israel, reflecting Iran’s defiance amid external pressures and domestic protests. In a dramatic parliamentary session broadcast live on state television, Iranian lawmakers wearing military and Revolutionary Guard uniforms shouted ‘Death to America!’ and ‘Death …

Paris marked the moment Washington quietly aligned with Ankara and Tel Aviv to close the Kurdish chapter in Syria’s war For nearly 15 years, US flags flew over Syrian territory with near-total impunity – from Kurdish towns to oil-rich outposts. In the northeast, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) manned …

Iran’s geography has turned it into a strategic hinge – one that anchors Russia’s southern depth and gives China an escape from US maritime containment. In the corridors of US strategic decision-making, Iran is no longer treated as a discrete regional file. Dealing with Tehran has become inseparable from great-power …

Washington claims the war has entered a ‘second phase,’ but conditions in Gaza show no power shift, no end to violence, and no real sovereignty – only what appears to be a rebranded form of occupation. The announcement arrived wrapped in the familiar choreography of diplomacy. Carefully chosen language, optimistic …

Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar said the Syrian government has not formally requested that Lebanon hand over members of the former regime. In an interview with Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Saturday, 31 January, Nassar said Western countries had requested the handover of figures from the former Syrian regime. He …