Middle Orient

Turkey’s top envoy, Mevlut Cavusoglu, is set to visit Jerusalem next week in a diplomatic breakthrough, but his plan to go to holy site is causing tensions with Israel, report says Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is expected to visit Israel next week and plans to go to the flashpoint …

The Treasury Department designated Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah and several of his associates and companies based in Lebanon and Iraq. The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on an alleged financial facilitator for Hezbollah, a move aimed at exposing and disrupting the Lebanese militant group’s illicit sources of funding. The …

When Emmanuel Macron was elected president five years ago, many analysts wondered how it might affect France’s policy toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). At the time, France found itself at a crossroads, having to contend with the shift in U.S. policy toward the region during the presidency …

Amid stalled nuclear talks with the P5+1, a senior Chinese military delegation, headed by Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Gen. Wei Fenghe, landed in Iran for a visit in late April. The readouts from Tehran were rather dull, with the usual platitudes about the close relations between …

Ankara has listed the presence of what it calls terrorists in Sweden and Finland as its main objection to their accession but other factors could feature. The deadlock created by Turkey’s foot-dragging over extending NATO membership to Sweden and Finland has left the alliance’s diplomats again striving to decode Ankara’s …

Despite a massive security presence, many Iranian cities continue to witness rallies triggered by soaring prices, with protesters chanting slogans against the country’s top leadership. Deputy commander of Iran’s police Brig. Gen. Qasem Rezaee issued a severe warning against Iranian protesters infuriated by a sharp steep in prices of basic …

The Iranian nuclear program and its support of regional and global terror were the focus of the meeting in Washington May 19 between Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. On a work visit to the United States, Defense Minister Benny Gantz met May 19 in …

Undisciplined forces in the Syrian regime’s army and security services are supporting drug traffickers, Jordan said, according to Syria TV. The Jordanian army accused undisciplined forces in the Syrian regime’s army and security services of supporting drug traffickers and carrying out smuggling operations, noting that “Jordan’s border with Syria is …

King Abdullah II warned that Iran and its proxies may fill a vacuum left by Russia in southern Syria, according to North Press. Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned on Wednesday that Iran and its proxies may fill a vacuum left by Russia in southern Syria which could lead to issues …

Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad paid a surprise visit to Tehran, where he met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. This was Assad’s second visit to Iran since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011. In Tehran, Khamenei told the Syrian president that Damascus …