Middle East

Abu Dhabi (AFP) – The US is still supporting the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, an American army general told AFP Sunday, days after lawmakers voted to end involvement in Riyadh’s war effort. The US continues to “provide support to the coalition, in particular to help them… be discriminative in targeting and to minimise the […]

Iran

40 Years after the Iranian Revolution, Can the Opposition Still Hope for Change?

The Conversation

By Naser Ghobadzadeh | – Iran’s ruling clergy are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, during which Shi’ite Islamists, led by religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, toppled Mohammad Reza Shah’s secular monarchy. The linchpin of the Islamic Republic’s political system is Ayatollah Khomeini’s doctrine of Wilayat-i Faqih, or guardianship of the jurist, which makes […]

Featured

Trump’s Attempt to Strongarm Europe on Iran Crashes and Burns

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – France24 reports that Trump’s attempt to dissuade the Europeans from continuing their support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has backfired. On Friday at a Munich security meeting, Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, replied to the chiding of Vice President Mike Pence that Iran is destabilizing the region. Maas remarked […]

Israel/ Palestine

European Union has Documented Israeli War Crimes, but When Will it Punish Them?

Middle East Monitor

By Kamel Hawwash | – The lack of action to bring Israel to account for more than seven decades’ worth of crimes against the Palestinian people is obvious. “Enough is enough” is an overused phrase, but in the case of the people of occupied Palestine, it does not even scratch the surface in terms of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Troops in Palestine Detained over 500 Palestinians, including 89 Children

Maan News Agency

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israel detained 509 Palestinians in January from occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 89 children and eight women, according to Palestinian prisoners rights groups. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), the Palestinian Prisoners and Former Prisoners’ Affairs Committee, and Addameer said in a joint statement that the Israeli authorities detained […]

Saudi Arabia

European Union to add Saudi Arabia to Money Laundering, Terror Blacklist

AFP

The European Commission proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too little to thwart the financing of terrorism and organised crime Brussels (AFP) – The European Commission on Wednesday proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too […]

Syria

Russia, Turkey, Iran Delighted at US Syria Withdrawal

AFP

By Maria PANINA Sochi (AFP) – The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran hailed the planned US withdrawal from Syria as they met for talks Thursday on how to work more closely together in the country’s long-running conflict. Hosting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in the southern city of Sochi, President Vladimir Putin said the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Voter Suppression: Bedouin Villages have no Polling Stations

Maan News Agency

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Eleven unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert, in southern Israel, have no polling stations or public transportation and a number of their thousands of residents will have to travel up to 50 kilometers to vote in the upcoming national elections on April 9th. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights […]

Syria

Russia, Turkey and Iran are holding a Summit on Syria and not inviting Trump

AFP

By Maria PANINA | – Sochi (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to host his Iranian and Turkish counterparts Thursday to discuss how to resolve the conflict in Syria as Islamic State jihadists made a last stand in the east of the country and Washington prepares to withdraw troops. A flurry of diplomatic […]