Middle Orient

Colonel Davoud Jafari, a senior official of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division, was assassinated in Syria on 22 November. The IRGC claimed that Israel was responsible for the attack.

On 24 November, the Iraqi government announced its decision to redeploy troops to the borders with Iran and Turkey, following recent attacks by Tehran and Ankara against Kurdish positions in the Iraqi Kurdistan semi-autonomous region, Al-Awsat news reported.

A Turkish drone strike on a top Kurdish commander’s headquarters came within 130 meters of US troops in Syria on Tuesday. The Pentagon warned on Wednesday that Turkey’s airstrikes against Kurdish forces in northeast Syria endanger US troops and threaten to undermine years of progress in the war against the …

The Turkish president adds that “there is no resentment or bitterness in politics.” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has aired fresh interest in a possible meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Ankara is doubling down on its threat for a ground operation against Syrian Kurdish groups.  “A meeting with Assad is possible. …

The police of the Syrian National Army assaulted protesters near the city of al-Bab following civil protests calling for controlling the security situation in the city and holding the killers of a prominent activist accountable. The Turkish Ministry of Defense said on its official Twitter page, “It’s payback time,” in …

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iraq is “committed to keeping terrorists away from Iran’s borders.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke to reporters today at the Foreign Ministry, addressing a wide range of issues. On the protests that have rocked Iran over the last few months, especially the …

The Iranian government’s escalating violence against protesters in Kurdish cities has led to chains of funerals. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deployed helicopters and rows of military vehicles and machine guns to the Kurdish city of Javanroud as part of its clampdown on anti-government protests that have gripped the …

Inflation may be higher than the government is letting on due to US sanctions and government fiscal policy. Inflation in Iran increased 1.1% in late November to reach an annual rate of 44%, according to the Iran Chamber of Commerce. The chamber attributed the rise in inflation in recent years to …

Following Turkish airstrikes on his headquarters in northeast Syria, SDF commander Mazlum Kobane spoke with Al-Monitor about Erdogan’s threats of a new ground offensive. In his first interview with international media following Tuesday’s drone strike on his main headquarters in northeast Syria, Mazlum Kobane (also known as Mazloum Abdi), the commander …

Turkish analysts believe that the enthusiastic handshake between Sisi and Erdogan may facilitate the budding rapprochement but will not be a magic wand, particularly in Libya. Brushing aside name-calling and accusations of the past, the Turkish and Egyptian presidents shared an enthusiastic handshake on the sidelines of the opening ceremony …