Middle East

By Fernando Betancor | ( OpenDemocracy)| – – The pattern of strikes by the disjointed US-led coalition of Operation Inherent Resolve remains the best and most reliable public indicator of intentions and future operations in the short-term. As I pointed out in early December, changes to the balance of forces in Syria and Iraq have been forcing […]

Democracy

“Tehran is liberated territory” as Pragmatists & Centrists win Iranian Capital & Expert Assembly

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The era of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also a former mayor of Tehran, is completely over. Ahmadinejad’s so-called spiritual mentor, Mohammad-Taqi Misbah-Yazdi (actually an extremely hateful individual), lost his seat on the Assembly of Experts, as did far right figure Mohammad Yazdi, the body’s sitting […]

Iran

How Much will Iran Change after Ayatollah Khamenei?

Juan Cole

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL ) | – – The succession question in Iran has come to the fore recently with the election of a new Assembly of Experts, the 88-member chamber of (male) theologians who pick and nominally oversee the work of the country's supreme leader. Speculation mounted about potential successors to Supreme […]

Saudi Arabia

US-Backed Saudi-Led Airstrikes Kill 40 People in Yemen, Mostly Civilians

contributors

TeleSur Saudi Arabia has been accused of bombing weddings and carrying out other war crimes against Yemeni militants it claims are aligned with Iran. Airstrikes carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition waging war in Yemen struck a market in the capital Sanaa on Saturday, killing 40 people, according to Reuters. At least 30 people […]

Israel/ Palestine

Obama Signs Trade Law protecting Israeli Squatters from Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions

contributors

By IMEMC | – – US President Barack Obama, this week, signed into law a sweeping trade agreement which protects Israel from boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) by countries who oppose the ongoing military occupation of Palestine. The agreement — H.R. 644: Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 — was passed 75-20, on […]

Featured

Syrian Ceasefire: A Signal that Russia is winning the War?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether or not the cessation of hostilities in Syria holds, it is a major turning point in the revolution and civil war that began in 2011. As of Saturday morning in Syria, the major fronts between the regime and the Muslim Brotherhood factions were quiet. There […]

Featured

Iran Election Results Show that when US rewards Pragmatists, they Win

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Early results in Iran’s parliamentary elections suggest that the centrists, pragmatists and independents will have more seats than the Khomeinist far right. For the first time since the 1979 revolution, no one bloc will dominate the national legislature. The far right had had 66% of the […]

censorship

Egypt Jails Novelist Ahmed Naji for 2 years for His ‘Sexually Explicit’ Novel

contributors

By Mohammed Hasan | ( Global Voices | – – A Cairo appeals court sentenced Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji for two years in prison for publishing a chapter containing “sexually explicit” scenes from his novel The Guide of Using Life in a magazine. Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji has been sentenced to […]

Israel/ Palestine

European Union, Palestinian PM condemn Israel’s deliberate destruction of EU-funded Structures

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Thursday condemned Israel’s “deliberate” destruction of EU-funded structures in the occupied Palestinian territory, as he called on the international community to take action. “Israel must be held accountable for its deliberate targeting of EU-funded humanitarian aid structures built for the […]