Iraq finds itself under growing pressure from regional countries and the US to rein in Iranian-backed Iraqi militias. The latest pressure from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan comes as Ahmad...
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called President Trump on Saturday and implored him to hold off on striking the Islamic Republic of Iran. Trump acquiesced and punted...
Over the last two weeks of July, anti-Taliban resistance groups conducted sustained operations in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, resulting in the Taliban losing control of its first district...
Iranian authorities hanged two individuals in public who participated in the January 2026 Lion and Sun Revolution, the largest anti-regime uprising in the Islamic Republic’s history, in which millions...
Baghdad’s failure to address drone attacks from Iran-backed Iraqi militias is forcing other countries to act. American and Saudi forces, in a first for the ongoing war with Iran, launched joint...
President Donald Trump says he has “plenty of time” for talks with Iran. That works because Washington, DC, is 7,000 miles away from the Strait of Hormuz. But if you are in Dubai,...
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on July 27 that he will “declare Qatar an enemy state” if re-elected to lead the government. Bennett, who is running in the October 2026...
US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Saudi Arabia’s Armed Forces carried out strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the evening of July 28 after several days of escalating attacks by...
Saudi Arabia has weathered Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz by relying on its east-west pipeline to send crude from the kingdom’s energy-rich eastern province to the Red Sea terminal...
On July 25, 2026, Abdul Rahman Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese descent who had recently been released from prison after being convicted of attempting to join the Islamic State, allegedly...
Syria is positioning itself as an alternative route for oil exports from Iraq amid the Iran conflict and its disruption of oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz. On July 17 in Washington, DC,...
Iran has spent more than four decades building Hezbollah into a force capable of making war against Israel in hopes of one day destroying the Jewish state. Israeli forces have inflicted tremendous damage on Hezbollah’s leadership, arsenal, and manpower, yet the terror group is rebuilding, thanks in no small part to its globe-spanning illicit finance network. To shed greater light on this crucial subject, FDD has invited Israeli expert Dr. Iftah Burman to provide a robust overview of the transnational web of enterprises, stretching across the Middle East — and from Latin America to West Africa and into cyberspace — that sustains Hezbollah’s aggression. This work provides information essential to intelligence and law enforcement agencies in every country, including the United States, that recognizes the severity of Hezbollah’s threat to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East.
The Houthis announced a complete maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20. In response, a growing number of vessels are rerouting to avoid the Bab al Mandeb Strait, the southern...
The Yemeni militant group is poised to disrupt another key chokepoint in the global energy supply.
Iran increased attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq in mid-July as the US continued to carry out renewed airstrikes on Iran. By July 2, the US had conducted 10...
Sharaa seems to be a pragmatic diplomat, but before pursuing warmer ties, Jerusalem needs guarantees that he will stop repressing his minority citizens
Iranian attacks on neighboring countries, relaunched after the collapse of the Memorandum of Understanding between Tehran and Washington, have now claimed the lives of two U.S. troops in Jordan and possibly...
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s meeting this week with U.S. President Donald Trump offers Washington an important opportunity to press Beirut to implement pilot zones in southern Lebanon designed...
In recent weeks, Syria and Iraq have positioned themselves to be key players in a new Middle Eastern order. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi was in Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump...
As Iran’s once-expanding “Shia Crescent” of influence across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen wanes, a new American-led regional order is emerging. Ahead of his first visit to the White House, Lebanese...