Middle Orient

US Central Command forces conducted a successful helicopter raid in eastern Syria at 2:57 a.m. local time on December 11, killing two ISIS officials including Anas, an ISIS Syria Province Official who was involved in the group’s deadly plotting and facilitation operations in eastern Syria, according to a CENTCOM statement. …

The foreign ministers of Iran and India called for the expansion of relations between the two countries in various fields.  In a telephone conversation on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar talked about a range of regional and international issues and subjects relating to cooperation …

The U.S. Navy in Greece had earlier detained the Lana before the Greek Supreme Court ordered the cargo be returned to Iran, according to Athr Press. A source in the city of Baniyas confirmed to Athr Press the arrival of an oil tanker carrying 700 thousand barrels of crude oil, …

Bulgaria rejected accusations that its border guards shot a Syrian refugee in October, according to Zaman al-Wasl. Bulgaria rejected accusations that its border guards shot a Syrian refugee in October after a video released Monday showed a man being fired at on the European country’s border with Turkey. The footage …

The regime is violently repressing the uprising in southern Syria. Suweida has been witnessing a state of unrest since Sunday morning when a peaceful protest against difficult economic conditions was repressed with fire.

The US wants the pressure to be kept on ISIS, but every time Ankara has an election cycle or a need to distract from some issue at home, it will use drone strikes and threats of conflicts in Syria. In late November, the US said that Syrian rebels in the …

Israel/Palestine Double bombing rocked Jerusalem amid heightened volatility in West Bank, and victory of far-right coalition could bring even more destabilising policies in near future. Deadly bombings struck Jerusalem as Israeli and Palestinian violence continued in West Bank. In first such attack since 2016, unclaimed bombings at two bus stops …

Yemen Back-channel talks between Huthis and Saudi Arabia signalled deal could be reached outside stalled UN process, while Huthis attacked energy infrastructure, raising risks of front-line and regional escalation. Huthis and Riyadh intensified back-channel negotiations away from UN process. As UN efforts to resurrect truce remained deadlocked, Huthis and Saudi …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has rejected efforts by his Russian allies to arrange a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, refusing to give him leverage in next year’s upcoming elections in Turkiye. According to an anonymous source with knowledge of the Syrian regime’s thinking, cited by the Reuters …

The US has voiced willingness to end support for Iran’s protest movement if Tehran stops selling drones to Moscow and makes concessions on its nuclear program. There is a long history of western powers fuelling public unrest in Iran, even pre-dating the establishment of the Islamic Republic. But what makes …