Middle Orient

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The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out raid and arrest campaigns in the eastern Aleppo countryside today, Wednesday, 24 December, amid accusations that Syrian government forces violated the truce around the al-Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in Aleppo city (northern Syria). Syrian state run al-Ikhbariya reported that the campaign targeted …

Recent developments in Iraq show that the country is on the cusp of a deep geopolitical and economic transformation, as the recent elections are a focal point for reshaping the balance of regional power. Iraq, with its oil and gas wealth and strategic location linking the Gulf to Turkey and …

Syria’s Interior Ministry carried out two separate security operations in Rural Damascus governorate (the countryside surrounding Damascus), arresting an Islamic State leader in Damascus and killing another in the town of al-Buwaydah (Rural Damascus), in cooperation with the General Intelligence Service and in coordination with the International Coalition. Brigadier General …

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Israel on Wednesday accused Hamas of breaching the US-backed ceasefire, after an explosive device blew up in southern Gaza, injuring an Israeli soldier. It was the latest incident to threaten the tenuous truce that has held since October 10, as each side accuses the other of breaches. The Israeli army …

Afghanistan’s opposition movements and political figures have condemned the killing of former police chief Gen. Ikramuddin Saree in Tehran, describing it as an act of terror and warning that it has heightened fears among former security officials living abroad. The National Resistance Front, the Freedom Front and the Jamiat-e Islami …

ToplinesIran is likely prioritizing ballistic missile production due to both organizational inertia within the Iranian defense apparatus and the need to restore deterrence in what it views as an ongoing war with Israel. The reconstitution appears to be an effort to restore deterrence against Israeli attack, though a reconstituted ballistic …

Six months after Operation Rising Lion, Iran’s ballistic missile threat to Israel is once again intensifying. While Israel, with decisive U.S. support, dealt a severe blow to Iran’s nuclear program in June, the campaign left Tehran’s conventional missile infrastructure badly damaged but not eliminated. Iran has retained a residual production …