Middle Orient

The renewed agreement entails further steps to reform peshmerga forces as Pentagon aims to prepare Iraq’s forces for long-term self-sufficiency. The United States renewed its agreement with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday to continue providing security support in the wake of the war against the Islamic State (IS). …

Botched suicide bombings came less than two weeks after the top US general in the Middle East sounded the alarm over security and humanitarian conditions at al-Hol camp. Four Islamic State (IS) fighters are dead and one has been captured after attempting a suicide attack this week aimed at the …

In an exclusive interview, Mustafa al-Kadhimi also discusses Iraq’s shift to regional hub for diplomacy and economic progress despite strong political headwinds. Iraq needs to distance itself from a “past that is full of violence” toward a future based on dialogue, said Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in an exclusive …

Amid the ongoing circus over efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, two rumors have started to gain traction inside and outside Iran: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is on his deathbed and preparations are being made for his son, Mojtaba, to succeed him. Speculation over Khamenei’s ill health …

The latest round of mass protests in Iran erupted over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman. She died on Sept. 16 at the hands of the so-called morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s rules on mandatory veiling in public. Amini’s tragic death is yet another reminder of how …

Commander of U.S. Air Force Central Command, Lt. Gen Alex Grynkewich, said on Monday that Russia’s presence in Syria has become “more aggressive” both in the air and on the ground. “The Russian presence in Syria has become, I would argue, more aggressive since the Ukrainian invasion,” Grynkewich said. This …

While Russia announced its readiness to “create the atmosphere” for a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Western diplomatic sources in Ankara said that the security negotiations currently underway between Syrian and Turkish intelligence on the issue of rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara may end soon. The …

The opposition-run channel Iran International reported that Israeli airstrikes targeting Damascus last Saturday had aimed at the so-called Unit 2250 — a private Iranian logistics institution responsible for coordinating equipment transfers— which is managed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Israeli airstrikes hit warehouses, parking lots, and even the unit’s head …

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said that Moscow supports the idea of organizing a meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. As a result, the meeting will create more commonalities between the two sides. Turkish media also reported that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan …

The scenes coming from Iran are striking. Women removing their head scarves and waving them defiantly in public while some are burning their veils and throwing them into bonfires to the cheers of men. Others are chopping off their hair in public to the chants of “Death to the dictator.” …