Middle Orient

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the phrase “military options are on the table” to the IRGC’s deterrence power and capabilities has become “trivial, meaningless, and worthless.” Khamenei was speaking during a meeting with the Supreme Assembly of Commanders and Officials of the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the first …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed Iran’s possible membership of the BRICS. “The parties discussed issues related to cooperation in international and regional affairs, particularly taking into account Iran’s full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its interest in joining the BRICS group,” the …

The South African and Iranian foreign ministers have signed a cooperation deal ahead of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, which Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi will attend. Iran and South Africa signed a cooperation agreement in Pretoria Thursday during Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to his South African counterpart Naledi …

Turkey’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa often align with those of Russia, with both Ankara and Moscow holding back from condemning military coups and seeking to capitalize on post-colonial resentments. A series of military takeovers in West Africa, the latest occurring in Niger last month, reveal the extent …

Last week, former U.S. President Donald Trump raised the prospect that the United States, and specifically the administration of President Joe Biden, was responsible for Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In an interview on Fox News, Trump opined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely gained “a little more ambition” …

This month marks 12 years since a popular uprising in Syria erupted as part of the wave of Arab uprisings known as the Arab Spring and soon turned into an all-out civil war. Since then, over 300,000 civilians have been killed and millions of people displaced. The past year of …

Quiet mediation efforts between Egypt and Iran have been going on for months, seeking to end one of the Middle East’s longest-running but often-neglected feuds. In May, credible media reports indicated that Egyptian-Iranian talks had been taking place in Baghdad since March. Later that month, Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq …

It’s been almost a year since Elias—whose name has been changed to protect his identity—officially became a deserter from the Lebanese armed forces. As a specialized technician with over a decade in the army, he had been making the equivalent of $1,300 month. But then Lebanon’s economic crisis hit in …

On July 3, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reached an agreement with Iraq to invest $3 billion each in the country, signaling an expansion of investments by the Gulf states at a time when Iraq continues to seek financing for postwar reconstruction and development of its infrastructure. Iraqi …

There has been a notable escalation in maritime tensions between Iran and the United States in the vicinity of Iran’s southern coastlines. In recent years, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have been the sites of several incidents involving attacks on tankers. These occurrences have often taken place …