Middle Orient

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strongly criticized the Iranian government Saturday for its bloody crackdown on protests in the country said Germany stands “shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people.” Scholz said the ongoing protests sparked by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her detention by Iran’s morality …

Naval forces from the United States, United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia completed a weeklong maritime exercise called Nautical Defender in the Arabian Gulf, Nov. 7. The multilateral training event involved U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet, UK’s Royal Navy, and observers from …

Turkey’s deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli refuted on Monday reports about the compulsory deportation of Syrian refugees after being forced to sign voluntary return forms. He affirmed that his country seeks to provide a safe environment for their return in the areas it is clearing in northern Syria. Catakli announced …

The number of casualties has not been confirmed, but some of those killed in the attack late on Tuesday were Iranian nationals, al-Jazeera reports. Air attacks have struck eastern Syria along the Iraqi border, hitting Iran-backed fighters and inflicting casualties, a Syrian war monitor, Iranian state television and Iraqi paramilitary …

Iranian Intervention According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Noer News, an Iranian state-run agency, recently reported on Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev’s trip to Tehran on Nov. 8. Supposedly, Patrushev was on a mission to discuss the likely sale of Iranian missiles to Russia. …

The Iranian regime, which has long argued that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons… has lately changed its tone and is boasting that it currently has the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Biden’s new nuclear deal, if reached, will also allow Russia to cash in on a …

Local factions that include former members of the Free Syrian Army are fighting alleged Islamic State members in southern Syria’s Daraa with the support of the Syrian government. Battles resumed Nov. 4 between local factions supported by the Syrian government and Islamic State cells in the city of Daraa in …

Turkey is using the jihadis’ march into Afrin to push its rebel allies in Syria to reorganize as a coherent, disciplined force. But what happens next if the factions fail to do so by the reported year-end deadline? Turkey has launched a fresh effort to reorganize allied rebels in northern …

Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Tuesday that the security forces have managed to arrest eight terror cells in 2022, assuring that the country’s security is under control. “The Intelligence Directorate was capable of arresting eight terror cells in 2022. We adhere to the secrecy of our investigations …

The focus may be on the midterms and the Russia-Ukraine war, but the Pentagon is quietly starting to build infrastructure in Syria for a long-haul fight with the Islamic State. Roughly 900 special forces are still working overtime to help local forces hunt ISIS remnants to keep the terrorist group …