Middle Orient

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 …

Qatar’s investment in Iraq’s energy sector has the potential to transform Persian Gulf geo-economic dynamics, but Iraq’s political instability continues to pose major risks for large investors across the board. According to recent media reports, regional energy giant QatarEnergy is looking to make a significant move into the Iraqi oil …

Russia asked Iraq’s government to reopen its airspace to the Russian military, which wants to transport troops and equipment to its bases in eastern Syria, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported on 29 March. According to a diplomat and Iraqi officials who spoke with MEE, the Russian-Syrian air corridor through Iraqi …

Bruno Lafont says the French intelligence service was behind the decision to continue operations in Syria and pay off ‘terrorist groups’ like ISIS In an interview with Liberation published on 31 March, Bruno Lafont, the former CEO of Lafarge, accused French intelligence of having infiltrated the company in Syria, where …

Sudan’s relations with Israel have vacillated between periods of hostility and outreach. Today, Khartoum’s leaders view these ties as a means to gain international legitimacy, while Tel Aviv aims to eliminate Khartoum as a haven for pro-Iran and Palestinian resistance factions. Unlike most Arab countries whose relations with Israel have …

The silence from Iran is deafening. Judging by social media reactions and media reports from Iran, few, if any, members of the Iranian public seem to care that, since 2011, the Israeli air force has attacked Iranian and Iranian-affiliated positions in Syria on more than a thousand occasions. More surprisingly, …