Middle Orient

The Coordination Framework, comprised of several Shiite parties is seeking a national unity coalition modeled on previous governments, while Sadr whose bloc won the majority of seats seeks majority government. The days ahead will tell us if Iraq’s difficult political process is to chart a new path by allowing the …

Ankara’s energy preparedness for the winter and its capacity to secure alternative supplies have come under question after a halt in the gas flow from Iran sparked an unprecedented energy crunch in the country. The disruption of Iranian gas supplies to Turkey, blamed on a technical hitch in the pipeline …

In a letter to Iran’s supreme leader, the hard-line former chief negotiator reportedly proposed ramping up enrichment to 90%. Hard-line Iranian politician Saeed Jalili, who led his country’s nuclear negotiations with world powers from 2007 to 2013, has reportedly called for uranium enrichment at a 90% purity rate in Iran’s …

Iran and China’s long-term strategic partnership awaits any new outcome of the JCPOA. In a highly symbolic move, the Iranian Council of Ministers recently approved the opening of a Chinese consulate at Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main trading port and the capital of the coastal province of Hormozgan. While Tehran currently …

Qatar was bestowed the status of major non-NATO US ally by President Joe Biden yesterday. Qatar’s government has reached a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan to resume evacuation flights from Kabul’s airport after a months-long halt, Qatar’s foreign minister said yesterday. The agreement allows for two flights per week …

President Joe Biden said on Monday (January 31) he plans to designate Qatar as a major non-NATO ally, granting a special status to a key ally in the Middle East. Biden made the announcement as he met Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in the Oval Office. The emir …

U.S.-backed forces in northeastern Syria are warning the latest attempt by the Islamic State terror group to break thousands of its followers out of prison was part of a bigger plot designed to take and hold territory – a capability most Western counterterrorism officials have assessed to be beyond the …

Israel says security forces killed three Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday who had been responsible for recent shooting attacks. The Shin Bet internal security agency initially said they were killed in a “clash,” but police later acknowledged that while the men had two …

After a long period of arduous negotiations with Iran, and after failure seemed closer than success, the parameters of the negotiations returned and changed, and the US was close to signing an agreement with Iran that would eliminate its ambitions to possess a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting …

Iran has announced that it stopped the flow of natural gas to Turkey for ten days, starting from 20 January, due to a “technical failure”. This resulted in an electricity crisis for factories in Turkey. Questions have been raised about the validity of the Iranian justification and the reality behind …