Middle Orient

Israeli forces are expanding their control over neighboring territories in an effort to prevent further attacks by hostile forces, but in the process complicating conflict resolution efforts. The renewed expansion of the Israeli military presence in Gaza has not advanced U.S.-led efforts to end the conflict there. Israeli penetration into …

Iran and the U.S. are moving toward nuclear negotiations, even as Trump builds up forces that could be used for military action against Iranian installations. Responding to U.S. coercive diplomacy, including the buildup as well as maximum economic sanctions pressure, Iran has accepted new negotiations with the Trump team. The …

The Arab world lies in one of the most important global strategic locations, controlling most of the major commercial transportation routes. It is rich in natural agricultural and industrial resources and has always been a prime target for Western colonial powers, which periodically launched military campaigns to occupy and control …

For Israel, Qatar’s silence on a fatwa calling for “armed jihad” against the Jewish state is deafening. On April 9, Israel’s Foreign Ministry implored Doha to publicly reject the religious edict, which the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) issued on March 31. The fatwa instructs Muslim governments to …

Can Shara’s Government Unite a Country Ready to Explode? In late March, Ahmad al-Shara, Syria’s new leader, introduced a caretaker government that would supervise the country’s transition from five decades of dictatorial rule. He gave some cabinet positions to figures outside his Islamist milieu, including naming a Christian woman minister …

How to Turn Maximum Pressure Into Personal Diplomacy On Saturday, April 12, American and Iranian officials will restart talks over curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. The talks come after U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter, in early March, to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proposing negotiations. “We have a very …

A Senior Iranian official threatened to reduce cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if external threats against Iran continue. Iranian Supreme Leader Adviser Ali Shamkhani stated on April 10 that Iran could expel IAEA inspectors, halt cooperation with the agency, or move enriched uranium to “safe and unknown …

The spectacular conquest of large parts of Syrian territory and cities such as Homs, Daraa, Aleppo, and Damascus, and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government in early December, surprised the world. Syrian Islamists led by the organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) managed, after many years of being largely pushed into …

Iran condemned the continued IDF activity in the Gaza Strip. The Iranian president raised theissue in his talks with the King of Jordan and the Saudi Crown Prince. The Iranian ForeignMinistry spokesperson condemned the IDF attacks in the Gaza Strip and called forinternational action to stop them. The IRGC’s Qods …

US President Donald Trump surprised almost everyone when he announced in an Oval Office briefing — with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting right beside him — that high-level direct talks on Iran’s nuclear program were scheduled for April 12 in Oman. It is unclear whether Iran wanted to keep …