Middle Orient

One of the dominant Kurdish parties in northern Iraq on Sunday ended a more than half-year boycott of regional government cabinet meetings with its main coalition partner, easing tensions between factions that fought a civil war in the 1990s. The rifts had been a source of alarm to Western countries, …

The leader of an insurgent group that rules much of northwest Syria rose to notoriety over the past decade by claiming deadly bombings, threatening revenge against Western “crusader” forces and dispatching Islamist religious police to crack down on women deemed to be immodestly dressed. Today the man known as Abu …

In an editorial last Monday, Kayhan, believed to reflect the views of the “Supreme Guide”, claimed that now that the Islamic Republic has defeated the American “Great Satan” in the Middle East, it must deal with hyperinflation as “the greatest threat to our revolution.” The new tune may be partly …

Neither Ukraine nor Israel has any territorial ambitions or aggressive intent against their attackers — both Ukraine and Israel are fighting purely defensive wars to protect their civilian populations. There is another common factor. Islamic Jihad in Gaza is an Iranian proxy terrorist group, funded and directed from Tehran. Iran’s …

An Iranian lawmaker unveiled plans for the restoration of relations between Iran and Egypt, which are engaged in negotiation in Iraq, saying the embassies in Tehran and Cairo will reopen in the near future. In an interview with Tasnim, member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission …

Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said, Iran as one of the major shareholders of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), is implementing new measures to participate in increasing the bank’s capital. Khandouzi made the remarks in a meeting with IsDB Chairman Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser on the sidelines …

Turkey appeared headed for a runoff election after neither President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu received a majority of the vote on Sunday. However, Erdogan, 69, who has been in power for 20 years and is the country’s longest-serving leader, performed better than had been expected. With more …

Another day, another “martyrs” event at which Hassan Nasrallah laboriously and provocatively holds forth on every imaginable issue — while being inexplicably bashful about discussing Lebanon’s dire domestic predicaments. Lebanon is too small for “Sayyid” Nasrallah’s ego. He doesn’t just see himself as a global leader. In his hubristic mind …

Bad blood continues to boil between Assad and Erdogan, with the latter not as eager as other Muslim states to pursue a detente. Polls indicate that the Turkish presidential race is extremely close with challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu enjoying a slight lead over Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The outcome of the vote …

The U.S. is meddling in Türkiye’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Ankara’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed on Friday. Speaking to CNN Turk, Soylu weighed in on the decision by presidential candidate Muharrem Ince, who leads the opposition Homeland Party, to drop out of the race on Thursday ahead of …