Middle Orient

Elections aren’t until Oct. 20, but disinformation campaigns are in full swing. Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region will hold elections on Oct. 20. Although the formal campaign has not yet begun, the so-called “shadow media” is already in full swing spreading disinformation, promoting political spin, and attacking rivals. One post claims …

Ankara signed a long-term LNG deal with ExxonMobil in May, as it looks to buy alternative gas supplies to Russia amid rising domestic demand. State-owned Turkish energy company the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) and Shell signed a 10-year supply agreement for 4 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas …

It Is Time for Netanyahu to Take Yes for an Answer As U.S. negotiators press for an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would exchange hostages for a cease-fire before events ignite a wider war, will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept what could be a historic strategic victory for …

The Masoud Pezeshkian administration is continuing to signal its willingness to pursue nuclear negotiations with the West. Iranian media reported on September 2 that Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi appointed Majid Takht Ravanchi as deputy foreign affairs minister for political affairs.[1] Araghchi has not officially announced Ravanchi’s appointment at the …

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Assad regime has seen measured advances in its situation that fall well short of real success. The war in Gaza has had a paradoxical effect on Syria and the Assad regime in Damascus. Escalating tensions between Iran and Israel in the shadow …

For many years now, Hezbollah has served as a major instrument of Iran to take over Lebanon, not only as a territory but as a sovereign state. Many Western countries would like to avoid that and invest in the former “Pearl of the Middle East”, led by France. These efforts …

Three decades have passed since Hassan Nasrallah came into power as the general secretary of Hezbollah, shortly after the elimination of Abbas al-Musawi. Over the years there have been several attempts to outline his personality, all of which clearly missed the true story behind this infamous terrorist, and in some …

Nearly two months ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about the “possibility of developing relations” with “Mr. Assad”, marking a new phase that carried many official statements, political analyses, and “media speculations” about the place and time of a possible meeting between Erdoğan and the Syrian regime’s president, Bashar …

The Israeli political and security objectives of the military operation in the northern West Bank and the Jordan Valley are numerous and complex and are linked in their timing to the course of confrontation on other fronts, especially the fronts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and the seriousness of …

The US has failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and abuse two decades after evidence emerged of American forces mistreating detainees at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said earlier this week. “Twenty years on, Iraqis who were …