Maher al-Assad

January 22, 2024 | Jonathan Schanzer, Natalie Ecanow

Iran-backed narco-terrorists are making billions and widening the war in the Middle East

Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the Middle East this month in an effort to prevent a wider regional war. But while Blinken was there, Jordanian jet fighters struck Iran-backed militias...

July 19, 2023 | |

Secretary of State and Arab League Chief Meet After U.S. Condemns League’s Readmission of Syria

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the State Department on July 19. Blinken and Aboul Gheit did not discuss the specifics of their...

April 26, 2023 | Natalie Ecanow |

New European Sanctions Target Assad Regime Narco-Traffickers

The European Union (EU) announced sanctions this week on over a dozen Syrian individuals and entities responsible for “the production and trafficking of narcotics, notably Captagon.” The designations...

March 29, 2023 | David Adesnik |

Under Pressure from Congress, Administration Sanctions Syrian Narco-traffickers

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tuesday on eight targets for “supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the production or export of Captagon, a dangerous amphetamine.”...

March 8, 2023 | |

Jordan’s King Asks for U.S. Help Combating Iran-Backed Militias

Latest Developments Jordan’s King Abdullah II is asking for U.S. assistance to combat Iran-backed militias from Iraq and Syria involved in an escalating drug war on Jordan’s border and attacking inside...

July 18, 2022 | David Adesnik |

The UN Has Now Spent $81.6 Million at the Four Seasons Damascus

The United Nations released new procurement data last week showing that its agencies spent an additional $11.5 million last year at the Four Seasons Damascus, for a total of $81.6 million since 2014. The...

May 3, 2022 | David Adesnik |

State Department Report Glosses Over Assad’s Narco-Trafficking Wealth

In a congressionally mandated report issued last week, the State Department made a single passing reference to drug trafficking as a source of wealth for the family of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The...

May 6, 2021 | David Adesnik |

Time for Biden to Oppose Gulf Monarchies’ Outreach to Assad

Saudi intelligence chief Khalid al-Humaidan reportedly met with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus on Monday, the first meeting of its kind since the war in Syria broke out in 2011. Humaidan’s visit provides...

September 30, 2020 | David Adesnik |

Sanctions Target War Profiteer Working for Assad’s Brother

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions today on Syrian war profiteer Khodr Ali Taher and 11 of his companies – part of the fourth set of designations since the Caesar Act went into effect this past...

March 20, 2017 | Tony Badran, Saeed Ghasseminejad

After Nuclear Deal, Iran Looks to Profit in Syria

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s powerful, ideological military force, is one of the country’s most influential institutions, with major stakes in key sectors of the econ...

April 11, 2012 | |

Victim of Assad

In a grim footnote to the ongoing human tragedy in Syria, the country's cultural he...

March 2, 2012 | Lee Smith The Weekly Standard |

Total Collapse

A number of recent articles make the case that...

July 22, 2008 | Tony Badran Across The Bay |

No Welch For You

Pace Jay Solomon's Syrian sources (Imad Mustapha), my own sources tell me that Assistant...

October 31, 2006 | The Mideast Monitor |

Divided They Stand: The Syrian Opposition

 His son and successor, Bashar, has failed to manage these divisions. Unfavorable international conditions, colossal foreign policy failures, and a precarious economy have left the regime wi...

October 31, 2006 | The Mideast Monitor |

Syrian-Saudi Media Wars

The recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah produced a dramatic resurgence of Saudi-Syrian tensions, which have been boiling beneath the surface since the assassination of former Lebanese Pr...