Middle Orient

At Erbil conference, participants also urge rebuilding ties with the country’s dispossessed Jewish diaspora; normalization remains a crime under Iraqi law In an unprecedented plea for regional reconciliation, over 300 prominent Iraqis called for their country to normalize ties with Israel on Friday night. “We demand full diplomatic relations with …

‘The Palestinian people are in need of this money, especially our great people under siege in Gaza,’ top Abbas adviser says The Palestinian Authority has called on Sudan’s government to hand over assets that it seized from Hamas as part of a recent crackdown on the terror group. Hussein al-Sheikh, …

2 soldiers wounded during overnight clashes likely hit by friendly fire; IDF chief says raids prevented ‘significant terror attacks’ within Israel Members of a Hamas cell that was targeted in a series of raids on Sunday night and Monday morning are likely still on the loose, though the Israel Defense …

The Syrian city of Daraa is frequently dubbed “the cradle of the revolution” because it witnessed the first protests against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. After the unrest turned to armed revolt and the rebels were later defeated there in 2018, they struck a deal unlike any other in Syria: …

September 2021 marks the sixth anniversary of the Russian Federation’s intervention in the Syrian civil war. A patient, flexible strategy set against irresolute and muddled Western strategies allowed Moscow to achieve its initial aim of preventing the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime. The Kremlin also re-established itself as …

Turkey has deployed more troops to northwestern Syria as a deterrent against any major offensive by Russian-backed Syrian forces, ahead of a meeting between the Turkish and Russian leaders next week. Ankara is concerned that an escalation in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in northwest Syria, would push a new …

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi used the occasion of his first UN General Assembly speech to heavily criticize the United States. President Ebrahim Raisi has used the occasion of his first United Nations General Assembly speech to criticize US foreign policy and sanctions against Iran. Participating via video, Raisi said there …

The Islamic State is still active in Iraq, despite losing its territory in 2017. Iraq announced new airstrikes against “terrorists” near the disputed northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday. The Iraqi air force conducted “destructive strikes” targeting hideouts belonging to unspecified groups in Wadi Shay, southwest of Kirkuk. They used …

Iran’s demands for US forces to withdraw from a critical air base in Iraqi Kurdistan coupled with threats to expand operations against “American and Zionist mercenaries” are sending jitters across the Kurdish enclave, with many asking how far Tehran will go and what, if anything, the United States will do …

The Turkish judiciary’s weakness in dealing with Islamic State suspects comes under the spotlight after a bombshell report on how a Syrian man suspected of ordering the burning to death of two Turkish soldiers in 2016 walked free from court and lived as a shopkeeper in Turkey. The first time …