Middle Orient

Raisi Says Iran Has Potential To Become Regional Energy Hub

Expressing Iran’s readiness to become a regional energy hub, President Ebrahim Raisi said the country could turn into a safe route for the transfer and distribution of natural gas among suppliers and consumers. Addressing the 7th summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Algeria on Saturday, Raisi highlighted …

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Syria: Abuses, Impunity In Turkish-Occupied Territories, Says HRW

Türkiye bears responsibility for the serious abuses and potential war crimes committed by members of its own forces and local armed groups it supports in Turkish-occupied territories of northern Syria, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Kurdish residents have borne the brunt of the abuses due to …

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Iranians Decisively Vote ‘No’ To The Entire Regime – OpEd

What Iran’s regime feared the most and tried to prevent for months finally came to pass on Friday, March 1, when its sham parliamentary elections was met with an unprecedented boycott by the Iranian people. The people of Iran dealt a severe blow to the regime’s political masquerade and once …

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Middle East Demands New Frontiers Of Diplomacy – Analysis

Recent developments and the humanitarian situation in Gaza are refocusing the world’s attention on a conflict doomed for decades to loiter on the second page of international newspapers and to stagnation in multilateral fora. The situation in Gaza is not an isolated development; the war in Sudan, the conflict in …

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Iran Update, March 2, 2024

Key Takeaways: Northern Gaza Strip: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to operate in the northern and central Gaza Strip on March 2. Hamas targeted Israeli forces in Zaytoun with rocket-propelled grenades and explosively-formedSouthern Gaza Strip: The IDF 89th Commando Brigade (98th Division) continued to conduct clearing operations in western …

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After U.S. Strikes, Iran’s Proxies Scale Back Attacks on American Bases

Tehran, wary of igniting open warfare with Washington, has told militia groups it backs to curtail assaults on targets such as military installations, Iranian and American officials say. Iran has made a concerted effort to rein in militias in Iraq and Syria after the United States retaliated with a series …

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Maintaining the best thing the US built in Iraq: Continued support to the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service

For the past several years, US interests have drifted away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to focus on national security issues in the Pacific and — now — Europe. Unfortunately, the security situation in the Middle East and events like Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, strikes by Iranian-linked groups …

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IntelBrief: Somalia-Türkiye Defense Deal and the Regional Implications for East Africa

Somalia and Türkiye recently agreed to a ten-year defense deal that will see Ankara helping Mogadishu with security cooperation and building the capacity of its naval forces. While both Somalia and Türkiye have said that their agreement was long in the works and unrelated to the January deal between Ethiopia …

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The Red Sea Crisis Continues with No Resolution in Sight

The Houthi movement of Yemen has continued attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea despite U.S.-led “dynamic” strikes on Houthi weaponry being readied for launch. The current U.S. and allied approach assumes that the Houthi arsenal can be degraded to the point where the attacks stop. The lack of clear …

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