The global chemical-weapons watchdog has for the first time directly blamed the Syrian government for three chlorine and sarin nerve-gas bomb attacks in late March 2017 on the central town of Lataminah.
Read More »Iraq's Saleh tasks PM-designate Kadhimi with forming new government
Iraqi President Barham Saleh has officially tasked prime minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi with forming a government after the intelligence chief received the endorsement of the majority of the country’s top political figures.
Read More »UN report says Syria or allies likely to blame for attacks
A U.N. investigation says it is “highly probable” that the Syrian government or its allies were responsible for attacks on five facilities in the last opposition stronghold in the northwest in 2019.
Read More »Exclusive: sanctioned Hezbollah agent has close ties to Iran’s money laundering network in Iraq
A shadowy Hezbollah intelligence operative in Iraq has close ties to what the US refers to as a key money-laundering network by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, an investigation by The National has found.
Read More »Iran Continuing Overt and Covert Activities in Iraq
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has consumed the attention of both Iran and the United States, as well as that of Iraq, Iran has continued to try to ensure that it maintains preponderant influence in Iraq. Iran views U.S. forces in Iraq as the spearhead of U.S. influence there, as …
Read More »IntelBrief: The Humanitarian Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Bottom Line Up Front While news headlines on COVID-19 are focused largely on its spread in the developed world, the virus has reached many countries ravaged by conflict with large populations in need of humanitarian aid. The lack of clean water, sanitary facilities, and space in many locations hosting displaced …
Read More »League of the Revolutionaries threatens U.S. Embassy in Iraq
A new video released by the League of the Revolutionaries (LoR), a likely Iranian-backed front group, warned of a future attack against the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Read More »Palestinian militants praise Houthi’s offer for a prisoner exchange with Saudi Arabia
Palestinian militant groups the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) recently praised the Iranian-backed Houthis for their offer to exchange prisoners with Saudi Arabia.
Read More »Kurdish Officials, Rights Groups Concerned Coronavirus Will Spread Among IS Prisoners in Syria
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world, Kurdish officials and rights groups are warning of a catastrophe if thousands of Islamic State (IS) militants held in northeast Syria become infected with the deadly virus.
Read More »Attack on Turkish soldiers spotlights Ankara’s Idlib conundrum
On March 19, Turkey’s defense ministry announced the death of two Turkish soldiers at the hands of “radical elements” in northwest Syria’s Idlib. The men were killed in a de-escalation zone that Turkey and Russia first delineated in 2018 and reaffirmed with a ceasefire deal on March 5. Hurras al-Din, …
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