The move continues a trend reversing aspects of Kurdish autonomy gained since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq
For the first time since 2002, oil revenues from Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will be transferred to a bank account supervised by the Iraqi central government, state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on 17 March, citing the prime minister’s media adviser Hisham al-Rekaby.
Tehran and Riyadh recently agreed to restore diplomatic relations under the auspices of China
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on 15 March that investments in Iran could happen “very quickly” following the signing of a normalization agreement.
At a time when conflicts are increasingly interconnected, and provide tactical levers to assert pressure elsewhere, the competition between Russia-Iran and Turkiye in Syria and the South Caucasus is destined to overlap.
Despite being in conflict with armed resistance factions in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority forces have also collaborated with them, posing a challenge to those who seek to divide Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has reportedly agreed to implement a controversial US proposal aimed at restoring its control over northern West Bank areas that are currently dominated by newly formed Palestinian resistance groups. However, the plan, lacking an understanding of the realities on the ground, may have unintended consequences.
Over the past two decades Iraq has been affected by several waves of intense conflict and violence. The 2003 invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition led by the United States and United Kingdom toppled the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein. It also ushered in years of chaos and civil war, as a variety of armed groups vied for power and territory and targeted coalition forces and the fledgling post-Ba’athist Iraqi Army. A period of relative calm in the early 2010s was broken by the rise of the extremist Islamic State group, which occupied large parts of the country from 2014 until it was largely defeated by Iraqi forces with the support of a US-led international coalition in 2017.
With negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme stalled, international monitoring abilities degraded, and China now mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran, what options do the US and Europe have for containing Tehran?
CENTCOM commander Michael “Erik” Kurilla told Congress about ongoing ‘aggressive’ behavior by Russian pilots, following the downing of a US MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea.
Russian combat pilots have been flying weapons-laden attack aircraft over US bases in Syria with increasing frequency over the past several weeks, in what Pentagon officials suspect is part of a wider pattern of deliberate provocation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit Egypt, both countries announced Friday, the first such high-level trip in more than a decade as their leaders repair relations damaged in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring.
The architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq had grand visions of transforming the Middle East in favour of U.S. interests. Two decades later, it is clear that the venture was a failure not just in that respect, but in most others as well.
Arab states pursuing reconciliation with Syria aim to achieve what was unachievable during the war: Breaking Syria’s alliances and placing Arab troops on Syrian soil.
After the devastating earthquake that shook Syria and Turkiye on 6 February, Damascus has found itself at the center of unprecedented regional diplomatic activity. Egypt and Jordan’s foreign ministers and a senior Arab parliamentary delegation dropped in for visits, while unconfirmed reports say Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat also made an appearance in the Syrian capital.