Iran Secures Its Borders Amid Taliban Advance in Afghanistan

The U.S. will deploy additional troops to Kabul airport in support of embassy staff drawdown as the security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. On Friday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami said that all Iran’s border lines are secure, including the eastern borders with Afghanistan. His …

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Lebanese Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Calls On Supporters To Use Social Media To Defend Resistance, Counter The Enemy’s Psychological Warfare

On August 11, 2021, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Lebanese Hizbullah, warned of psychological warfare against resistance factions in Lebanon and elsewhere, stressing that there should be an effort to expose it.[1] His statement was part of a speech he delivered in the southern suburbs of Beirut on the third night …

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Iranian-Backed Iraqi Militia Leaders Threaten To Target U.S. Forces In Jordan, Add: Expelling U.S. Forces From The Region Is Feasible; Israel Is Our Number-One Enemy

In a BBC Arabic TV (U.K.) report, which was aired on August 19, 2021, leaders of pro-Iran militias talk about their activity on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border. Ahmad Al-Maksusi, Secretary-General of the Sayiid Al-Shuhada Brigades militia, said that the Iraqi militias were the ones who targeted American forces …

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Siberian Fire Limits Gazprom Exports To Europe

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said on August 6 it had slowed gas shipments abroad after fire struck a processing plant in western Siberia. No one was hurt in the fire, which happened at a facility near Novy Urengoy. Russian media said transports of natural gas via Belarus and Poland …

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Russia in Review, July 30-Aug 6, 2021

This Week’s Highlights Russia is now supplying more oil to the U.S. than any other foreign producer aside from Canada, Bloomberg reported, noting that U.S. imports of crude and refined petroleum products from its former Cold War adversary surged 23% in May. U.S. imports of Russian goods increased by one …

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EU Official Says Iran Ready To Restart Nuclear Talks In September: Reports

A senior European Union official says Iran is ready to resume suspended nuclear talks as soon early September, Western news agencies are reporting. AFP and the dpa news agencies reported on August 7 that representatives of the country have given assurances in recent days that the talks will be resumed …

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U.S., Russian Defense Chiefs Talk By Phone About ‘Strategic Stability’

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, have spoken by telephone about ongoing “strategic stability” talks launched last month after a recent presidential summit. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on August 11 Austin and Shoigu discussed “transparency and risk-reduction efforts following the July 28 resumption of …

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Are the Taliban on a Path to Victory?

With the Taliban sweeping through provincial capitals, and massing near Kabul, the Afghan government is thus far vowing to resist. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Laurel Miller and Andrew Watkins explain that outside powers’ priority should now be to minimise further human suffering. Have the Taliban won the war? …

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Afghan Government Simultaneously Defending Kabul, Seeking Deal with Taliban

The administration of President Ashraf Ghani vowed Friday to defend its capital, Kabul, from the Taliban, while efforts by Abdullah Abdullah, head of the country’s National Reconciliation Council, to strike a political deal with the group seemed be gaining momentum. “It was decided with conviction & resolve that we stand …

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Taliban ‘Trying to Isolate Kabul,’ Pentagon Warns

Taliban fighters carrying out a blitzkrieg-like offensive across Afghanistan appear to have the capital, Kabul, in their sights, advancing toward the city even as the first of thousands of U.S. troops to be sent back to the country set foot on the ground. The Taliban on Friday claimed victory in …

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