Eurasia

A recent United Nations Security Council report concluded that ISIS currently controls more than 10,000 fighters, organized in small cells in Syria and Iraq. To date most of the Biden administration’s policy announcements have been aimed at reducing tensions with Iran, such as freezing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and …

Iran’s army test fired a sophisticated short-range missile on Sunday, state media reported. The report by the official IRNA news agency quoted the chief of the army’s ground forces, Gen. Kioumars Heidari, as saying that the missile’s range was 300 kilometers, or 186 miles.

The killing of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraq by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has caused anger, and also a debate about the possibility of a wide-scale operation by Turkey. The hostages were executed in the Gara region, inside a special PKK cave “prison.”

UN human-rights experts on Tuesday urged 57 countries whose nationals are detained in the notorious Al-Hol and Roj detention camps in northeastern Syria to repatriate them “without delay.” They warned that failure to do so could be tantamount to torture under international law.

Iraqi media outlets attribute rare daytime attack in the eastern Deir Ezzor province to Israel; IDF refuses to comment Unidentified drones have targeted a weapons shipment making its way from Iraq to Syria near an illegal military crossing used by pro-Iranian militias, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday …

Hundreds of Idleb residents have joined protests demanding the right to return to their cities and villages, according to Baladi News. On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people took to the streets, in a massive demonstration in the center of Idleb, to demand a safe return to their cities and villages, …

The UK has donated 100 Armoured Patrol Vehicles to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to tackle the threat from terrorism on its border with Syria, which is frequently used by violent extremists and smugglers.

Russia says it is prepared to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc follows through with threats to implement tough new economic sanctions against Moscow over the detention and jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The so-called E3 European powers have urged Iran to reverse its decision to violate a landmark nuclear deal by producing uranium metal and avoid “noncompliant” steps before it’s too late. Britain, France, and Germany issued the plea on February 12 following a call the previous day by Russia’s deputy foreign …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that he would revoke designations of Yemen’s Houthi movement as a terrorist group. Blinken said in a statement the group would no longer be designated a foreign terrorist organization or a specially designated international terrorist group effective February 16.