Middle Orient

The defeat-IS coalition will continue its advisory mission into next year, despite a declared end to a combat role. Iraq’s national security adviser said today that the US-led military coalition had completed its combat mission in Iraq, but American troops aren’t leaving the country just yet. Qasim al-Araji announced the …

The US seized two large caches of Iranian arms, including 171 surface-to-air missiles and eight anti-tank missiles, intended for the Houthi militia in Yemen. The US justice department on Tuesday said navy troops seized the weapons from two vessels in the Arabian Sea while conducting routine maritime security operations. “Iran’s …

In cutting interest rates amid spiralling inflation, the Turkish government under President Erdogan has thrown economic orthodoxy out the window. The poor face getting poorer. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to turn around the Turkish economy has a new victim in Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan, who resigned on December 2. But …

Iran has been insisting on its conditions and demands, including that Washington and the Western powers release frozen Iranian funds before reaching an agreement, according to Tariq Alhomayed, a Saudi journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. He added that Iran was refusing to discuss ballistic missiles, …

Syrian Democratic Forces said the armed rebels were handed over to Iraq intelligence authorities for questioning. Iraqi authorities have repatriated 100 Iraqi fighters from the ISIL (ISIS) group who were being held in northeast Syria by Kurdish forces. “This morning we collected 100 terrorists” held by the Syrian Democratic Forces …

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met on Thursday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss the nuclear threat from Iran and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Lapid, who presented the Egyptian president – whose country is serving as the mediator between Israel and Hamas in Gaza …

Iraq’s national security adviser announced on Thursday that the United States military forces and allied forces have ended their combat mission in Iraq and moved to a training and advisory role. Qasim al-Aaraji made the announcement in a tweet. The US has not confirmed this announcement, however. The troops are …

Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, said that his group’s dissatisfaction with Egypt was in the context of differences between “brothers.” Despite tensions between Hamas and Egypt, Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip are willing to give the Egyptians and other mediators another chance to prevent a military confrontation …

The UAE and Saudi Arabia warned against the “terrorist Hezbollah” in a joint statement on Tuesday. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia stressed the need to ensure that Lebanon “will not be a starting point for any terrorist acts,” pointing specifically to Hezbollah, and expressed support for a Palestinian …

Airwars finds less than 50 civilians killed compared to the over 200 civilians killed in Gaza during Operation Guardian of the Walls. Less than 50 civilians have been killed in Syria during Israel’s eight-year-long war-between-wars campaign targeting Iranian military infrastructure, making it one of the most surgical offensives ever, Airwars.org …