Middle Orient

Turkish intelligence forces arrested 15 people working on behalf of Israel’s Mossad secret service agency, Turkey’s Sabah newspaper first reported on Thursday. The suspects, divided into five cells of three people each and all said to be Arabs, were arrested in four separate provinces in a covert operation on October …

Iran launched a countrywide air force drill on Thursday, involving bombers, fighter planes and surveillance drones, as well as weapons that use laser-guided missiles. A report on state television said that all of Iran’s military air bases – reported to be 12 – are participating in the exercise. The drill …

In a further thawing of relations between Syria’s Bashar Assad and Arab leaders in the region, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held a discussion by phone with the Syrian president in which they talked about “the relations between the two fraternal nations and prospects of advancing …

A firebrand Shiite cleric and America’s old foe, Muqtada al-Sadr, has emerged as the strongest political leader in Iraq after his bloc garnered the highest number of seats in the general elections last week. He backed the Sairoon list of candidates who scored a total of 75 seats—20 more than …

Turkish foreign policy in Syria can be summed up in a simple formula: Turkey, under its President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is pursuing its goals with persistence and patience within the framework of a longer-term strategy. To this end, it has developed “salami tactics,” using negotiating skills, seesaw politics, pressure, and …

Border Guard Commander in the Iranian Law Enforcement Force Brigadier-General Ahmed Ali Goudarzi confirmed that Israeli espionage in Azerbaijan is being “fully monitored”, Al Mayadeen reported on Friday. Goudarzi stressed that his country’s border, especially in the north and northwest: “Is safe, and there is nothing to worry about.” Speaking …

The distinctive symbol of the clenched fist has become synonymous with various revolutionary, social and political movements across the world. The imagery of a fist clutching an assault rifle is commonly associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and supported armed movements in other countries, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, …

Iran and Turkey are increasingly rivals in the Caucasus and in Iraq. The reported capture of Iranian spies in Turkey comes as the latest sign of the rivalry heating up between Ankara and Tehran, as bilateral tensions over Iraq and Syria have been steadily expanding to the Caucasus since last …

Opposition head Kemal Kilicdaroglu accuses Turkish government of “mafialike” activities. The leader of Turkey’s secular main opposition, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, delivered an Oct. 18 deadline over the weekend to members of Turkey’s sprawling bureaucracy. They needed to stop engaging in illegal, “mafialike” activities. If they ignored his calls, they would not …

Washington Shouldn’t Overhype the Threat From Moscow The Russian Ministry of Defense pulled out all the stops for its annual arms expo outside Moscow in late August. For three days, defense ministers and dignitaries from 41 countries, including from the Middle East, were treated to exhibits of cutting-edge technology, live-fire …