Middle Orient

KMW commissioned the TROPHY protection system for the German LEOPARD 2

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) will equip the Israeli TROPHY protection system in German LEOPARD 2 battle tanks. The contract for this was signed with the German Equipment Office (BAAINBw) and the State of Israel on February 22nd, 2021. The system is able to destroy incoming projectiles before they hit a tank. …

Read More »

Reimagined US-Middle East Strategy Would Lean Less On Arms Sales

U.S. policies in the Middle East are built on outdated “legacy” aid packages, massive arms sales and a disproportionate focus on the Iranian threat that fail to advance American interests – or help the region’s people – and need to be rethought, according to a new RAND Corporation report. The …

Read More »

Imagining Palestine: On Barghouti, Darwish, Kanafani and the Language of Exile

For Palestinians, exile is not simply the physical act of being removed from their homes and their inability to return. It is not a casual topic pertaining to politics and international law, either. Nor is it an ethereal notion, a sentiment, a poetic verse. It is all of this, combined. …

Read More »

Iran Says It’s Developed New Long-Range Combat Drone

Iran says it has developed a new long-range wide-body combat drone that has a range of 3,000 kilometers, reports local media. The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency, cited Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh as saying the Kaman-22 (Bow-22) is the first wide-body combat drone manufactured by local experts.

Read More »

How Islamic State returned to haunt civilians in northeast Syria

Remnants and cells of the Islamic State have recently increased their attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces and civilians in the areas under the SDF control in northeast Syria. The provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah and Raqqa, and the Manbij area in the countryside of Aleppo, which are under the …

Read More »

Iran begins restricting short-notice nuclear inspections

Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif tweeted that Iran has halted its implementation of the Additional Protocol. Iran has begun restricting inspections of its nuclear facilities by the global atomic watchdog, the Iranian foreign minister said Tuesday. A law passed by Iran’s hard-liner-dominated parliament in December called for stopping the country’s …

Read More »

In Syria’s Deir ez-Zor, SDF conscription ‘severs livelihoods’

The Syrian Democratic Forces’ recent campaign to conscript youth for military service is compounding economic hardship in Deir ez-Zor province, one of the poorest areas of Syria. In villages where the campaign is most active, young men are staying home for fear of arrest, forgoing daily wages and delaying grocery …

Read More »

Ex-IDF generals, top Mossad officials urge Biden’s return to Iran deal

Former senior defense officials express support for Biden’s position not to lift Iran sanctions unless it returns to 2015 deal A group of former top officials from Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, the IDF and the Mossad sent a letter on Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing support for a …

Read More »

Russia Returns To Ayn Issa Only Hours After Withdrawing

Russia has made territorial gains against the SDF, recapturing areas near Ayn Issa in northeastern Syria, writes Asharq Al-Awsat. On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that it documented the killing of three members of the Suleiman Shah faction, loyal to Turkey, in addition to the wounding of …

Read More »