Middle Orient

Iran Update, February 22, 2024

Iran and the Houthis are likely using their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to test and refine their approach to striking naval targets. Houthi leader Abdulmalik al Houthi stated on February 22 that the group will “escalate” its operations targeting shipping around the Red Sea.[i] …

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Operation Iron Swords
Updated to 1 p.m., February 21, 2024

The southern arena: The IDF forces operated in two main locations, to the west ofKhan Yunis, where the forces increased and expanded their hold, and the Zeitounneighborhood in Gaza City, where they cleared the area. With aerial support, they attackedarmed terrorist squads remaining in the area and terrorist facilities. E_052_24Download

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The Strange Resurrection of the Two-State Solution

How an Unimaginable War Could Bring About the Only Imaginable Peace For years, the vision of an Israeli state and a Palestinian state existing side by side in peace and security has been derided as hopelessly naive—or worse, as a dangerous illusion. After decades of U.S.-led diplomacy failed to achieve …

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Iran Has Already Sent Missiles to Russia, Report Says

Latest Developments Iran has already provided Russia with a significant number of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and plans to send more soon, Reuters reported on February 21. Three Iranian sources told Reuters that Moscow had received “around 400 missiles” from Tehran, including “many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, …

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HOW WAS ISRAEL CAUGHT OFF-GUARD?

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks did not happen out of the blue. They were preceded by years of bitter conflict, ever since the group consolidated its control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Months later, it remains deeply puzzling how Israel was caught so woefully unprepared. Conventional explanations advanced over the …

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Strengthening Bonds: Israel and Azerbaijan Forge Ahead in Strategic Partnership

Israel has emerged as Azerbaijan’s top oil purchaser, solidifying an alliance that transcends mere economic transactions. In January 2024, amidst the backdrop of the Munich Security Conference, it was revealed that Israel leads the list of countries importing oil from Azerbaijan, purchasing a substantial 523.5 thousand tons valued at approximately …

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In a Bulgarian Town, Syrians Find Tension and Violence, but Little Hope

A decade after it was opened, Bulgaria’s biggest asylum centre, in Harmanli, is a crowded, sometimes violent, and – according to many accounts – squalid place, emblematic of the rot at the heart of Europe’s asylum policy. Harmanli was built on tobacco, but it really grew under communism with the …

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Explainer: Iraq’s competing Shi’ite armed factions and parties

A visit by the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force to Baghdad has led to a pause in attacks on U.S. troops by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, multiple Iranian and Iraqi sources told Reuters.Here’s a look at Iraq’s most influential Shi’ite parties and armed groups, who remain divided over how …

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Iran Update, February 21, 2024

Iranian sources told Reuters on February 21 that Iran provided hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) to Russia in early January.[i] The three unspecified Iranian sources said that Iran provided roughly 400 SRBMs to Russia, including the Fateh-110 and the Zolfaghar. The sources said that Iran has sent at least …

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Syria Today – Hezbollah Training Russian Drone Operators in Homs; Cross Border Aid Extended Three Months

Ukraine says Russian troops are being trained on the use of Iranian drones at the Shayrat airfield in Syria’s western province of Homs. At the same time, Syria has extended permission for the United Nations to deliver aid to opposition-held areas in the northwest of the country via two Turkish …

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