Middle Orient

Mikdad in Moscow after Tehran

Faisal Mikdad has held a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the situation in Syria and future relations writes SANA. Foreign and Expatriates Minister Faisal Mikdad confirmed that Syrian-Russian relations advanced in recent years, especially in the domain of combating terrorism and deepening the strategic relations, clarifying …

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Iran's Plan to Topple Arab Leaders

Hamas’s call on Moroccans to revolt against their leaders contradicts its own declared policy that it does not intervene in the internal affairs of the Arab countries. “Hamas does not meddle in the internal affairs of Arab and Muslim countries,” said senior Hamas official Salah Bardaweel. If true, why is …

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Is America on the Verge of Winning in Syria?

As the Biden team begins its work next month, it needs to reassess American policy in Syria, Robert Ford, former U.S. Ambassador to Damascus writes Last week a senior official from the US Department of State told a congressional committee that the enduring defeat of ISIS (or Da’esh) in Syria, …

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Israel-Hamas contacts advance on prisoner exchange

Contradicting reports have emerged about talks for an Israel-Hamas prisoner-exchange deal after an Egyptian delegation visited Gaza last week. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported this morning that Israel proposed a deal in which Israel would release hundreds of security prisoners in exchange for returning of bodies of two IDF soldiers …

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Netanyahu taps Mossad's deputy chief as intelligence agency's next head

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced on Tuesday he has decided to appoint Mossad’s Deputy Director D. as the next chief of the clandestine intelligence agency. D. is considered a protégé of current Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and has spent his entire military career in the intelligence agency as part …

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Israel-Tunisia normalization ‘not on the agenda,’ Tunisian PM says

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said that he respects Morocco’s choice to recognize the Jewish state but that Tunisia is not considering doing the same. Tunisia has no plans to follow Morocco’s lead and normalize relations with Israel, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said Monday.

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Islamic State continues to pose threat in Syrian desert

The Islamic State continues to haunt and drain out the Syrian regime forces even after it lost its last stronghold in Syria more than a year ago. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a Dec. 4 report, “Military operations are ongoing in separate axes in the Syrian …

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