Middle Orient

Human rights activists have called for the arrest of Bassam Haji Mustafa, a militia leader who now lives in Paris and has styled himself as a political activist reports Etihad Press.

Northern Raqqa has experience a surge in violence, with the Syrian Democratic Forces targeting Turkish-backed groups and regime forces being hit by Turkish drone fire reports The Levant News.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, said no meeting between Saudi Arabia and Israeli officials took place. Saudi Arabia is denying reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Gulf kingdom on Sunday.

In their briefly secret meeting in Neom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed on the common threat from Iran, but did not make progress toward normalization.

Major foreign companies left Iran after US President Donald Trump two years ago abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and restored economic sanctions. Iran expects foreign companies to return to the country if US sanctions are lifted under President-elect Joe Biden and some firms have made initial contacts …

President-elect Joe Biden’s victory has raised the possibility that the United States could rejoin a deal Iran reached with world powers in 2015. Iran’s supreme leader dismissed the prospect of new negotiations with the West on Tuesday, even as the Tehran government spoke optimistically about the return of foreign companies …

The State Department has confirmed that it will continue to work with Israel to face Iranian threats emanating from Syria’s southern border reports Asharq Al-Awsat.

Senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, a high-profile figure in the country’s nuclear energy program, has been assassinated in Damavand, east of Tehran. According to several media reports, the scientist was killed on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in the Absard region of Davamand.

Israel is trying to make sure that Iran never gains a strong and permanent formal foothold in Syria. Israel just sent a message to Iran that its entrenchment is unacceptable in Syria. Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force members in Syria. The strikes came …

Iraqi army launched a large-scale military operation against ISIL terrorist elements in Al Anbar province. Security sources announced that the Iraqi army launched a large-scale military operation against ISIL terrorist elements in the western desert of Al-Rutba in Al Anbar province on Monday, Alahed News reported.