Eurasia

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday announced a four-month ban on all cryptocurrency mining, citing widespread power outages that have hamstrung the Islamic Republic earlier than usual this year. “Today everybody has a few miners laying around and are producing bitcoins,” the frustrated Rouhani told his cabinet. The practice of …

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday expressed his support for the nation’s Guardian Council decision, announced Wednesday, to disqualify a string of reformist candidates from running in the upcoming presidential elections. The move, which all but ensures victory for hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who currently serves as Iran’s chief …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has increasingly been seen meeting with tribal elders in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, part of efforts to polish his image and that of his group. A video circulated on social media on May 17 showing the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), …

The Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings, leaving many to stuck under rubble that rescuers are ill-equipped to move. Riad Eshkuntana, 42, recalled exactly where he was at 1 a.m. May 15 in his rented apartment on the third floor in the Abu …

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would prefer that a consulate to another entity – the Palestinian Authority – not be on Israeli sovereign territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel opposes the reopening of a US consulate for Palestinians in sovereign Israel, hours before …

Egypt has longstanding relations with both sides in the conflict and played a key role in brokering the Gaza ceasefire after 11 days of violence, in coordination with the United States. Egypt and the United States said they would work together to reinforce a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants …

“We are ready for the great battle, if the enemy commits a great folly in Jerusalem and the holy sites,” Sinwar said in his first speech since Operation Guardian of the Walls. Gaza’s Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar claimed on Wednesday that Hamas has 500 km. of tunnels in the Gaza …

The three major military powers (the United States, Russia, and China) systematically and consistently engage in inflation of the threats they face. Each side tends to see the worst motivation and the greatest capabilities in assessing its adversaries in order to justify its own actions. This problem was endemic throughout …

Hamas’ popularity has risen sharply, but this doesn’t help them much with the outside world. An understanding with Fatah is key to any potential role in regional diplomacy. If the relationship between the PLO and Hamas was on shaky grounds after President Mahmoud Abbas canceled the legislative elections, they are …

The Turkish media has trumpeted the killing of a high-ranking PKK militant by Turkish security forces in northern Iraq as a reprisal of the US support of the Syrian Kurdish groups, while Turkey seems to be a major blockade before Syrian Kurds’ desire for political recognition. The US support for …