Tartus

January 29, 2025 | Ahmad Sharawi |

Continued chaos in Syria: Iraqi militias and an Alawite insurgency

On January 25, a new Iraqi militia, Kataib Awliya’ al Haq (Guardians of Truth Brigades), announced its formation. So far, the group has issued a single statement displaying its full name, logo, and...

January 16, 2025 | Ahmad Sharawi |

Alawite Fears Ignite Syria’s Coastal Chaos

Violence is spreading in Syria’s Mediterranean coastal region, home to the country’s largest concentration of Alawites, the religious minority whose members include the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad....

December 26, 2024 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Projecting strength and tolerance: New Syrian gov’t faces biggest test yet

Two weeks after rebels overthrew the Assad regime, protests and accusations start up over the new government.

December 17, 2024 | David Daoud |

Israel’s Bashan Arrow operation in Syria continues

As the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad was collapsing on December 8, Israel set in motion a contingency plan that anticipated the situation. In recent weeks, the military intelligence...

December 16, 2024 | |

Intense IDF Strikes Reported on Former Assad Regime’s Military Sites in Syria

Israeli Air Force Reportedly Strikes Weapons Sites in Tartus: The IDF reportedly targeted weapons sites belonging to the ousted regime of former President Bashar al-Assad in the...

December 13, 2024 | |

Russia Negotiating With New Syrian Government to Keep Military Bases

Russia Negotiates To Keep Bases: Officials from Russia and representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — the Syrian rebel group that overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad...

December 11, 2024 | Jack Burnham |

Assad’s Downfall Sets Back China’s Middle East Strategy

Bashar al-Assad’s stunning fall from power has deprived China of a valued partner in the Middle East, exposing the limits of its broader strategy to damage the United States’ regional standing via...

December 11, 2024 | |

Israel SitRep: December 11, 2024

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December 11, 2024 | Clifford D. May |

Assad exits and Khamenei’s strategy unravels

Lessons to be learned in the Middle East

December 11, 2024 | David Daoud |

Israel Secures its interests in Syria

Bashar al Assad’s regime fell in the early morning of December 8, withering away in the face of a mere 11-day onslaught by a coalition of opposition armed groups. Israel found itself caught off-guard by...

November 15, 2024 | Emanuele Ottolenghi, Joe Truzman

Israel’s expanding efforts to disrupt Hezbollah’s supply chain

In recent years, Iran steadily built up Hezbollah’s arsenal in Lebanon and Syria by shipping weapons, flying them in, and transporting them by truck. Weapons consignments arrived at ports and...

April 11, 2022 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Biden, like Obama, talks tough but does little about Putin’s war crimes

Will President Joe Biden’s cri de coeur “Putin is a war criminal” become former President Barack Obama’s “Assad must go?” Lofty words; noble intentions, for sure. But Obama came and went....

March 2, 2022 | Clifford D. May |

Russia, Ukraine, and the West’s grand delusion

Freedom must be defended or surrendered – there’s no third option

September 14, 2020 | Aykan Erdemir |

Pompeo’s Cyprus Visit a Sign of U.S. Reengagement in the Eastern Mediterranean

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Cypriot capital of Nicosia on Saturday to address both Turkey’s ongoing oil and gas exploration in Cypriot and Greek waters as well as Russia’s efforts...

August 16, 2017 | Jonathan Schanzer |

‘Iran Building Missile Factory In Syria’

Syria’s Baniyas on the Mediterranean sea between Latakia and Tartus is the site of a large oil refinery. Before the civil war broke out in 2011 travel guides suggested tourists visit the Cr...

August 16, 2017 | Benjamin Weinthal |

Report: Iran And Russia Violated UN Weapons Sanctions

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia used a smuggling route to transport offensive weapons, allegedly in violation of UN Resolution 2231, Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on...

May 10, 2017 | Tony Badran |

The Lebanese Prime Minister Is Stuck, and He’s Improvising

A high-level delegation of Lebanese politicians and bankers reportedly will visit Washington later this month to try and convince Congress to soften impending sanctions l...

May 1, 2017 | Jonathan Schanzer |

Russia Risks a Showdown with Israel Over Hezbollah in Syria

Back in 1967, Moscow shrugged when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran, cutting shipping routes to the Israeli port of Eilat—Israel’s only one in the Red...

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...

February 4, 2016 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Flying in the Face of U.S. Sanctions

Mahan Air is an Iranian passenger airline that also happens to be a favorite with the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC uses Mahan planes to ferry weapons and personnel...