Middle Orient

Russia and Turkey are backing opposing warring parties in three active conflicts. How­ever, this adversarial positioning has not hindered cooperation between Moscow and Ankara. They reign in opposing sides and, in effect, stage-manage their respective theatres of wars. Through multilateral arrangements, Europe is an enabler of Tur­key’s position and could …

Beijing has pledged to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in a deal that could see China’s economic, political, and military influence there and across the Middle East expand. China and Iran signed the expansive deal during a ceremony in Tehran on March 27 between their respective foreign …

Now is not the moment to reduce humanitarian aid to Syria, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Monday, stressing that after 10 years of conflict, more support was needed to avoid further “dramatic and widespread” deterioration. Mark Lowcock, who’s also the Humanitarian Affairs chief, said that …

The behind-the-scenes scrap between Russia and Iran over oil wealth in northeastern Syrian regions, which are not held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has intensified. As Syria is in the grips of a stifling economic crisis and Western sanctions, Russia and Iran’s attention has shifted towards investing in …

On Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to Ankara in light of the recent Russian bombing of Idleb. A source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Alexei Yerkhov, had been summoned to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to the …

In an unusual precedent in the history of Russian-American relations, US President Joe Biden, in a television interview, described his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as a “murderer.” This escalation against Putin has left many comfortable, especially since President Biden did say the truth, for Putin is a murderer indeed. Biden’s …

French newspaper Le Monde wrote about Iran falling short in Syria, in two ways: one is economic, centered around it making up for the billions of dollars it spent in Syria over a decade for the benefit of the Syrian regime; and the other is related to its failure to …

Russia has submitted a proposal to Turkey, which includes opening three crossings in Idleb and Aleppo between regime-controlled and opposition-held areas, according to what was announced by the Deputy Director of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Hmeimim, affiliated with the Russian Defense Ministry, Alexander Karpov. According to a statement issued …

To this day, ISIS controls five isolated pockets in Syria, the largest of which is located near the Ithria village in Hama province. The other four enclaves are situated south of Raqqa province, in Palmyra’s countryside, near borders with Iraq and south of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. Since …

Syrian Oil Minister Bassam Toma’a has revealed that around 90 per cent of Syrian oil is under the control of US forces, Aram News Network reported on Friday. “The Americans and their followers are acting like pirates as they are targeting the Syrian oil wealth and oil supplies,” the Syrian …