Middle Orient

Recent leaks made public by Al-Jazeera suggest that this is the case, but the story may be more complicated. The year 2025 marked a period of profound political transformation in both Syria and Lebanon. In Syria, it ushered in the first year without the Assad family in office since 1970, …

HRANA – Nationwide protests in Iran continued on their twelfth day, Thursday, January 8, 2026, according to reports collected by HRANA. Demonstrations and protest actions were recorded in at least 46 cities across 21 provinces. At the same time, a wave of strikes and market closures was reported, particularly in …

As protests swelled around the country, Iran’s internet was shut down, and the heads of its judiciary and its security services warned of a harsh response amid calls for “freedom, freedom.” Iran plunged into an internet blackout on Thursday, monitoring groups said, as nationwide protests demanding the ouster of the …

Israel faces mounting challenges: a stalled ceasefire in Gaza, rising Hezbollah threats in Lebanon, and a critical security opportunity with Syria. With ceasefires unraveling on nearly every front, Israel is once again confronting the unstable reality of the Middle East. The coming weeks will decide whether the Jewish state drifts …

The inquiry surfaced as internet monitors and media reported near-total connectivity loss across Iran, renewing attention on satellite internet as a tool to bypass state shutdowns. Deputy Minister Almog Cohen, a junior minister in Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, contacted Israeli-American venture capitalist Dovi Frances this week to ask whether Starlink …

The demonstrations, which began in Tehran last month, have spread to all of Iran’s 31 provinces but have yet to reach the scale of the 2022-3 unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of US President Donald …

Protests in Iran raged Friday night in the Islamic Republic, online videos purported to show, despite a threat from the country’s theocracy to crack down on demonstrators after shutting down the internet and cutting telephone lines off to the world. At least 65 people have been killed in the protests …

Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in northern Aleppo saw rapid field developments, as parts of the two areas began to be handed over to the Syrian state, according to on-the-ground information verified by Enab Baladi correspondents. Successive defections were recorded among members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its …

On Sunday, December 28, Iran’s latest wave of unrest began not on a university campus or in a symbolic political square but in the very heart of the country’s economic sphere: the Grand Bazaar commercial center in downtown Tehran. As 2025 was drawing to a close, Iran’s currency, the rial, …

Israel may believe the tense status quo is sustainable, but Washington is frustrated about the potential implications for Arab normalization, Turkish military friction, and near-term economic plans. Prospects for more normal if not formally peaceful relations between Syria and Israel were diminishing in recent months. Thus it was positive that …