Middle Orient

On International Qods Day, marked by the Iranian regime this year on March 28, 2025,[1] Ayatollah Ahmad Alam Al-Hoda, Friday prayer imam for the city of Mashhad and representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Khorasan Razavi province, and a member of the Assembly of Experts that is tasked …

The ongoing discussions between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the new Syrian administration over the integration of military forces have hit a series of roadblocks, reflecting deeper tensions in the country’s post-Assad transition. While the administration pushes for a unified army under the Ministry of Defense, the SDF seeks …

In a previously unannounced diplomatic encounter, Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa met with Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey. The surprise meeting carried significant implications, particularly due to its timing and location in a region characterised by volatility and rapidly …

Syrian security forces have arrested two senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement in Damascus, in what sources describe as part of a broader “security procedure” rather than a criminal investigation. The arrests come at a time of increasing international pressure on Syria’s transitional government to distance itself …

Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has visited Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, marking his second trip to the city in two months. According to local officials speaking to Al-Araby al-Jadeed, the visit began on Wednesday and will last two days. On the first …

The name Rafah once evoked images of sea-breeze evenings, Friday picnics under fig trees, and streets so familiar they felt like the palm of my hand. Now, the name echoes differently — I hear evacuation orders, war maps, and headlines forecasting its erasure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declared …

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza, fears of renewed fighting to Israel’s north sparked after it came under anonymous rocket fire from south Lebanon. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militants in Lebanon, denied involvement and has neither restarted its attacks on Israel nor is it threatening …

Last Saturday’s mostly indirect negotiations between US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi marked an abrupt turnaround for US President Donald Trump. In 2018, during his first term, Trump ended US participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by his predecessor, President Barack …

Alors que Trump menace l’Iran, Washington militarise Diego Garcia, île des Chagos dans l’océan Indien érigée sur le nettoyage ethnique, le colonialisme britannique et l’aventurisme militaire. La récente menace du président américain Donald Trump de frapper l’Iran s’il ne met pas fin à son programme nucléaire a ravivé l’intérêt pour …

The Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) publish the Iran Update, which provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests. CTP-ISW publishes the Iran Update every weekday. Click here …