Middle Orient

Escalating U.S.-Iran tensions mean Afghanistan, which shares a border with Iran, could be the next proxy battleground between Washington and Tehran, a clash that threatens to undermine the Trump administration’s pursuit of a peace deal with the Taliban and eventual drawdown of American troops.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Sunday that they killed a senior Iraqi Islamic State official in Deir al-Zor responsible for sleeper cell attacks against the SDF.

The first Singaporean to be charged with terrorism financing began his trial in a district court on Monday by admitting to giving S$450 (US$330) to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), but claimed trial for his actions because he did not recognise Singapore law.

An ex-member of al-Qaida affiliate Nusra Front has been sentenced to life in prison for involvement in a 2013 massacre of regime forces. Prosecutors have sought to jail war criminals who arrived in Germany as refugees.

ISIS is regrouping and is once more on the rise in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan has warned.

Lebanon’s “parliament, government, president, and all of the other state institutions are nothing more than a façade for players directed by [Hassan] Nasrallah.”

At least four security forces at a border checkpoint between Iraq and Syria were wounded in an alleged Islamic State attack, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.

As always, it’s the fear of sanctions that provides the leverage Trump seeks in this cat-and-mouse game with Iran. And this time, the leverage is over Iraq, which would like to see both American and Iranian forces out of the country, for obvious reasons.

The Lebanese Militant Group Could Star in Iran’s Response to the Soleimani Strike.

The Syrian army said on Tuesday Israeli jets attacked the main T4 air base in Homs province, saying its air defences downed several missiles in strikes that caused only material damage.