Middle Orient

Multiple counterterrorism operations against Islamic State hideouts in both Iraq and Syria in recent weeks have taken out men whom officials claim were leaders within the international terrorist organization. As the fifth anniversary of Iraqi forces’ retaking of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) approaches, counterterrorism operations in the country …

The Biden administration may be considering options for a Plan B if nuclear talks fail, but backchannel diplomacy is continuing. US officials and nonproliferation experts warn Iran needs only weeks to produce enough weapons-grade fuel to build a bomb, raising pressure on the Biden administration to secure a deal that …

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over as prime minister. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid agreed a short while ago to dissolve the Israeli parliament next week. With this, the country will see its fifth election in just three-and-a-half years. In a joint statement, Bennett and …

At the latest Astana Group meeting on Syria, Russia and Iran tried to soothe Turkey by rejecting the Kurdish-led self-rule in northern Syria in a joint declaration this week. Turkey failed to garner Russian and Iranian backing for a fresh military intervention against Syrian Kurdish forces at the meeting of …

Discussions between Turkey, Finland and Sweden about the Nordic countries’ proposed NATO membership have ended inconclusively as Ankara showed no signs of abandoning its hardline position. Discussions between Turkey, Finland and Sweden about the Nordic countries’ NATO membership held in Brussels today ended inconclusively as Ankara showed no signs of …

The United States and Iran had their latest near miss Monday, after three vessels controlled by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps buzzed two American ships at what the U.S. military called “dangerously high speed.” The USS Sirocco, a Cyclone-class patrol ship, and the USNS Choctaw County, a fast transport vessel, …

For more than half a century, US engagement across the Arab region, and the wider world, has been premised on “preventive diplomacy,” which entailed knowing more about foreign nations and their citizens than any other country on the planet. It meant that US embassies were right-sized, well-financed, adequately staffed and …

More than 30 Islamic State prisoners escaped from a Kurdish-run prison in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa on Sunday, the pro-government Al-Watan newspaper reported. The inmates escaped from the central prison in northern Raqqa at dawn, Al-Watan reported. The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fanned out in search of the …

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will begin a tour of countries in the region beginning on Monday. The crown prince, known as MBS, will start his tour with Egypt and a meeting with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday and then travel to Jordan for a …

There also exists the dangerous likelihood, if and when Iran’s regime has nuclear weapons, that they will fall into the hands of Iran’s proxies and militia groups, or that the regime will share its nuclear technology with its proxies and allies, including the Syrian regime and the Taliban in Afghanistan. …