Middle Orient

Advisers were with the expeditionary Al Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital on Saturday destroyed a building used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, killing at least five Iranians, Syrian and Iranian state media reported. The Syrian army said the building in the …

The Iranian Navy on Friday dispatched a “combat and training” flotilla of warships to the high seas for what the Navy chief called a multipronged mission. The combat and training flotilla, including Bushehr and Tunb warships, departed Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Friday. Iranian Navy Commander Rear …

A war with Israel is the last thing that Lebanon needs. The Lebanese people are in the midst of a severe economic downturn, facing soaring prices and severe shortages of food and basic commodities. Hezbollah-allied political, financial and business leaders, the source of the graft and corruption at the heart …

The Red Sea is a strategic and valuable region for the world as it connects Asia, Europe and Africa through one of the most vital maritime routes. However, the Red Sea is facing a serious crisis due to the attacks from the Yemeni Houthis on commercial shipping vessels. The crisis …

The badlands that form the Iran-Pakistan border have for years been notorious for smuggling, human trafficking, narcotics trade, and of course, movement of insurgents and terrorists. It is anything but a tranquil frontier because skirmishes, shallow incursions and raids, and even occasional mortar shelling are fairly routine. But both countries …

On January 19, 2024, a Hamas delegation, led by Hamas international relations Moussa Abu Marzouq, visited Moscow, in the organization’s second visit to Russia since its October 7 attack on Israel. The delegation met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Putin’s special envoy to the Middle …

Iran successfully advanced five strategic objectives: 1) preemptively thwarting an imminent terrorist attack from Pakistani soil; 2) flexing its military muscles before the domestic and international audiences; 3) suggesting that Pakistani-emanating terrorist threats are as dangerous as threats from Israel and the US; 4) reinforcing perceptions of Pakistan as a …

Iran said it targeted a “Mossad spy headquarters” as “revenge” after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed dozens in Tehran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli spy headquarters in a series of airstrikes near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq, and …

An Iranian strike on Pakistan this week that drew a rapid military riposte and raised fears of greater regional turmoil was driven by Iran’s efforts to reinforce its internal security rather than its ambitions for the Middle East, according to three Iranian officials, one Iranian insider and an analyst. Both …

Iran launched missile strikes on three different countries this week – Iraq, Syria and Pakistan – while proxy militant groups it backs continue to target US and Western interests and fight Israel, stoking fears of conflict that could engulf the Middle East and spread to other regions. Why did Iran …