Middle Orient

According to the Syrian news agency SANA, demonstrations against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US occupation in Syria continue to grow. The protests, which are still ongoing on 27 December, demand the expulsion of US forces and their regional allies from the Deir Ezzor province. Activists quoted …

Experts say US sanctions failed to reach their ultimate objective of forcing Iran into major political and military concessions The Islamic Republic of Iran will receive an entire squadron of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia as Tehran and Moscow strengthen their defense and economic collaboration in defiance of broad …

The Turkish foreign minister also vowed to continue the fight against ‘terrorism’ in Syria Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told media on 29 December that Ankara is willing to withdraw from the territory it occupies in northern Syria and hand it over to Damascus in the event that “political stability” …

Tehran takes a hard stand as Xi Jinping discovers the Persian Gulf can be a diplomatic minefield. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the first Chinese Consulate-General in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on 21 December, Ambassador Chang Hua affirmed China’s support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

On 12 December, under the pretext of environmentalism, dozens of state-backed “eco-activists” from Azerbaijan blocked the only land corridor connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. The blockade created a humanitarian crisis for the 120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, cutting them off from the outside world. This is not the first time Baku …

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves round the world. As our look ahead to 2023 shows, several other crises loom as well. Will he or won’t he? This time last year, that was the question. Russian President Vladimir Putin had massed almost two hundred thousand troops on Ukraine’s borders. …

SDF Commander tells Asharq Al-Awsat he won’t visit Damascus before conditions for political solution are available. Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said the American administration of former President Donald Trump “betrayed” its allies in the SDF when it did not oppose the Turkish infiltration in Syria …

As Turkey approaches critical general and presidential elections in 2023, President Erdogan is moving to fix frayed relations with rich Middle Eastern countries in the hope of securing a much-needed cash flow.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey has had poor relations with almost all Middle Eastern countries for nearly a decade, …

The UN Security Council has condemned terrorist attacks in Iraq that have left 17 dead amid a surge in violence in the country. ISIS terrorists killed nine federal police officers in an ambush on Sunday in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province. A day later, extremists on motorbikes killed eight civilians in …

The Iranian-Saudi dialogue stalled earlier this year amid the protests in Iran and political tensions in Iraq. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Jordan Wednesday.  The two top diplomats are in the country for the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and …