At the two ends of Iran’s political spectrum angry voices are being heard in a fierce battle over the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, and especially the question of support for resistance forces in Panjshir Valley. Iran’s Reformists woke up to a stinging editorial Sept. 9 by the hard-line daily Kayhan …
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Amid escalation in Idlib, residents fear renewed Russian-backed offensive
Syrian government forces have stepped up their attacks against Idlib, causing civilian casualties as Russian warplanes continue to raid different areas of northwestern Syria on an almost daily basis. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sept. 7 that “a woman succumbed to her wounds sustained in artillery shelling carried …
Read More »Sudan, South Sudan resume trade activity
Following a 10-year hiatus, since the secession of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, the governments in Juba and Khartoum agreed to resume trade activity and cooperate on transport and security beginning in early October. As part of efforts to bolster peace between Sudan and South Sudan, the two governments …
Read More »Lebanese energy plan includes Syria
A meeting of Jordanian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian ministers seems to have cracked Syria’s isolation. Four Arab countries have agreed on a road map to supply Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon through Jordan and Syria during a ministerial meeting in Amman on Sept. 8. They also approved a plan to …
Read More »Is Turkey’s export-driven growth sustainable?
Turkey’s industry remains heavily reliant on imported materials, meaning the country’s current account deficit problem persists despite a record increase in exports. A big uptick in exports was a major driver of the Turkish economy’s 21.7% growth rate in the second quarter, but how much Turkey could sustain the trend …
Read More »Why has Turkey turned to Libya’s Gadhafi family?
Realizing that its current allies are not sufficient to secure Turkey’s interests in Libya, Ankara is now seeking to include Gadhafi family members into its calculus. Having loosened its close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in a bid to normalize its relations with the major actors of the Arab world, …
Read More »Mossad may have destroyed some IAEA equipment at Iran nuclear site
IAEA chief: We do not know how much data lost from broken cameras An incident at Iran’s Karaj nuclear facility in June, which was attributed by many to the Mossad, may have destroyed some of the IAEA’s monitoring equipment, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said Monday. He did …
Read More »Israel’s defense chiefs are working to keep the country safe
No. 14 on The Jerusalem Post’s Top 50 Most Influential Jews of 2021: IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and Mossad chief David Barnea. It’s been a busy two years for Israel’s top security officials, Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and new Mossad chief David Barnea, fighting a war they never …
Read More »The Taliban’s Comeback Is a Conundrum for Iran
No one in the Iranian government was sad to see U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan. In fact, Tehran would prefer to have the Taliban next-door than often-hostile Western powers. But Shiite-majority Iran has also been a target of attacks in the past from the Sunni Islamist Taliban, and it …
Read More »Arab Journalists, Columnists: Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood And Hizbullah Share A Similar Ideology
Following the Taliban’s recent rise to power in Afghanistan, articles in the Arab press, especially the Saudi and Emirati press, claimed that the Taliban shares many similarities with other extremist organizations in the Arab and Muslim world, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Hamas and Hizbullah. The articles claimed …
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