Middle Orient

The State Department announced, on Jan. 19, that Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen, is departing for a round of consultations in the Gulf and London. He’ll be joining U.N. Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, who has already arrived in the region. According to the announcement, Lenderking is being …

Russia is trying to decrease the influence of the eighth brigade in south Syria, in order to bolster the government’s presence there, according to North Press. Russia is trying its best to strengthen the Syrian government to reassert its control over south Syria, most notably the Daraa governorate, the birthplace …

A Russian-backed campaign by the regime is targeting ISIS in the Syrian Badia, where sleeper cells are conducting deadly attacks, according to Zaman al-Wasl. The Russian-backed Syrian regime forces launched a military campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the Badia desert amid an intensification of attacks on the …

Syria and Iran are deepening economic cooperation, as Iran is about to launch a Syrian-Iranian joint bank, according to Asharq al-Awsat. Syria and Iran reached an agreement to launch a joint free trade zone and bank, the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi announced this weekend, in …

Describing his visit to Russia as a milestone in the promotion of ties between Tehran and Moscow, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said cooperation and dialogue between the two states would contribute to regional security. Speaking to reporters before leaving Tehran for Moscow on Wednesday morning, Raisi said he would make …

Judges in Frankfurt, Germany will begin hearing evidence on January 19, 2022 in a trial involving allegations of torture and murder by state agents during Syria’s decade-long brutal armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said. The start of the second trial in Germany for crimes against humanity committed in Syria, shows …

Vladimir V. Putin met at the Kremlin with Iran’s new leader, Ebrahim Raisi, at a time when both their countries, despite their differences, are at odds with Washington. Sitting across a long table from President Vladimir V. Putin at a Covid-conscious distance, President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran reminded his Russian …

President Putin has been making some astonishing demands, including: NATO mustn’t admit additional countries near Russia, such as Ukraine and Georgia. NATO must cease military activity in non-NATO territories: Georgia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and parts of eastern Europe. Yet, incredibly, Putin has himself been enabling a NATO member’s …

A series of deadly explosions in Abu Dhabi, the normally placid capital of the United Arab Emirates, has created a strategic quandary for the UAE government. Its leaders are in the midst of a major diplomatic reinvention, seeking to develop good relations with all of their regional neighbors, including, notably, …

Recent airstrikes on areas close to the Iraqi capital as well as the killing of Islamic State fighters there have received scant attention as Iran-linked groups continue to carry out persistent attacks. Tarmiya, roughly 50 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital, has in recent weeks been the scene of suicide …