Middle Orient

Turkey backs Azerbaijan in deadly attacks against Armenia

While Turkey has prided itself for mediating between Russia and Ukraine, Ankara has shown no such impartiality in the recent fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia, with Turkish leaders airing their support for Baku. Turkish killer drones were back in action Wednesday as its ally Azerbaijan kept up attacks against Armenia …

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Blinken Says Revival of Iran Nuclear Deal Soon Is ‘Unlikely’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a revived nuclear deal with Iran in the near future is “unlikely,” based on Iran’s response to the European Union’s most recent proposal for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. “What we’ve seen over the last week or …

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Jared Kushner Says 6 Other Muslim-Majority Countries Discussed Joining Abraham Accords

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, criticized the Biden administration for failing to get other countries to sign on to the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

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The Revenge of Muqtada al-Sadr

Why Iran Could Be the Real Loser in Iraq’s Intra-Shiite Struggle On August 29, the Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced that he would withdraw from politics after months of failed attempts to form a new government. Thousands of supporters of the nationalist leader, who has emerged as a staunch …

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Israeli spy chief warns Iran deal won’t give Iran ‘immunity from Mossad’

The comments by the Mossad chief reaffirmed Israel’s “octopus head” policy adopted by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “Even if a nuclear deal is signed, it will not give Iran immunity from Mossad operations. We won’t take part in this charade and we don’t close our eyes to the proven …

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Ukraine says it shot down Iranian drone in Kharkiv

Photos posted online by Kyiv appear to confirm the Pentagon’s claim that Iran has delivered armed drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. Ukraine’s military reported Tuesday that it had destroyed an Iranian drone used by Russian forces near Kharkiv. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry published photos of what it said …

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US, EU says decision on Iran deal depends on Tehran

US and EU officials dismiss claims that an Israeli campaign has influenced negotiations, and say the next move is Iran’s. There is complete radio silence between Tehran and Washington, with no messages moving via mediators. There appears to be a sort of “negotiations fatigue” among all the parties. Iran says …

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Tribal spies in Syria help U.S. win drone war against Islamic State

When the U.S. military targeted Islamic State commander Maher al-Agal with a drone strike in northern Syria in July, there was little chance it would miss. The reason? Revenge. With Islamic State’s last battle-hardened forces holed up in remote areas, the United States is turning to the aid of tribesmen …

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IS militants kill 6 US-backed fighters in eastern Syria

The Islamic State group killed six U.S.-backed Syrian fighters in eastern Syria saying on Monday that the killing was in retaliation for an ongoing operation inside a sprawling camp housing tens of thousands of family members of the extremist group. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency released a video showing the …

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Blast Kills 6 Separatists On Anti Al-Qaeda Sweep In Yemen

An explosion caused by an improvised device killed six Yemeni separatist fighters on Monday during an anti-jihadist sweep in the south of the war-ravaged country, security sources said. “Four Yemeni soldiers were killed and six others wounded in an IED explosion targeting a military vehicle” during a campaign targeting Al-Qaeda …

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