Middle Orient

Turkey’s Tightrope Between Russia and the United States

One question has been irking Turkish commentators since January: why won’t U.S. President Joe Biden speak to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan? All the key world leaders have had phone conversations with the new U.S. president—Russia’s Vladimir Putin included—but Turkey’s president has been given the cold shoulder. Erdoğan must …

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Kataib Hezbollah controls access points to key Iraqi border city

Iran-linked armed groups have over the past year tightened and consolidated their grip on a key border area between Iraq and Syria, preventing journalists from entering and local residents from farming their land. Roughly a dozen young men in black, olive green and camouflage mull around below the arches of …

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What Will Iraq’s Sadr Do To Get Washington’s Backing?- Analysis

Informed Iraqi sources said that the Sadrist movement has begun to prepare for the upcoming Iraqi elections and that it will present itself to the US as a “moderate” movement and the best option in the Iraqi Shia community. The sources told The Arab Weekly that the Shia political spectrum …

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IAEA confirms Iran has started 60-percent uranium enrichment

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified that Iran has started enriching uranium up to 60-percent purity level, a measure the Islamic Republic had promised to take following an Israeli act of nuclear terrorism against it. The United Nations nuclear watchdog verified the development on Saturday, and Director-General Rafael …

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Iran shows off dozens of drones in military parade

The Islamic Republic has improved the range and guidance on its drones. Iran on Sunday marked National Army Day with a military parade. The annual event was more limited than usual due to social distancing and the pandemic. Of interest was a parade of dozens of types of drones. Iran …

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Did Iran order a drone attack on the US in Iraq?

A day before the attack, a shadowy group told Sabereen news that it had targeted “Mossad” in northern Iraq. A drone attack last week on Erbil in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region has all the hallmarks of an Iranian-backed attack. Drones have been used by Iran’s proxies in Yemen, and …

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Did the Mossad ‘shoot’ and miss with Natanz sabotage? – analysis

After initial denials, Iran has admitted that it lost the use of thousands of centrifuges plus extensive aspects of its electricity from the April 11 incident. Did Israel’s mythic intelligence agency, the Mossad, take its best shot at slowing Iran’s nuclear program last week and miss? Although Israel’s supporters were …

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Iran Increases Uranium Enrichment to 60%, IAEA Says

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday confirmed that Iran had indeed upped its uranium enrichment to 60% purity, following through on its threat from late last week. The move, which is the most serious and substantial breach of the nuclear deal Tehran reached with world powers in 2015, was …

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