Middle Orient

Sadrist protesters stormed the Judiciary this morning, raising concerns over stability in Iraq. Hundreds of Sadrist protesters stormed Iraq’s Judicial Council building this morning and set out tents to organize a sit-in. They stormed the parliament building last month and held a sit-in there as well. Muhammad Salih al-Iraqi — …

US President Joe Biden authorized the strikes in a bid to deter harassment of US troops in Iraq and Syria. The US military said it carried out precision airstrikes against a bunker complex used by Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria early on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden authorized the strikes …

As it reviews the latest US response about returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran is refuting the International Atomic Energy Agency’s claims about its previous nuclear activities. Iran said Wednesday it had received a US response on its latest proposal as part of efforts to revive the nuclear deal. …

The Islamic State is threatening to kill employees in the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor if they continue to report to their jobs. Islamic State (IS) cells in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria threatened employees and workers of …

Turkish strikes on Syrian government troops and overt Kurdish attacks on targets inside Turkey signal that both sides are changing the rules of the game as Ankara eyes normalization with Damascus. Ankara’s reconciliation overtures to Damascus have been accompanied by growing Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurdish and government forces along …

In his memoir, Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani shares that Turkey’s former President Turgut Ozal had once floated the idea of “annexing” Iraqi Kurdistan. As Turkey escalates its campaign against Kurdish militants in the north of Syria and Iraq and Kurdish politicians within its borders, Masoud Barzani, the preeminent leader …

The mullahs appear convinced that once the Biden administration capitulates completely to their demands for reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, they will be able to step up their already significant efforts to eliminate Israel and export their Islamic Revolution to Arab and Islamic countries. Iran already occupies four Arab …

Prior to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in early 2011, Damascus consciously sought to pursue a relatively balanced foreign policy toward most of its neighbors. Its challenges with Israel notwithstanding, Syria tried to maintain diversified and even-handed relations with Iran, Turkey, and the Arab world regionally and with …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that he is planning a new military offensive in northern Syria directed against the Kurds. If one authoritarian leader can defy world opinion, invade the territory of a sovereign state and incur only minor consequences, why not another? This may well have been …

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said the agreement to ship Ukrainian foodstuffs could be a stepping stone toward peace. Flushed with the success of the Ukrainian grain shipment deal it helped negotiate, Turkey is hoping to eventually translate its position as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow into a peace …