The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is far from the first proof of how intertwined we are as a global community. The climate crisis and the refugee crisis have long been glaring examples that the wars or CO2 emissions on one continent risk the lives and well-being of people on another continent. …
Read More »How Should the West Respond to the Iranian Protesters?
“Right now people are mad, not just because of their own government… People are furious about the Western reaction, with the silence of the world. When they see that people are getting killed, but still the Western governments do not dare to openly support human rights and ask the United …
Read More »Diminishing Returns from Iran Sanctions
Virtually every sector of Iran’s civilian economy is now subject to U.S. secondary sanctions, rendering additional sanctions progressively less significant.
Read More »Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias suffer heavy losses fighting in Syria
In 2012, Hezbollah committed itself to armed conflict in defense of its Syrian ally, Bashar al Assad, against rebels and Islamic State fighters attempting to overthrow the Assad government. With the backing of Iran and Russia, they successfully supported the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in largely putting down the armed …
Read More »Ex-CIA official warns of Iran, ISIS drones armed with chemical weapons
The warning takes on greater meaning following a call on January 28 by ISIS’s new leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, to direct greater attention to attacking Israel and Jews, including using chemical weapons.
Read More »Tehran-backed Hezbollah steps in to guide Iraqi militias in Soleimani's wake
Shortly after Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, the Tehran-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah urgently met with Iraqi militia leaders, seeking to unite them in the face of a huge void left by their powerful mentor’s death, two sources with knowledge of the …
Read More »IS Tries to Stage Comeback Amid Rising US-Iran Tensions
The Islamic State group’s self-styled “caliphate” across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine.
Read More »Iran-Backed Houthis Suspected Of Ballistic Missile Attack At Yemen
On January 18, 2020, ballistic missiles struck a mosque at the al-Estiqbal military camp in Marib, killing at least 116 people in what was reportedly one of the deadliest attacks in Yemen’s civil war. Although there was no immediate claim by the Houthi rebels, Yemen’s government condemned the Iran-backed extremist …
Read More »Iran expands support for Taliban, targets U.S. troops in Afghanistan
Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions mean Afghanistan, which shares a border with Iran, could be the next proxy battleground between Washington and Tehran, a clash that threatens to undermine the Trump administration’s pursuit of a peace deal with the Taliban and eventual drawdown of American troops.
Read More »France promises continued support against ISIS in Iraq and Kurdistan
On Thursday, the French Consul General in Erbil affirmed his country’s ongoing support for the security of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq during a meeting with the head of the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
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