Middle Orient

Noura al-Khalif married an Islamic State group supporter and then wound up without her husband in a Syrian camp viewed by many as the last surviving pocket of the “caliphate”. The 31-year-old woman has been back in her hometown outside the northern city of Raqa for three years but she …

According to foreign reports, Israel is increasing its offensive activities in Syria against Iran-related targets. With negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program stalled and the world’s attention focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israel appears to be intensifying its military activity in Syria. According to foreign news reports, Israel has …

On May 16–17, with much of the attention in Eurasia still fixated on the Russian-Ukrainian war, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, paid a visit to Tajikistan, where he met with President Emomali Rahmon and senior military officials. In the most important event …

The Syrian jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is boosting readiness in anticipation of new government offensive. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, held during the last week of May major combat military drills. The exercises were conducted in the various fighting fronts with the Bashar …

Joint operations between Iraqi Counterterrorism Services and their counterparts in some areas of the Kurdistan Region continue to target Islamic State cells, while other armed groups attack Erbil. As discord at other levels grows more acute between the central government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), coordination in …

Israel hopes that a solution can be found to the maritime border dispute with Lebanon so Energean can start drilling in the Karish field in the third quarter of 2022. After five weeks of traveling at sea, the natural gas platform Karish FPSO arrived June 5 at its designated location, …

Starting on May 31, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov embarked on a tour to Gulf Cooperation Council countries, where he visited Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, among others. Lavrov’s main objective of these visits is to strengthen ties between Russia and GCC nations amid a global race for geopolitical …

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is producing secondary crises. Some are well publicised, such as the threat to world food supplies because the war has prevented Ukraine exporting millions of tons of grain from its Black Sea ports. The exodus of Ukrainian refugees crammed onto trains as they sought refuge …

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought some clarity to regional realignments and strategic partnerships in the Middle East, with the changing relationship between the United States and the oil-producing members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in particular coming into sharp focus. War has a tendency to cause states to …

The U.S. hasn’t “quit” the Middle East, notwithstanding the frequent complaints of its regional partners. But Washington has clearly scaled back its engagement in the region, especially in military terms, from its peak during the first decade after 9/11. This shift in the U.S. role has generated rancorous debate. Washington’s …