On August 29, the BBC reported that the US was planning to end military support to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Peshmerga military force. The report comes as the US is withdrawing forces...
Turkey invokes a Syrian sovereignty it spent a decade dismantling. Washington should not buy it.
Turkey has emerged as one of the leading patrons of Syria’s new government under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, following the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Ankara had built ties with...
Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US counterterrorism partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), announced on August 25 the dissolution of...
On August 24, the US rescinded Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. “I congratulate the Syrian people on the official removal of Syria’s name from the list of state sponsors...
Israel conducted airstrikes on the Abu al Duhur military airport in northern Syria during the evening of August 17–18. Syria condemned the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty,...
There was widespread condemnation on August 17 and 18 of an Iranian drone attack on the office of Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. Early on August 17, two drones...
There is an easy way to read Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to host Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi in Ankara on July 28, and to call the visit “historic”: as an energy...
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...
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
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...
Outside Syria’s parliament building in Damascus, lawmakers filed past the stone façade for the chamber’s first session since Bashar al-Assad’s fall. Inside, the freshly minted lawmakers stood to...
Syria convened its new parliament on July 12, the first to meet since the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December 2024. The new parliament, called the People’s Assembly, met after Syrian...
The body of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was taken to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on July 8 as part of his funeral procession. Large crowds gathered to mourn the slain leader...
A smirk laid bare the United Nations’ unremitting hostility toward the state of Israel and its people. Last week UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem sat stone-faced and silent as she reluctantly listened...
On July 1, Syria’s government said that the country’s Higher Committee for People’s Assembly Elections had announced the final list of names for the country’s new parliament. The...
A year and a half after the overthrow of former dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syria’s new parliament is finally taking shape. On July 1, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa appointed 70 lawmakers,...
Iraq launched a series of raids targeting corrupt politicians and officials on June 28. “Elite Counter Terrorism Service units raided homes inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone...
Dear Mrs. Trump, Or may I call you Melania? If that is too familiar, no problem, I understand. But you can certainly call me Cliff! I am a longtime admirer. I have heard you speak out for human rights,...