Middle Orient

The Turkish government’s latest loan restriction may help the embattled lira recover to some extent, but not without the risk of damaging side effects. Desperate against galloping inflation but bent on keeping interest rates low, Turkey’s government has turned to interventionist measures akin to capital controls to bolster the embattled …

Israel’s political landscape will shift dramatically over the next few weeks, as the US president is set to visit. Yair Lapid is scheduled to take over from Naftali Bennett as Israeli prime minister next week under a complex job-sharing agreement. It’s an open question whether Lapid intends to maintain Bennett’s …

Following the signing of a memorandum between Turkey, Sweden, and Finland, Erdogan lifted his veto against the Nordic expansion of NATO hours before the Madrid summit started. After a day of phone diplomacy, conflicting statements, and last-minute political posturing, Turkey has given the nod to NATO hopefuls Sweden and Finland …

U.S. forces on Monday killed a “senior leader” of an al-Qaida-aligned terrorist organization during a strike in Syria, U.S. Central Command said in a news release. Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of Hurras al-Din, was traveling alone on a motorcycle in Idlib province at the time of the …

Geopolitics is written all over Saudi religious soft power efforts. Nowhere more so than when it comes to Israel and Jews because of the growing importance of security cooperation with the Jewish state and the influence of the Israeli lobby in the United States, the kingdom’s most important yet problematic …

When the Iranian people revolted in 1979, many of them thought they would establish a democratic system of governance. The revolution in Iran was never intended to create a theocratic dictatorship ahead of an inclusive and secular government. The revolution also appeared to be a repudiation of the previous political …

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Sunday evening, in a meeting in Tehran with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, that Iran welcomed the reopening of the Iranian and Saudi Arabian embassies in Riyadh and Tehran. Amir-Abdollahian praised the Iraqi government for its mediating role in normalization talks between Iran …

Qatar will host the resumption of indirect talks between Iran and the United States aimed at reviving a nuclear deal, the official Iranian Students News Agency reported on Monday, citing Mohammad Marandi, the adviser to Iran’s negotiating team for the Vienna nuclear talks. Iran chose Qatar as the host, Marandi …

Iran and Saudi Arabia appear ready to resume diplomatic talks following Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s shuttle diplomacy. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi traveled to Saudi Arabia June 25 for a short visit before heading to Tehran the next day. The trip was reportedly designed to push talks between the …

Iran’s foreign minister is meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara today. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was scheduled to be received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara today, part of an effort to manage growing tensions between the prickly regional rivals. Upon his arrival, Amir-Abdollahian said …