Middle Orient

Following Operation Guardian of the Walls against Gaza terrorist groups, for the first time ever the UNHRC has created a permanent fact-finding mission regarding a UN member state. The United Nations Human Rights Council voted 24-9 Thursday to launch an investigation against Israel for alleged war crimes, including during the …

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected Thursday to approve moving the only aircraft carrier based in the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, two defense officials told VOA. The rare movement of the USS Ronald Reagan, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan, and usually deploys around the Pacific, would …

Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two regional arch rivals, held talks in Baghdad in April 2021. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi played a key role in bringing both the countries to the negotiating table. The talks were held between Khalid Al Homeidan, Chief of General Intelligence, Saudi Arabia, …

The World Food Program said on Wednesday it is tripling its assistance to Lebanon, offering cash assistance to nearly 300,000 people amid an unparalleled financial and economic crisis. Lebanon’s national currency has lost nearly 85% of its dollar value since late 2019, sending prices of basic goods soaring in a …

Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said on Wednesday that several missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia from inside Yemen landed in the Kingdom. Lt. Col. Mohannad bin Jasser Zailai, deputy media spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan region, said authorities attended the site to find five missiles near …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his two-day visit to the Middle East Wednesday evening, after meeting regional leaders in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman in an effort to shore up the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire reached last week. During his trip, the US’s top diplomat made several announcements of …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday announced a four-month ban on all cryptocurrency mining, citing widespread power outages that have hamstrung the Islamic Republic earlier than usual this year. “Today everybody has a few miners laying around and are producing bitcoins,” the frustrated Rouhani told his cabinet. The practice of …

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday expressed his support for the nation’s Guardian Council decision, announced Wednesday, to disqualify a string of reformist candidates from running in the upcoming presidential elections. The move, which all but ensures victory for hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who currently serves as Iran’s chief …

The Islamic State has recently stepped up its operations against the Syrian government forces and their allied militias as IS cells spread in more areas in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a recent report that a military convoy affiliated with the Syrian government and allied …

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has increasingly been seen meeting with tribal elders in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, part of efforts to polish his image and that of his group. A video circulated on social media on May 17 showing the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), …