The Iraqi government is seeking to prevent both further attacks by the terrorist group and outbreaks of sectarian violence. A group of Islamic State militants carried out an attack in the village of al-Rashad in Diyala province early on Oct. 26, killing 15 people and wounding 30. Prior to the …

Recent geopolitical changes in the region are reducing Israel’s ability to act against the Iranian presence in Syria. An unnamed Israeli security source told public broadcaster Kan on Oct. 25 that the air force will soon have to decide whether to act against the Syrian air defense system, in order …

On December 15, 1991, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker arrived in Moscow amid political chaos to meet with Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, who was at the time busy wresting power from his nemesis, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Yeltsin had recently made a shocking announcement that he and the leaders …

Some 10,000 displaced Syrians living in a squalid camp miles away from the American garrison of al-Tanf had hoped the Biden administration would resolve their plight. The Biden administration touted this summer’s United Nations Security Council deal to avert humanitarian disaster in northwest Syria as proof that Washington and Moscow …

Two key words were missing from the statements that followed the inaugural in-person summit in September of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as the Quad, which features Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. The first absent word was predictable: “China.” Although the country’s growing strength is the clear …

A court in the Netherlands convicted an Iranian refugee Wednesday of preparing and financing terror attacks in his homeland targeting the Iranian government and its supporters. The 42-year-old man was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The man, whose identity was not released in line with Dutch privacy rules, was linked …

Turkey deployed hundreds more troops in northern Syria overnight in preparation for a long-suspended offensive against American-backed Kurdish forces, according to two officials, a move that could help President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shore up flagging domestic support and put pressure on the U.S. and Russia to rein in the Kurdish …

Saudi Arabia classified the Lebanon-based Al-Qard Al-Hassan association as a terrorist entity, citing links to activities supporting Lebanon’s Shi’ite group Hezbollah, state media reported on Wednesday. “The association works on managing funds for the terrorist organization (Hezbollah) and its financing, including support for military purposes,” the state news agency said …

Ukraine’s military has confirmed that it conducted its first ever strike using a Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drone yesterday. The TB2 destroyed a 122mm D-30 howitzer belonging to Russian-backed separatist forces in the country’s eastern Donbass region that Ukrainian authorities said was responsible for killing one of its soldiers and …

My friend and neighbour Richard was starting a series of online meetings at his office on the south-east edge of Beirut when all hell suddenly broke loose. He spent the next three hours sheltering on the ground floor as the sounds of war raged around the building, triggering a rush …