Israel may believe the tense status quo is sustainable, but Washington is frustrated about the potential implications for Arab normalization, Turkish military friction, and near-term economic plans. Prospects for more normal if not formally peaceful relations between Syria and Israel were diminishing in recent months. Thus it was positive that …

Recent clashes between Damascus and the Kurdish forces in Aleppo highlight the risk that stalling integration talks may trigger broader violence. Since its signing on March 10, no tangible progress has been made on the eight-point agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Interim Government to facilitate …

As protests grow, regime leaders have no clear options for scaring Iranians off the streets, intimidating foreign powers, or escaping their wider strategic crisis. For all the military weapons remaining in the Iranian regime’s arsenal, it has finally been deprived of the one that authoritarians rely upon most: fear. For …

What began as clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish neighbourhoods is now reshaping life in Iraqi Kurdistan, from street protests to media shifts and refugee tensions. Clashes between Syrian government forces and Kurdish armed groups in Ashrafia and Sheikh Maqsoud, Kurdish-populated neighbourhoods of Aleppo, have notably altered the political and social dynamics …

Egypt, Qatar and Turkey said that former Palestinian deputy minister Ali Shaath would lead a new technocratic committee tasked with administering post-war Gaza. Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath will head the new technocratic committee set to administer the devastated Gaza Strip, mediating countries announced on …

Countries across the region are assessing the fallout as the US moves to further isolate Iran’s economy US President Donald Trump on Monday announced new tariffs aimed at further isolating Iran’s already strained economy, as the country faces its largest wave of anti-government protests in years. Here is what we …

Dispatch from Tehran: With relative calm restored, state media is dominated by talk of ‘national resistance’ against foreign sedition Mosques burnt down to the ground, banks flattened, street signs removed, and roads scratched and destroyed by tyre fires. Walking through the streets of Tehran and other major cities, the scars …

Toplines The Iranian regime is using an unprecedented level of brutality to suppress protests. The actual death toll is likely significantly higher relative to the 1,500 people killed during the 2019 protests, though CTP-ISW cannot independently determine the number of protester deaths. Western media outlets have reported death toll estimates …

Israel and SDF providing financial and military support to Syrian Druze militias: report Israeli money and arms are backing Druze militias in Suweida, deepening divisions in southern Syria and fuelling separatist ambitions after Assad’s fall Druze militias in Syria are allegedly receiving material and financial support from Israel [Getty] Druze …

The ongoing protests in Iran mark the most serious domestic unrest that the Islamic Republic has faced. The protests could alter the character of the regime fundamentally or even topple it. CTP-ISW currently assesses that the unprecedentedly brutal crackdown that the regime is conducting has broadly suppressed protest activity and …