Middle Orient

Hamas held its internal leadership elections ahead of the Palestinian general elections to bring new blood into its organization. Hamas held its internal elections Feb. 19, during which tens of thousands of Hamas voters elected the administrative bodies for sub-regions, the General Shura Council, and the head and members of …

Russia is trying to extort the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria by threatening to retreat from its locations and leave the SDF at the mercy of the threats of the Turkish army and its allies, if the SDF does not respond to Russia’s demands and interests. The Turkish army …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham presses on with its campaign to weaken Hurras al-Din. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, this month launched a campaign of wide-scale arrests against prominent leaders and members of Hurras al-Din (Guardians of Religion Organization), which is affiliated with al-Qaeda. It appears that …

Saudi Arabia has stated its step into the deadlock between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s controversial dam on the Nile River, but just what Riyadh has new to offer is unclear. Saudi Arabia has announced its intention to mediate in the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam …

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is clear that Iran is behind the explosion that hit an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames Iran for the blast that hit an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman last week. …

The Trump administration’s strategy of applying “maximum pressure” on Iran has succeeded in inflicting unprecedented economic pain on the country, particularly since the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and subsequently reimposed punishing sanctions. Yet, despite the resulting political pressures that have mounted in Iran, the …

At midnight on Nov. 15, Iran’s government announced a precipitous 300 percent hike in fuel prices. Immediate public outcries quickly escalated into nationwide protests that spread to more than 100 cities and gripped the country for 6 straight days, before the authorities effectively crushed them. Since President Donald Trump withdrew …

Earlier this month, a prominent researcher and security expert in Iraq, who was close to the new prime minister and to Western governments, was gunned down outside his home in Baghdad. While the identify of his assailants remains unknown, Hisham al-Hashimi had many enemies, given his history of speaking out …

If Iran is in fact responsible for the recent attack on Saudi oil facilities, whether directly or through its proxies in Yemen, it suggests that Iranian cruise missiles and drones are getting more sophisticated. Unlike its ballistic missile program, which receives considerable international attention, Iran’s cruise missile capabilities have long …

In late August, an Israeli airstrike on a compound south of Damascus killed two Hezbollah fighters, who had reportedly been working alongside members of the Quds Force, the elite branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to launch drone attacks on Israeli territory. According to the Israeli army, the airstrike …