Middle Orient

The new Eastern Mediterranean crisis

Earlier this month, six boats carrying Syrian and Lebanese migrants set sail from northern Lebanon and attempted to dock in Cyprus. That might not sound like much, yet it is six times more than the total number of migrant vessels that have embarked for Cyprus from Lebanon over the last …

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Evacuating Incirlik airbase could mark end to US-Turkey alliance

While Turkish-Western relations have been overshadowed by clouds of differences over the past few years, Greek media recently reported that the US eyes relocating its forces from Turkey’s Incirlik airbase to another base in one of the Greek islands. Washington Examiner news website, quoting Senator of Wisconsin who chairs Senate …

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Military build-up | Turkish forces withdraw their heavy weapons from frontlines to Tal Abyad, as regime reinforcement arrive in northern Raqqa

Reliable sources have informed SOHR that Turkish forces and their proxy factions withdrew part of their heavy weapons from the frontlines with SDF in rural Tel Abyad and Ain Issa, north of Raqqa.

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Assessing China and Russia’s Moves in the Middle East

Recent news that China and Iran are close to finalizing an economic and security partnership, initially proposed by Beijing in January 2016, has renewed anxieties among some U.S. observers that Washington is gradually ceding the Middle East to its principal strategic competitor. Commenters raised similar concerns after the January 2020 …

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Iran's Missile Violations: Where is the International Community?

“The important point about these missiles is that they are fully equipped with homing. It means they are of the fire-and-forget type. We fire the missile and the data is on the missile itself, it has various navigation systems built in.” — Iran’s Navy chief, Adm. Hossein Khanzadi, Associated Press, …

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US sanctions Iranian intelligence officials, Hizbollah companies, as it moves to counter Iran’s role in the Middle East

The US has announced sanctions on a large number of Iranians who have been involved in cyber attacks, carried out by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS.) It also sanctioned two Lebanese companies and a Lebanese businessman linked to Hizbollah.

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IRGC Commander: Iran to Target Anyone Directly, Indirectly Involved in Assassination of Gen. Soleimani

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami warned that Iran is resolved to retaliate for the US assassination of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and said that all collaborators in the terrorist act are potential targets.

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UAE-Israel normalization gives rise to new risks for Yemen and the region

The U.S.-brokered normalization of ties between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel marks a shift in Abu Dhabi’s strategic thinking that should not be underestimated. To be more precise, it reflects how the UAE perceives threats and opportunities in a volatile regional landscape that has buoyed its ascent in …

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