Middle Orient

Kurdish stamp commemorating pope’s visit to Erbil fans Turkish conspiracy fears

Ankara is furious over a commemorative stamp design featuring a map of Iraqi Kurdistan that includes chunks of Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast provinces. Turkey lashed out at Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Wednesday over its plans to print a commemorative stamp to mark Pope Francis’ March 7 visit to Erbil, the …

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Turkey, Russia, Qatar push for unlikely new Syria peace track

The trilateral meeting between the countries is meant to push for a political solution to Syria’s 10-year-long conflict. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Qatar gathered in Doha today, the first trilateral meeting of its kind in which the parties stressed the importance of preserving Syria’s territorial integrity. Their …

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Iran’s Khamenei: The Americans should leave Iraq and Syria

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday said that Iran’s presence in Syria and Iraq is only to provide advice.In a speech today, Khamenei said that Iran’s presence in Syria and Iraq is for advisory support and not military, adding that Iran is present in the region at the …

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Russian Air Force Attacks on Northwestern Syria, Opposition Bombs Government Position

The Russian Spring (RusVesna.SU) YouTube channel has released new video footage of the Russian Aerospace Forces targeting a jihadist base in the Idleb countryside. “The Russian army continues to destroy military facilities of radical Islamists in Syria. At the disposal of Russian Spring were new exclusive footage of the airstrike …

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Intel: US hinders Syria’s return ‘to normal,’ UAE foreign minister says

Flanked by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Abu Dhabi’s top diplomat criticized the US-led campaign to economically isolate Syria under President Bashar al-Assad. The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister called for international cooperation with the government of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad after years of isolation imposed as a result of …

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Syrian refugees are no longer guests in Sudan

Sudan is changing its rules for Syrians wishing to reside in the country after years of being able to travel to Sudan without a visa, and the right to work, education and medical care. Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria a decade ago, over 11 million Syrians …

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Is Iran Losing Its Grip on Its Proxy Militias in Iraq?

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 …

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Iran Is Already Raising the Stakes for Biden in the Middle East

Just days into the new year, Iran announced that “a couple of hours ago,” it had started enriching uranium to 20 percent—a level that experts say would put it within a six-month sprint of converting its entire nuclear stockpile to bomb-grade material. Tehran’s move Monday raises the pressure on President-elect …

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The Nuclear Deal’s Fate Lies in Politics—in the U.S. and Iran

In the four decades since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, relations between Tehran and Washington have seen deep enmity offset by brief periods of rapprochement and tactical cooperation. As a new U.S. administration settles into office and asserts its intent to, in President Joe Biden’s words, “offer Tehran a credible path back …

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Casualties among Erdogan’s mercenaries in explosion south of al-Bab City, Aleppo countryside

Casualties were reported among the Turkish occupation-backed “al-Hamzat Division” terrorists in an explosion which took place at the fence of one of the training camps affiliated to them, south of al-Bab City in Aleppo northeastern countryside. “A strong explosion hit the fence of the Cement Institution which has been seized …

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