Middle Orient

Spotlight on Syria (March 16 –26, 2025)

Terrorist operatives shot at IDF forces near the village of Koayiah in southern Syria; therewere no casualties. The forces responded with artillery and fire from UAVs, killing seven of theattackers. The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria claimed that four of its fighters were killed inthe incident. Syria and other countries …

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Iran Update, March 27, 2025

Iran responded on March 26 to US President Donald Trump’s letter proposing nuclear negotiations.[i] Iran signaled it is open to indirect nuclear negotiations with the United States but rejects direct negotiations under the current conditions. Trump sent a letter to Khamenei on March 5 that proposed negotiations on Iran’s nuclear …

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Comment HTS, en Syrie, saborde discrètement la cause palestinienne

Sous la direction d’Ahmad al-Sharaa, les nouveaux dirigeants islamistes de Syrie marginalisent systématiquement les factions palestiniennes, favorisent l’Autorité palestinienne soutenue par les États-Unis, démantèlent les groupes liés à l’Iran et remodèlent la dynamique des réfugiés en s’alignant sur une stratégie plus large soutenue par les États-Unis pour neutraliser la Résistance …

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Trump et Poutine commencent à traiter les débris géostratégiques accumulés… sur fond d’ultimatum de Trump à l’Iran

Trump voit-il l’Iran à travers une optique perturbée – qu’en détruisant l’Iran, il apporte la paix par la force ? L’appel téléphonique du 18 mars entre les présidents Trump et Poutine a eu lieu. Cela a été un succès, dans la mesure où il a permis aux deux parties de …

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Who Destroyed Lebanon: Hezbollah or the Banks?

A “bloc” of lawmakers, political parties, media outlets, and non-governmental organizations are peddling a platform that distracts attention from the paramount importance of disarming Hezbollah and instead blames banks for the utter misery that Lebanon finds itself in. Such an argument is either too dumb, or its proponents are too …

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’These Suspicious Individuals’: Hamas and Allied Groups Threaten Gaza Protestors

Latest Developments Gaza Protests Enter Third Day, Terror Groups Issue Threat: Gazan protestors took to the streets on March 27 for the third consecutive day to express their anger at Hamas for continuing its war with Israel. Demonstrators chanted slogans including “Out, out Hamas.” Hamas official Osama Hamdan accused the …

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Golden Pagers and Dreams of a Gaza Riviera

When Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited U.S. President Donald Trump in early February 2025, he gifted him a golden pager, an allusion to Israel’s booby trapping of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon that had been ordered by Hezbollah, intercepted by Israel and turned into lethal weapons. The …

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Why U.S. Aid to Iran’s Civil Society Falls Short

The road to Iran’s freedom is paved with well-intentioned U.S. grants — but intent alone has never toppled a dictatorship. The Trump administration’s broad pause on foreign assistance includes a hold on funding distributed by the Near East Regional Democracy (NERD) program, which is aimed at supporting democracy in Iran. …

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Iran Update, March 25, 2025

Top Iranian officials reportedly authorized Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi to “advance any diplomatic initiative in relation to the United States,” according to an Iranian expert close to the regime.[1] It is not clear who precisely authorized Araghchi to begin “any diplomatic initiative,” but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would …

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