Middle Orient

Ankara’s 2017 decision to purchase $2.5 billion worth of S-400 air defence systems from Moscow caused serious complications in its relationship with its US allies, with Washington booting Turkey out of the F-35 programme and sanctioning a key defence sector agency.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that his country would abide by the 2015 nuclear deal if the United States and the five other signatories abided by their responsibilities in the accord as well.

Private security companies in Syria with ties to Russian and Iranian forces are busily recruiting young men with attractive salaries. Russia and Iran are taking every opportunity to increase their influence in Syria. They recently urged private security companies to open offices across Syria, offering young men large amounts of …

Ankara says it has captured a PKK militant responsible for “logistics,” while also launching a new operation against the group in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Turkey says it has netted a high-level Kurdish militant in a covert operation mounted by its national intelligence organization in Iraq’s Yazidi-dominated Sinjar region. …

Away from the Gulf, Morocco and Sudan have also normalized relations with Israel. Oman is satisfied with its current relationship with Israel, the foreign minister said on Thursday, even after two fellow Gulf Arab states normalized ties with Israel and raised US hopes others would follow suit.

The report noted that the assassination was carried out using a “one-ton remote-controlled gun” that was smuggled into the country in pieces. Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated with a “one-ton remote-controlled gun” that was smuggled into the country by the Mossad, The Jewish Chronicle reported on Wednesday.

Why did someone pitch the Jewish Chronicle now? Ever since Iran’s military nuclear program chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh met his end in a daring assassination and hail of bullets on November 27, the world has been wondering how, exactly, it happened.

Some see this move as a sign that the IDF wants an experienced, well-informed officer heading the Intelligence Directorate. In what might be a signal toward Iran, Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva was appointed on Thursday to be the next head of IDF Intelligence.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday arrested two suspected members of the so-called Islamic State who were allegedly planning an attack in the rural Deir al-Zor province.

A car bomb exploded leaving at least five people dead and more than 25 injured in Northern Aleppo, Syria’s al-Watan newspaper reported on Sunday.