Middle East

TeleSur | – – According to a leaked U.S. plan, Washington and Moscow would merge their respective air campaigns against non-state armed groups in Syria. The United States will propose increasing military cooperation and sharing intelligence with Russia to identify and target Islamic State group and al-Qaida headquarters, training camps and supply routes in Syria, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Report: Israeli forces torch olive trees on private Palestinian land

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces have reportedly torched 10 dunams (2.5 acres) of land planted with olive trees south of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority. The Hebron office of the authority released a report on Monday that said its inspectors […]

Featured

A Story of Two Syrian Sieges: Manbij and East Aleppo

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The relatively even-handed Arabic newspaper Oman reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces (a mixed Kurdish and Arab group) advanced further into the city of Manbij on Wednesday. Manbij is a major outpost for Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in northern Syria, and the likelihood is that the Syrian […]

Iran

Iranian Fighters in Syria Hailed as Martyrs, Shrine-Defenders by Hard Liners

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | (RFE/RL) | – – In late May, Iranian state and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officials turned out in force at a state funeral in Ardebil Province. Revolutionary Guard Hashem Dehghani-nia's was among the latest coffins to have returned from the battlegrounds of Syria, where a rising Iranian death toll testifies […]

Turkey

Gaza: Turkey to Build Seawater Desalination Plant

contributors

By IMEMC | – – The Turkish Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs announced, Tuesday, that Turkey is to establish a seawater desalination plant to solve water crisis, estimating the coast of the project to $300,000,000 USD. The minister noted, according to Al Ray, that the project is big-ticket, noting that some countries announced that […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Turkey making a 180° Turn, warming to al-Assad & abandoning Saudi & Rebels?

contributors

TeleSur | – – The two countries had been allies before the 2011 uprising in Syria. Turkey is seeking to normalize relations with its neighbor Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a televised address on Wednesday. The news comes just weeks after Turkey restored diplmatic relations with Israel and one of Syria’s top […]

Featured

Is Kerry Right? Are Freemen of Syria and Army of Islam Radical Terrorists?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Josh Rogin of the Washington Post caused a stir by noticing something Secretary of State John Kerry said at Aspen last month. Kerry slammed Syrian al-Qaeda (Nusra Front) and Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), then said, “There are a couple of subgroups underneath the two designated — Daesh […]

Alawites

Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research has released a report saying that “As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in the world. In 2014, the median level of religious hostilities in the Middle East and North Africa reached a level four times that […]

Houthi

Why are Saudi-led Airstrikes Targeting Civilian Factories in Yemen?

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Unlawful Attacks Harm Economy, Show Need for Victim Compensation (Beirut) Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrikes have unlawfully hit numerous factories, warehouses, and other civilian economic structures in Yemen. “The repeated coalition airstrikes on civilian factories appear intended to damage Yemen’s shattered economy long into the future,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, senior […]