Middle Orient

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted talks on Monday with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan at which he hinted at the prospect of creating a land corridor between their two countries via Armenia, which opposes the idea. Erdogan pointedly flew into Azerbaijan’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, a strip of territory nestled between …

Ankara is backing the oil-rich Turkic nation’s current drive to seize all of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Nakhichevan, an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Turkey, as thousands of ethnic Armenians continued to flee Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia proper in the wake of a …

The US military said it captured a senior IS official in Syria on Saturday, as renewed fighting Monday between Kurdish-led forces and Arab tribes in Deir Ezzor raised new questions as to the open-ended nature of the US mission. US troops captured a senior Islamic State (IS) official during a …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession depends on Washington keeping its promises to Ankara. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey will keep its promise to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession if Washington keeps its pledges to Ankara, including on the sale …

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations firmly rejected the claims that an Emirati minister has made over three Persian Gulf islands which are part of the Iranian territory, slamming the comments as a violation of the UN Charter. “Iran regards such groundless statements as violation of the sovereignty and …

Iraq continues to face varied challenges, including domestic divisions within and between its major communities, as well as pressure from its powerful neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran’s Shia allies in Iraq, who dominate the Baghdad government, are attempting to limit Iraqi Kurdish self-rule in northern Iraq. Divisions within …

While Türkiye has announced the project cannot happen without its cooperation, experts also warn the new Western-led project could entail a number of logistical issues and comes amid escalating tensions between the US and China.. On September 9, amid the G20 leaders’ summit hosted in India, the US, Saudi Arabia, …

Tensions continue to rise along the Lebanese border, centered around the town of Ghajar, a disputed area that straddles Lebanon and Syrian territory captured and occupied by Israel in 1967. What seems to be unfolding as a controlled escalation, deterring all sides from a more intense conflagration, could give way …

The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey convened a tripartite summit in the Astana format during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, aiming to promote peace and stability in Syria. In attendance at the meeting were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Russian Foreign …

US President Joe Biden’s administration came into office with a pledge of normalcy, and its Middle East policy has largely hewed to a “normal” US administration. It is pro-Israeli, it is concerned about Iran and it is generally accommodating to the Arab Gulf states. And yet, the Biden administration’s policy …