Middle Orient

Two senior ISIS commanders were killed in an Iraqi air strike in the Hamrin Mountain range, in the Salah al-Din province, announced the Iraqi Security Media Cell (SMC) on Saturday. The operation was carried out based on intelligence information provided by the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency (FIIA) at the …

Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, the Army four-star general overseeing all American troops in the Middle East, went inside Syria’s al-Hol Islamic State detainment camp Friday and spoke with residents. He says many can be sent home. The commander of all US military forces in the Middle East made an urgent appeal …

Israel’s diplomatic blitz against a renewed JCPOA reaches new heights, with Prime Minister Yair Lapid traveling to Germany and Defense Minister Benny Gantz traveling again to the United States. Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Sept. 12 in Berlin that reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran …

Tehran has criticized the three European signatories to the nuclear deal for their recent joint statement questioning Iran’s intentions. Iran has criticized the three European countries for their joint remarks about Iran in the talks to restore the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iranian Foreign Ministry …

The recent Turkish-Greek row over Twitter might be a taste of things to come Rising tensions between Greece and Turkey over a simple goodwill tweet indicates how alarmingly volatile the relations between two NATO allies are becoming. Allegations that Greece’s Russian-made S-300 air defense batteries locked on Turkish jet fighters …

A multinational naval exercise focused on crisis response started this week in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, bringing warships from 12 NATO countries into an area with a sizable Russian naval presence. The Dynamic Mariner exercise led by NATO Allied Maritime Command, or MARCOM, began Sunday near Turkey’s Aksaz Naval Base …

Lebanon’s central bank said it has entirely ceased providing dollars for gasoline imports in a move that will likely lead to higher and more volatile prices as well as increased pressure on the local currency which has been steadily losing value. Although the central bank had said last year it …

In his just-completed role as head of the Israeli military’s Home Front command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin was in charge of bolstering a network of early-warning systems and shelters in case of rocket attacks. It may have been the ideal preparation for his new assignment. Gordin is set to soon …

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said two of their fighters were killed and six jihadists arrested Thursday following clashes in a volatile Syria camp where a security operation is underway. “Two of our fighters have succumbed to their wounds following clashes” with Islamic State group militants in the Al-Hol camp …

Iraq came close to civil war but stepped back from the brink last week. On Aug. 29, street fighting erupted between followers of Iraqi Shi’a cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr and those of the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework (CF), after Sadr announced his “final withdrawal” from politics and the closure …