Middle Orient

The U.S. administration seems intent on resuming implementation of the 2015 JCPOA to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. President Biden’s team will be buffeted by tensions between those advocating engagement and those advocating confrontation with Tehran.

A remarkable meeting occurred in January between Syrian and Israeli officials at the Russian base near Latakia in western Syria. It appears to have been precipitated by Israeli concerns about the increasing sophistication of high-precision Iranian missiles and drones in Tehran’s satellite states. Israel wanted to convey the message to …

A nationalist Turkish television station with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug up a 12-year-old map that projects Turkey’s sphere of influence in 2050 as stretching from South-eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Mediterranean and Libya on its southern shore across North Africa, the Gulf …

Russia has been developing the Hmeimim Air Base in Latakia in western Syria in preparation for it to receive strategic nuclear bombers as part of plans to strengthen the Russian presence in the country, Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported. The paper said Russia is modernising the Hmeimim Air Base by rebuilding …

A number of Israeli tanks today carried out incursion in the east of the city of Jabalya in the north of the Gaza Strip and opened fire at Palestinian farmers, Palestinian security sources said.

Iraq’s diverse groups have long been pitted against each other. A USIP partner is looking to change that through curriculum reform. Vida Hanna, a director for public relations at Catholic University in Erbil, recalled the first week of her first-grade year when a classmate called her a kafir, or an …

Lacking better options, Russia appears to be pursuing a ‘spheres of influence’ model. Five years into Russia’s military intervention in Syria, understanding Moscow’s endgame could provide critical insights into the decade-long conflict’s trajectory, as well as Russia’s posture in the Middle East and beyond. Although still evolving and subject to …

There were far more deaths than usual in the camp for Islamic State families in January amid calls from the United Nations and Kurdish forces for countries to take back their citizens. There was a deadly uptick in violence in the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria last month. A …

Images from The Associated Press show vehicles and structures being removed from the Emirates’ military base. The United Arab Emirates is dismantling its military base on the Horn of Africa. The move follows the UAE’s lessening involvement in the Yemeni civil war. Satellite images obtained by The Associated Press show …

The Pentagon welcomed NATO’s increased contribution to training Iraq’s security forces. NATO has agreed to significantly broaden its military advising and stabilization mission in Iraq to roughly 4,000 troops, the alliance announced Thursday. “Today we decided to expand NATO’s training mission in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces as they …