Middle Orient

The intelligence that caused the White House to escalate its warnings about a threat from Iran came from photographs of missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf that were put on board by Iranian paramilitary forces, three American officials said.

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces said on Wednesday they had begun a campaign against “terrorists” linked to Islamic State in a strategic town in the oil rich eastern province of Deir al Zor that residents and witnesses say has been at the center of protests opposing the rule of U.S.-supported militia.

An Israeli cabinet minister warned on Sunday of possible direct or proxy Iranian attacks on Israel should the stand-off between Tehran and Washington escalate.

Turkey killed 28 Kurdish militants on Saturday in retaliation to an attack which left three Turkish soldiers dead, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The escalation has raised fears that a truce that lasted almost eight months in Idlib will be declared over. Syrian government forces and their Russian allies have intensified their air offensive on the country’s rebel-held northwest for a fifth consecutive day in a widening campaign, killing and wounding dozens and …

Syrian rebels backed by Turkey said on Monday that Moscow and its Syrian government ally were trying to wrest control of two major highways in their last enclave in the northwest of the country in a bid to shore up Syria’s sanction-hit economy.

Bahrain’s highest court slapped 19 people with jail terms after they were convicted of maintaining links with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, as reported on Anadolu Agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made an unscheduled visit to Iraq, amid growing tensions with Iran after intelligence reports indicated that Iran moved short-range ballistic missiles by boat in waters off its shores.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, has unveiled its latest domestic missile by firing it at targets in the Israeli occupied territories. The resistance group released a video on Sunday which showcased the new missile, dubbed Badr 3, before cutting to footage of it …

The United States is speeding up the arrival of a naval aircraft carrier strike group to the Arabian Sea after concerns Iran may be planning an attack against American or allied targets.