February, 2026

• 2 February

  Limited turnout at Deir Ezzor settlement center for former SDF members

  

  Work continued for a second day at the center opened by Syria’s Ministry of Interior in Deir Ezzor (eastern Syria) to settle the status of individuals who were previously affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). A security source at the Internal Security Directorate in Deir Ezzor told Enab Baladi …

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• 2 February

  Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah

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• 2 February

  Iran’s “Balkanization” Is Unlikely But Still Can’t Be Ruled Out

  

  Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, all of which have been Iran’s “frenemies” since 1979 and whose military-strategic interests are increasingly converging, are expected to exploit any large-scale instability that could follow another potential round of US strikes if Trump changes his mind. The Wall Street Journal recently published a …

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• 2 February

  al-Sharaa from Moscow: Russia Has a Historic Role in Syria’s Stability

  

  Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that Russia has a historic role in Syria’s unity and stability, and in the stability of the wider region. He pointed to an upgrade in economic cooperation between the two countries. Al-Sharaa expressed hope …

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• 2 February

  Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 29, 2026

  

  Toplines US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the United States and Ukraine have finalized security guarantees for Ukraine. Rubio stated on January 28 that it “could [be] argue[d]” that the United States and Ukraine have finalized security guarantees.[1] Rubio stated that the United States will play a “key …

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• 2 February

  Iran Update, January 29, 2026

  

  Toplines Iran is likely trying to deter US military action against Iran by deploying forces and conducting naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS)-affiliated outlet Defa Press claimed on January 29 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy deployed “hundreds of fast, missile-launching, …

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• 2 February

  EU designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terror group

  

  EU foreign ministers agreed Thursday to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist” group, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise,” she said. Meeting in Brussels ahead of the terror designation …

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January, 2026

• 31 January

  All Eyes on Southern Syria

  

  The government’s gains in the northwest will have an echo nationally, but will they alter Israeli calculations? By crossing the Euphrates River in recent days, Syrian government forces broke through a decade-old boundary that had defined Syria’s conflict, behind which the Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had sustained a de …

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• 31 January

  Is the Arab World Finally Discovering Collective Security and Multilateral Diplomacy?

  

  Two big diplomatic wins from this year offer lessons for future Arab efforts toward constructive multilateral action. The Arab world was already badly divided when recent wars and military conflicts broke out between state actors and between them and nonstate actors in 2023. But paradoxically, these tremors have created conditions …

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• 31 January

  Where Might Developments in Yemen Lead?

  

  In an interview, Ibrahim Jalal discusses the Southern Transitional Council’s recent takeover of Hadhramawt and Mahra. Ibrahim Jalal was previously a nonresident scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where he specialized on Yemen as well as on the evolving regional security architecture in the Middle East …

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