Middle Orient

Announcing Iran’s intention to build a new military base in the Indian Ocean, Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the naval attachment of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that the base would be used to protect fishing and commercial vessels from piracy and “foreign ships”, a reference to …

Hezbollah’s financial crisis is the result of US sanctions on its patrons in Iran, which had been supporting the terrorist group annually with about $700 million from oil revenues…. — Fahim al-Hamid, Saudi journalist, okaz.com.sa, March 22, 2020.

ALMA says never-before-published sites are deep in heart of residential areas in Beirut, next to hospitals, restaurants, schools.

Hamas is sparing no effort to restore its relations with Iran, which announced that it will provide all necessary support to the Palestinians facing the Israeli annexation plan of the West Bank.

In a letter delivered to Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Ansar Allah (also referred to as the Houthis,) Hamas’ politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh appealed to Axis of Resistance members for support against Israel’s planned annexation of certain areas of the West Bank.

The U.S. military has said it has no plans to change its mission to defeat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in Syria despite Iran’s new defense deal with Damascus that is designed to bolster ties between Washington’s two foes there.

Daniel Burke was accused of terrorism offences after volunteering to help the Kurdish YPG fight against Isil in Syria.

The fallout from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warning that Washington will do all it can to prevent Iran selling oil to Hezbollah in Lebanon continued this week.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is intensifying efforts to open a new border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, local sources and Arab media reported this week.

Sanctions on Syria aim to protect Syrian civilians from the regime but may end up hurting them instead. Washington should further clarify humanitarian exemptions, specify benchmarks related to civilian protection and offer temporary easing of sanctions as long as these are met.