Middle Orient

Moscow is intensifying its airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the Syrian desert. ALEPPO — Islamic State attacks in the Syrian desert have escalated over the past two weeks, causing heavy losses among the Syrian government forces and their allied militias. Russia has intensified airstrikes on IS positions in support …

Arab-Israelis are divided over the government’s decision to bring in the IDF and the Shin Bet to help police control rising crime and violence in Arab towns. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened the first meeting of the ministerial team for combating crime in Arab society on Oct. 3. This team, …

Iraqi national security forces working closely with local tribal fighters say they have managed to kill two key Islamic State figures involved in planning suicide attacks. A man driving a car loaded with explosives who was thought to have been about to attack a police station detonated himself in the …

Iran wants Russia to know that it is concerned by both the presence of Israel-Azerbaijan relations as well as Turkey’s moves to open up a land corridor. Iran is worried. It sees an emerging alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as between Azerbaijan and Israel as potentially cutting it …

“They said they are going to stay in Syria and will not withdraw – they will keep fighting Islamic State,” Ahmed said. “Before they were unclear under Trump and during the Afghan withdrawal.” A leading Syrian Kurdish politician said on Thursday the United States will stay on in Syria to …

Three rounds of Saudi-Iranian talks were held in Iraq in the months before Iran’s new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, took office in August. Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia have gone a “good distance,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told a news conference in Beirut on Thursday, referring to efforts …

Iran’s drone program, unlike its nuclear weapons program, is not secretive. The Islamic Republic openly brags about its drone capabilities. Iranian drones are an emerging threat to the Middle East. In 2019, Iran used a combination of drones and cruise missiles to attack the giant Abqaiq oil-processing facility in Saudi …

Iraq will head to the polls on Sunday for early legislative elections, the fifth in the past 20 years. The poll comes two years after mass protests brought down the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi, but not before security forces and paramilitary groups killed more than 600 protesters. Angry Iraqis …

Iran’s chief diplomat, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said his country will “not tolerate geopolitical change” in the region. Iran’s new foreign minister said Wednesday that Tehran has “serious concerns” about Israel’s actions in the Caucasus region. Iran’s chief diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments while in Moscow for talks with his Russian …

Iran’s posturing could further cement Baku’s defense ties with Israel. Azerbaijan is considering buying Israel’s Arrow-3 missile defense system amid tensions with Iran, according to Israel Hayom newspaper. The move would be a major step in typically quiet Israel-Azerbaijan defense ties. Tensions between the neighbors have flared in recent days …