Middle Orient

The Biden administration’s goals in climate policy, renewable energy infrastructure investment both domestically and globally (the Build Back Better World, or B3W, initiative), and its Middle East policy may be on the verge of a collision. While the administration would like to dial back its engagement in the Middle East …

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal al-Mekdad on Thursday received an Iranian Foreign Ministry delegation led by Assistant Foreign Minister Reza Najafi. The two sides discussed laying the foundations for cooperation in different domains, particularly fighting terrorism targeting them, with emphasis on its economic form represented by unilateral coercive …

Attacks by Iran’s militias on U.S. bases around Syria are a way for Tehran to put pressure on the U.S., as part of the Nuclear Deal negotiations, according to Baladi News. Attacks against U.S. forces, leading the international coalition against ISIS, have become more and more frequent. Most recently, a …

Remarks by Russian officials following the Astana-16 meeting revealed that Russia continues to insist that Bashar al-Assad remains in power and that political settlement should be a topic separate from the reconstruction. In fact, while the West maintains its position of refusing to finance reconstruction before a UN-sponsored political settlement, …

411th Battalion Commander Lt.-Col. Raz Haimlich said that it “can go either way.” With the Lebanese economy in a free fall, the IDF is concerned there may be an increase of drug smuggling and infiltrations of migrant workers or refugees along the northern border. “The Lebanese economy is not good, …

Israel considers Iran’s nuclear program as the number one concern. It would take one year to make a nuclear bomb – intel reports. The Israeli military has reportedly asked for a major budget increase so that it can strengthen its attack capabilities should it need to attack Iran’s nuclear program. …

Iranian expats support Israelis in light of the latest attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which are sponsored by Iran. A delegation of Iranian dissidents and expatriates plans to pay a solidarity visit to Israel next week with officials from the Trump administration. The mission is being organized by …

Army says roughly 30 detained outside Turmus Aya are members of Hamas student faction at Birzeit University and include individuals directly involved in terrorist activity The IDF said it arrested dozens of Hamas activists Wednesday after they paid a solidarity visit to the West Bank village of a Palestinian man …

Muqtada al-Sadr also said he would withdraw his support for the current government and its replacement. Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says he will boycott Iraq’s upcoming general election, announcing that he is withdrawing support from the current and future governments. “In order to preserve what is left of the …

After Hayat Tahrir al-Sham told the Chechen jihadi group Jund al-Sham it could either join its ranks or leave Idlib, the group’s members evacuated their military positions in the countryside of Latakia. Well-informed sources among jihadi groups told Al-Monitor that the Chechen Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of the Levant) group has …