Middle Orient

Police said the ISIL attackers used several vehicles and semi-automatic guns in their attack. At least 11 people have been killed and others wounded in an ISIL (ISIS) attack on a village in Diyala province in eastern Iraq, according to the country’s security forces. The attack on Tuesday targeted “defenceless …

Speculation has been rife American forces would withdrawal from Syria after the Afghanistan pullout in an effort to end ‘forever wars’. The United States will not be withdrawing its roughly 900 troops from northeast Syria any time soon, despite mounting speculation it would do so following its much-maligned August pull-out …

Deploring the European parties’ failure to honor the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi cautioned against the approaches that could give the US the perception that Europe belongs in its sphere of influence. Although Iran has always honored its commitments, the European parties have failed to fulfill their …

An alleged US drone strike killed former ISIS commander Subhi Ibrahim Muslih and two of his guards in Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain) on Monday, said Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) official Farhad Shami. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported that the strike’s target was a member of …

The Saudi government responded by describing Saad al-Jabri as “a discredited former government official with a long history of fabricating.” A former senior Saudi intelligence official has accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of once bragging that he could have the late King Abdullah killed to pave the way for …

The Iranian government is concerned for the Shiite Muslim and Persian-speaking communities in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Iran will host Afghanistan’s neighbors for a conference on Wednesday. The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan will attend the meeting in the capital Tehran. China’s foreign minister will attend virtually. …

The Turkish media may be abuzz with reports about the foiling of a Mossad-run spy ring, but Israel appears unimpressed, and observers see no further deterioration in the already frosty bilateral relations. Amid an ongoing quest for normalization with Israel, Turkey last week dropped a bombshell about busting a Mossad …

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in north Syria announced a series of mergers recently, derailing plans by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to seek rapprochement with some of the factions affiliated with the Syrian National Army. The Azm Operations Room, which consists of a number of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions, …

The main opposition CHP announced an hour before the session that it would vote against the motion. Amid rumors of a Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, the Turkish parliament ratified today a motion that extends the government’s mandate of carrying out cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria for another …

Throughout history, Iran has engaged in efforts to counter Iraq’s identity, with the latter’s geographic location — bordering Persia on one side and Turkey on another — permitting it to represent the Arab world in direct conflict against Tehran and Ankara more than any other country. Iraq was the first …