Middle Orient

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) de facto ruler Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayhan have spoken on the …

Iran’s Army tested an upgraded version of the Mersad missile defense system in the country’s central desert. The Mersad-16 homegrown missile defense system fired missiles to shoot down the intended targets. Mersad is a medium-altitude surface-to-air missile system with electronic warfare capabilities. According to General Khoshqalb, the Air Defense Force’s …

The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen were accused of war crimes on Tuesday after they launched two armed drones targeting Abha airport and a ballistic missile aimed at Najran in the south of the Kingdom. Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones and the missile. Eight people were injured …

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) de facto ruler Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nayhan have spoken on the …

The second attack on the Abha airport in 24 hours injured several people, state-run media outlets reported. Eight people were injured in the latest drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport, the country’s state-run news media reported Tuesday. The drone was intercepted and shrapnel struck the runway, the Saudi-led coalition …

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has encouraged Sunni extremist armed groups in Syria and pro-Iran Shiite militias in Iraq. As the world focuses on the end of the US military presence in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s rapid takeover of most of the country, culminating with the handover of Kabul on …

Syria’s military bombarded the last rebel enclave in the southern city of Deraa on Sunday, killing at least six people in one of the deadliest attacks in its siege of the birthplace of the country’s uprising, residents said. The army declined to comment on the reports but said in a …

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan discussed the situation in Afghanistan during a phone call and agreed to strengthen bilateral coordination on Afghan issues, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday. The presidents emphasised the priorities were counter-terrorism and tackling drug trafficking, the Kremlin said. Taliban militants …

Introduction At the dawn of the Biden era of American foreign policy, a more mature, realistic Saudi foreign policy is emerging to match the shifting signals from Washington. In some measure, the Saudis are readopting elements that traditionally characterized their policy preferences before the meteoric rise of Crown Prince Mohammed …

Some jihadist groups facing pressure from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria are eying Afghanistan as a new haven after the Taliban took control. Jihadi factions in Syria are hailing the Taliban’s takeover of most of Afghanistan. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, congratulated the Taliban …