Middle Orient

EU assembly wants Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on terror list

The European Parliament on Thursday called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to be put on the European Union’s terrorist list and insisted that sanctions targeting Tehran had to be expanded after the violent suppression of protests. In a nonbinding resolution, the legislature mustered a large majority to call on the EU’s …

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Pukla tikva/ Narušeni odnosi Srbije i Turske, Vučić poručio njemačkom ambasadoru: “Prijetnja srpskom narodu”

I ko se miješa u sve pa i u to “kakav će se grah jesti u Sjevernoj Mitrovici” Predsjednik Srbije Aleksandar Vučić izjavio je da je njemački ambasador Jörn Rohde “poznat po antisrpskim stavovima te da se miješa u sve, počevši od toga kakav će se grah jesti u Sjevernoj …

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Ukraine’s Consequences Are Finally Spreading to Syria

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reverberating more than 1,000 miles away in Syria. Squeezed by its strategic blunder, Moscow’s shrinking strategic bandwidth and its diminished capacities in Syria have disrupted the conflict’s complex power dynamics, potentially imperiling the relative calm that has prevailed since March 2020 and undermining U.S. interests. …

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Davos 2023: Saudi Arabia ‘open’ to discuss trading in non-dollar currencies

Qatar also voiced support for Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter at the annual forum in Davos, Switzerland. Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Tuesday that the kingdom is open to trading in currencies aside from the US dollar in order to “improve trade.”  “There are no issues with discussing …

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Russia to expand private militaries in broader Middle East amid staffing crisis

As it wages a full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia wants to reform its army while being chronically short of security personnel, and increasingly dependent on mercenaries During the Syrian military campaign, the problems within the Russian army units were strictly visible to specialists. But in Ukraine, where Moscow and Kyiv …

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Iraq’s Sadr indicates return to politics in public prayer session

Muqtada al-Sadr organized a public prayer on Friday, making a comeback to politics after months of silence. Following months of silence, Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for his supporters to hold a unified Friday prayer today in Baghdad and a number of other cities. The prayer was preceded by …

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Syrian refugees in Turkey watch uneasily as Erdogan warms to Assad

Syrians in Turkey are wary of losing refuge as the Turkish President eyes dialogue with Assad Turkey’s bid to reconcile with the Syrian government has left many Syrian refugees in the country on tenterhooks as Ankara faces pressure to cut a deal with Damascus on the return of the Syrians …

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Syrian Kurdish commander wants peace with Turkey, but will ‘fully’ resist attack

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Democratic Forces head Mazlum Kobane said he expects a Turkish attack in February, and warned Ankara should not punish Syria’s Kurds over its own failure to resolve its own domestic issues. Turkey has renewed threats to launch another ground offensive in northeast Syria. Speaking …

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Former Iranian Diplomats Criticize Tehran’s Foreign Policy

Senior former Iranian diplomats have slammed Tehran for failing to revive the nuclear deal and supplying drones to Russia in Ukraine, warning that the country risks becoming economically weakened and isolated. Hamid Aboutalebi, a former political adviser to Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s previous president, tweeted on Monday that “Iranian foreign policy …

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Iran Won’t Be Sidelined By Turkey-Syria Warmth – OpEd

It has become a cliché to describe relations between Turkiye and Iran as a “manageable competition”and “reluctant cooperation.” In many ways, Ankara’s relations with Tehran resemble its relations with Moscow, and Syria best displays the complicated nature of ties between all three. In particular, the Astana peace process these three …

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