Archives for March, 2021

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a weekly cabinet meeting in the Jordan Valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 15, 2019. - Netanyahu's cabinet agreed to turn the wildcat settlement of Mevoot Yericho in the Jordan Valley into an official settlement, the premier's office said. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AMIR COHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Unconstrained Netanyahu jeopardizes relations with Jordan

Desperate to achieve a photo-op in Abu Dhabi before the March 23 elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blows off against Jordan when delaying his Emirati trip.

A picture shows a heavily polluted skyline as seen from west of the Iranian capital Tehran on January 12, 2016. / AFP / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

French citizen charged with espionage in Iran

The man was flying a helicopter with a camera in the desert, according to his lawyer. Several foreigners have been charged with spying and related crimes in Iran recently.

Erdogan’s Islamic credentials no longer a winning hand among Turkey’s Kurds

The ruling party’s increasingly strong alliance with nationalists has dampened support among the country’s Kurds.

NGOs file Syria torture complaint against Russia’s Wagner Group

The rights organizations allege that the shadowy paramilitary group is behind the 2017 torture and killing of a Syrian military defector.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards tout new missile base in support of navy

Top IRGC commanders inaugurated on Monday what Iranian state television described as a new underground missile base.

Jordan-Israeli ties on the brink over obstruction of royal visit to holy shrine

King Abdullah II has had enough of Benyamin Netanyahu's provocations over custodianship over Al-Aqsa Mosque and has retaliated by scuttling the Israeli premier's so-called historic trip to the UAE when Israel botched his son's visit to Jerusalem. Now Jordan-Israel ties have reached a new low as Netanyahu battles for his political survival in next week's elections.

Saudi female employees work at the customers service desk at a hypermarket, newly launched by the operator LuLu and run by a team of women, in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, on February 21, 2021. (Photo by Amer HILABI / AFP) (Photo by AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images)

COVID accelerates evolution of Gulf economies

The economic policy response to COVID-19 is an acceleration of specific trends already underway across the Gulf Cooperation Council members, variously affecting tax policy, labor market regulation and immigration policy.

Israeli air carrier requests to fly to Sharm el-Sheikh

In another sign of warming relations, Israel's Israir Airlines Ltd. wants to operate flights from Tel Aviv and Haifa to the Sinai Sharm el-Sheikh resort town.

Kosovo becomes third country to open embassy in Jerusalem

The Muslim-majority country opened an embassy in the contested city after Israel recognized its independence from Serbia.

Will US sanctions bring China and Saudi Arabia closer?

Recent US sanctions on Saudi Arabia, coupled with prospects for Washington reentering the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, could push Saudi Arabia to strengthen its ties with China.

Libya swears in new prime minister of unity government

Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has vowed to unify the war-torn country and lambasted the presence of foreign mercenaries.

Why Somalia is important for Egypt in Nile dam crisis

Egypt seeks to consolidate relations with Somalia for its important role in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis and to counter Turkish influence in the Horn of Africa.

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Oman bans popular chat app Clubhouse

The audio-only phone application is popular throughout the Middle East but could face further restrictions.

A Turkish military tank is seen in a destroyed neighbourhood of Sarmin town, about eight kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on March 10, 2020. - When protesters in March 2011 demanded their rights and regime change, they likely never imagined it would trigger a reaction that has led to the 21st century's biggest war. Nine years on, President Bashar al-Assad is still in power and there to stay, more than 380,000 people have died, dozens of towns and cities razed to the ground an

Biden leaves Syria on back burner as war marks 10 years

In his first months in office, President Joe Biden's team has signaled that Syria’s civil war won’t be among his top foreign policy priorities.

Iran begins phase one of domestic vaccine production

Iran says it has begun the first phase of production for a domestic coronavirus vaccine.

Iraqi security forces guard a symbolic funeral procession attended by high-ranking officials in Baghdad on October 23, 2019 for Major General Ali al-Lami, a commander of the Iraqi Federal Police's Fourth Division, who was killed the previous day in Samarra in the province of Salahuddin, north of the Iraqi capital. - The police commander was killed in an ambush on October 22 which Iraqi security forces blamed on dormant cells of the Islamic State (IS) group. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD A

Flurry of Sunni Triangle ops sparks questions over Islamic State

Several large military operations conducted in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq in recent weeks and mass killings have raised questions over whether a much-debated IS resurgence is actually in the making or whether the roots of the problem lie elsewhere.