Middle Orient

WASHINGTON—“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me,” US President Donald Trump posted on social media on Wednesday. But the regime’s failure to agree to a deal, he added, will now result in the United States inflicting “Economic Warfare and …

Key Takeaways:Defense Minister Katz on Aug. 17 ordered an IDF plan (two-week clock) to give Israeli police “civilian enforcement” over West Bank settlers while the army keeps authority over Palestinians—analysts call it another shift from temporary occupation command to permanent civilian institutions.Context cited: Smotrich’s 2023 Settlement Administration, Hillel Roth’s 2024 …

E_146_26Download

Key Takeaways:Monday clashes in western Sweida wounded at least 10 Internal Security Forces after two civilian deaths; the Druze-majority province has stayed outside full Damascus control since Assad fell in December 2024.The National Guard under Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri—formed August 2025 after July fighting that UN/NGOs put at ~1,700 dead—runs sectors …

Key Takeaways:After Ali Al-Zaidi’s July 14 White House visit, deals cited at ~$60bn (energy, tech, health) as U.S. troops aim to leave Iraq by Sept. 30. Trump framed job-and-oil gains; Washington is backing a mothballed 850 km Kirkuk–Baniyas line (1952; ~300,000 b/d until 1982; wrecked in 2003) that Tom Barrack …

E_147_26Download

Analysis: Israel wants a weak Syria; Turkey wants a stable one. Their competing ambitions are creating a dangerous new faultline for Damascus to manage Damascus – Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met with Israel’s Mossad chief Roman Gofman in Jordan on 23 August following days of escalating tensions that resulted …

Pourquoi le goulot d’étranglement pétrolier le plus célèbre au monde ne concerne pas que le pétrole.Introduction : l’erreur Nous appelons le détroit d’Ormuz un goulot d’étranglement pétrolier parce que le pétrole est la matière première la plus visible. Quand une crise émerge dans les eaux entre l’Iran et Oman, la …

Le rapprochement entre la Turquie, le Qatar et le Pakistan ne constitue pas, contrairement à ce qu’une lecture rapide pourrait laisser croire, un «axe des Frères musulmans». La réalité est plus complexe et, pour cette raison même, beaucoup plus intéressante : derrière trois États aux histoires, aux institutions et aux …

The real question, however, is: Unity with whom, and against whom? Why is Hamas being treated as a legitimate political organization rather than a terrorist group that needs to be disarmed, dismantled, and removed from power? Egypt, a key ally of the United States, should be asking these questions. Instead, …