Middle Orient

An Islamic State attack has triggered a crescendo of acts of violence against and displacement of Sunnis in Iraq’s Diyala province, which borders Iran and has long suffered the presence of cells operating in its dense orchards and parts of the Hamrin Mountains. An Islamic State (IS) attack against members …

Raisi, under personal US sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the “lifting of all US sanctions and neutralization of sanctions.” Iran will not back down “in any way” in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day …

Ex-Mossad official: Talks may be tactic for Tehran to buy time to advance its nuclear program. A new nuclear deal that may emerge between Iran and the world powers in the coming months “will likely be worse” than the 2015 deal, former IDF intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi Farkash told The …

“Iran poses a strategic threat to the world and an existential threat to Israel, and they ought not to be allowed to get away with it,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Israel will do what is necessary to protect itself against the Iranian existential threat, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said …

According to local reports, militants linked to the Islamic State terror group have stepped up their attacks in eastern and central Syria in recent days. The local North Press Agency reports that at least two Syrian government soldiers were killed Monday in an attack carried out by suspected IS fighters …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to three Gulf of Guinea countries last month brings attention to the importance not only of this body of water, but also the competition for influence there. The Gulf of Guinea is hotter than ever. Erdogan visited Angola, Togo and Nigeria on his latest …

Pakistan Violent clashes erupted between hardline Sunni group and law-enforcement agencies in Punjab; deadly militant attacks and military operations persisted. Calling for release of detained party chief and expulsion of French ambassador, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) 21 Oct vowed to march from Punjab’s Lahore city to capital Islamabad. In violent clashes, …

The Saudi Interior Ministry executed on Monday a detainee for his ties to a number of fugitives wanted on terrorism charges. Saudi national Makki bin Kazem Al Obeid was executed in al-Dammam city. He was an accomplice to one of the detainees held in the shooting of a security forces …

The Islamic State killed two Kurdistan Region soldiers and 12 civilians in recent attacks in northern Iraq. Iraqi security forces have captured several Islamic State fighters, a spokesperson announced today. The six alleged IS members were detained in Ramadi and Fallujah in Iraq’s western Anbar province. Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool …

Although many observers assumed that the recent uptick in tensions between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan (see EDM, October 6) would die down following the telephone calls between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov (Al Jazeera, October 13), subsequent public remarks by the …