Middle Orient

Iran-backed militias continue to arrest Syrian fighters who refuse to fight with them, according to Asharq al-Awsat. Iran-backed militias continue to arrest local fighters who refuse to participate in combing operations in the Deir-ez-Zor countryside desert. The militias arrested at least 28 Syrian members amid reports of apprehending others who …

Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum “that addresses Turkey’s concerns.” Did Turkey receive a green light to launch an operation in Northern Syria? Ankara’s unexpected decision to welcome Sweden and Finland into NATO led many observers to believe that it got tacit approval from western countries for an …

In an ideal scenario, Iraq would completely break free from Iranian control. Unfortunately, today’s world — and the Middle East in particular — rarely sees an ideal scenario come to light. The Goldilocks scenario is a mirage in our region. Instead, we usually witness a complicated and endless situation. This …

The internal fighting among FSA factions and the ambitions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to expand its control in the northwest of Syria did not prevent the Turkish-backed FSA factions from continuing their security operations to crack down on Islamic State cells in the countryside of Aleppo. The Turkish-backed Free Syrian …

The comments were made against the backdrop of an unexpected shakeup within the IRGC’s intelligence wing following a series of breaches. According to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, hostile foreign spy agencies are waging a war of intelligence against the Islamic Republic. …

In the battle between Israel’s security agencies, the Mossad estimates that US President Joe Biden’s administration is eager to reach a deal with Iran, at whatever cost. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), paid a visit this week to the headquarters of Unit 8200, the …

After a three-month-long suspension of the nuclear talks in Vienna, the U.S. and Iran appear set to resume diplomatic negotiations on June 28 in Doha, Qatar. The Europeans will continue to act as messengers in Doha as they did during the talks in Vienna. In fact, this relaunch comes thanks …

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, in the latest in a series of clashes. The Palestinian “Islamic Jihad” militant group said that one of its men was killed “confronting the occupation forces” in Jenin, where …

On the eve of the NATO summit focusing on war against Russia in Ukraine as well as confronting China, top officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland agreed on Tuesday in Madrid to a trilateral memorandum of understanding allowing Stockholm’s and Helsinki’s entry into the military alliance. After a meeting attended …

Iraqi tycoon Waheb Tabra worked with Saddam Hussein’s son in the 1990s before making a fortune smuggling cigarettes. Since the U.S. invasion, he has become a symbol of Iraq’s political corruption while dealing with everyone from top politicians to the Islamic State. Key FindingsTabra’s career started in the 1990s with …