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Iranian President Replaces Chief Of Powerful Security Council

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has removed Ali Shamkhani as the head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council and replaced him with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a former chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who has been under sanctions from the United Nations, the European Union, and the United …

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Russia Claims Group Crossed Border From Ukraine In Attack; Nuclear Plant Back Online

Violent clashes erupted on the Russian-Ukrainian border with Moscow accusing a Ukrainian “sabotage group” of trying to make an incursion into the country, an allegation Kyiv rejected. Explosions and sporadic gunfire could be heard on May 22 in the Belgorod region, with the local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, saying that fighting …

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Turkey’s Elections: Nationalist Identity Politics Wins Out Over Misery

There will be a second round for the presidential vote on May 28, but an opposition victory seems unlikely. Turkey is a country where average schooling is 6.5 years. In other words, the average person is a 7th grade drop-out. Ninety-five percent of Turkish citizens have never travelled abroad.

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F-16s won’t fundamentally alter the course of Ukraine War

Biden’s about-face raises many questions, but key among them are how effective can the aircraft really be, and what is the endgame? On Friday, the Biden administration paved the way for Western allies and partners to transfer their stocks of American-made F-16 Fighter jets to Ukraine and added that the …

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What Assad’s Future Means for Justice and the West

The Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria rewards brutality and betrays victims. It also confirms the marginalization of the United States and the irrelevance of Europe in the region. A collection of Arab countries grouped in the Arab League has brought President Bashar al-Assad back into its fold. The twenty-two-member-strong …

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Time to Get Serious About Moldova

Moldova lacks technical and administrative capacity required for EU accession. Brussels needs to do much more to put its European perspective on track. For Moldova, 2022 was the worst of years and the best of years. Russia’s war in Ukraine turned life upside down. The country, often ranked as the …

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Ukrainians Wait for Their Return Home

President Zelensky’s appeal to G7 leaders for more military assistance is not only about defeating Russia. It is about making Ukraine safe for refugees to return and rebuild the country. Over several days of non-stop meetings in Europe, the Middle East, and at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Ukrainian President …

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Iran claims to arrest an ‘Israel-linked cell’ on the border with Kurdish Iraq

Intelligence and Security Minister Esmail Khatib alleges the detained are Kurdish Iraqis cooperating with the Jewish state Iran’s Intelligence and Security Minister Esmail Khatib arrested a “terrorist” group, at the western border of Iran, on Sunday, for alleged ties to Israel, according to the semi-official Nour News agency. “A terrorist …

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New Troubles in Nagorno-Karabakh: Understanding the Lachin Corridor Crisis

What is happening? There is a growing risk of major violence in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the mountainous enclave over which Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars since the end of Soviet rule. On 23 April, Baku opened a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, a highway traversing Azerbaijani territory that …

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Iran says ‘terrorist’ group linked to Israel has been arrested, Nour News reports

Iran’s intelligence minister said a “terrorist” group linked to Israel was arrested on the western borders of Iran on Sunday, according to the semi-official Nour News agency. “A terrorist group associated with the Zionist regime which entered the country from the western borders was arrested,” said Esmail Khatib. The statement …

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