Middle Orient

Relations between Tehran and Baku have long had their ups and downs, but a recent series of events in late March, including the opening of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tel Aviv, an assassination attempt against an Azerbaijani MP in Baku, and the Azerbaijani government’s harsh denunciation of comments …

Les récentes réconciliations de l’Arabie saoudite avec l’Iran et la Syrie sous l’égide de la Chine et de la Russie sont perçues comme une étape vers la réduction de la dépendance de Riyad à l’égard des États-Unis, tout en faisant progresser l’influence politique et économique de Pékin et de Moscou …

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have taken out nearly 100 members of the PKK terror group last month, according to official figures released Wednesday. As part of domestic security operations, a total of 80 terrorists, four of whom were so-called high-ranking officials, were eliminated across the country, the Interior Ministry …

Up to 1 million people have been “disappeared” in Iraq during a tumultuous last half century spanning the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein, U.S.-led military occupation and the rise of Islamic State militants, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances urged Iraq, which has one …

A trial of senior figures of the terrorist group PKK accused of extortion, terrorist financing and terror propaganda began in Paris Tuesday. Nine among 11 suspects, who are Turkish citizens, appeared before the criminal court in the French capital. Investigators believe that France, alongside EU neighbors, offers a staging ground …

Russia seeks to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus amid four-way talks in Moscow. Talks between the assistant foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey kicked off in Moscow Tuesday in the presence of Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, as part of a Kremlin-led effort to reconcile Ankara and …

Violent clashes at the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound led to heavy rocket fire overnight from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli localities. Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on early Wednesday, arresting at least 300 Palestinians at the height of Ramadan as cross-border fire resumed between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. …

The move is likely retaliation against ties between Kurdish militants and the Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union Party. The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that Ankara sealed off its airspace to flights to and from northern Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah International Airport in an apparent retaliation against deepening ties between a major …

Iranian official dismisses talk of a “less for less” deal as “the outcome of some think tank brainstorming.” The latest signs indicate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran doesn’t have much of a pulse. The Biden administration says the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not on the agenda. …

It would be wrong to view the restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran as something that happened suddenly. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, ties between the two important Muslim neighbours have been strained. For the Saudi elite the Revolution was not only anti-monarchical but also a boost …