Middle Orient

During the Syrian Civil War, which broke out in 2011, the area of south Syria became an arena for the activity of Salafi-jihadist terrorist organizations in addition to Hezbollah and the Iranian Qods Force, which sought to establish another front against Israel based on local operatives and Shi’ite militias.The fall …

Ahmed Mouaffaq Zaidan, the newly appointed media adviser to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has published an article on Al Jazeera Net urging the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood to dissolve itself. This call cannot be dismissed as a personal opinion from a former Brotherhood-affiliated journalist. Coming just days after …

On Wednesday, 27 August 2025, a group of Alawite activists based abroad announced the formation of the “Political Council for Central and Western Syria” (PCCWS). In a founding statement published via a recorded video on its official Facebook page, the council called for the establishment of a federal region encompassing …

A recent article by Dr. Ahmed Muwaffaq Zaidan on Al Jazeera, urging the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, has stirred debate. Some welcomed the idea as a way to move beyond a long-burdensome legacy; others saw it as a worrying signal of exclusion at a moment that calls …

Iran’s leaders are trying to prevent the disarmament of their non-state allies in an effort to rebuild the national security strategy shattered by a year of Israeli and U.S. military operations.Seeking to avoid being drawn into regional wars provoked by Iran’s allies, governments in the region are striving to exercise …

In mid-August, Syria’s Druze minority crossed a historic threshold. In its southern province, demonstrators demanded self-determination for the first time, rejecting Damascus’s authority and waving Israeli flags – a stunning departure for a community long known for cautious neutrality. The shift came in the wake of July’s violence in Suweida, …

In a move that sparked international condemnation, a group of Israeli settlers crossed into Syrian territory near the village of Bariqa in Quneitra province on 18 August and attempted to establish a new settlement on Israeli military-controlled land. The incursion, three kilometres away from Alonei Habashan, an Israeli settlement located …

Iranian parliamentarians introduced a three-part bill on August 28 to withdraw Iran from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), likely to pressure the E3 (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) to not reimpose UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran.[1] The bill would require Iran to leave …

It is not clear whether the recent Israeli and U.S. military strikes have decreased or increased the likelihood of a nuclear-armed Iran. The attacks have certainly inflicted major damage to the country’s nuclear program. But they have not extinguished the Islamic Republic’s interest in nuclear weapons. They have amplified uncertainty …

The Lebanese government will reportedly attempt to persuade rather than coerce Hezbollah to disarm. Hezbollah is unlikely to disarm on its own accord and has historically evaded previous disarmament efforts. US Special Envoy Thomas Barrack said that the Lebanese government will focus on persuasion to encourage Hezbollah disarmament after his …