Middle Orient

A Jordanian population sympathetic to Iran’s ambitions, coupled with the country’s long border with Israel, could turn Jordan into a potential launching pad for attacks against Israel. Jordanians marched in the capital of Amman last week, holding aloft portraits of the late secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. The streets …

Caught between Hamas-supporting population and strategic partnerships with US and Israel, Jordanian King Abdullah to try to bring weight to bear this week in DC, says expert On Sunday, Jordan’s official news agency Al Mamlaka published a video filmed inside a Jordanian Air Force aircraft that was dropping medical supplies …

Popular unrest against ties with Israel and an uneasy economy makes the country vulnerable to Iran’s and ISIS’ malign activity. Jordan, which has enjoyed deep relations with the United States for over seventy years and hosts nearly 3,000 American troops, is a vital partner in America’s presence in the Middle …

Iran’s supreme leader has warned Israel that its assassination of Hezbollah’s veteran leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will “not go unavenged”, as fears of a spiralling conflict in the Middle East grow. As the shockwaves from Friday evening’s airstrike that killed Nasrallah reverberated through the region, and Israel continued to pound …

Iran and Israel Face Limitations That Make Massive Escalation Unlikely Many analysts watching the conflict in the Middle East have warned that the present fighting could escalate further. At the moment, such fears are concentrated on the prospect of a war between Iran and Israel. Of course, that war is …

How the Failure of Tehran’s Strategy Is Raising Its Appetite for Risk Over four decades, in an effort to preserve itself, project regional influence, and deter adversaries, the Islamic Republic of Iran has invested in three projects: funding and arming a network of nonstate allies; developing ballistic missiles that can …

Hamas is headless. On Thursday, Israel confirmed that it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. The terrorist group’s top commander was the architect of the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people. Israel has “settled its account” with the Hamas leader, Israeli Prime Minister …

Israel’s attacks in Beirut, and American complicity in them, has confirmed for many Lebanese how little they matter to the United States. On September 29, Houssein Al Kadi, a soldier in the Lebanese army, left his brother’s house in Zboud, in northeastern Lebanon, at 8:15 a.m. to report to his …

Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Oct. 1, 2024, marked a significant escalation in the ongoing regional tensions. This assault, reportedly involving 180 missiles, was the Islamic Republic of Iran’s largest yet against Israel, targeting military and security sites in retaliation for Israeli assassinations of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah …

Public opinion in Iran: Foreign policy contradictions between diplomacy and military action Arash Ghafouri A new public opinion poll finds the Iranian population in overwhelming, if contradictory, agreement: a majority say the country’s economic problems stem from the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy decisions, while citizens favor a continued Iranian military …