Orientul Mijlociu

SDF Commander tells Asharq Al-Awsat he won’t visit Damascus before conditions for political solution are available.

Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said the American administration of former President Donald Trump “betrayed” its allies in the SDF when it did not oppose the Turkish infiltration in Syria in late 2019. In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, he revealed that the current administration has prevented Türkiye from carrying out a new operation in Syria.

U.S. forces have received from an opposition military faction the body of ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, according to al-Modon.

U.S. forces have received from an opposition military faction the body of ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, who was killed in a military operation by opposition factions in the city of Jassem, north of Daraa, in mid-October.

Washington hopes to be able to deploy along direct lines of contact with Turkish forces in northern Raqqa governorate, according to Athr Press.

The United States has been seeking to start implementing a plan based on the reformation of the Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade faction, which has been dissolved since June 2018. Under the plan, Washington hopes to be able to deploy along direct lines of contact with Turkish forces in northern Raqqa governorate, which would satisfy Ankara’s desire to push back Kurdish units 30 kilometers into Syrian territory from the border.

The Syrian regime has sent military reinforcements to areas under the control of the SDF, according to al-Souria Net.

The Syrian regime has sent military reinforcements to areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, where Turkey is threatening to carry out a ground military operation.

The UN Security Council has condemned terrorist attacks in Iraq that have left 17 dead amid a surge in violence in the country.

ISIS terrorists killed nine federal police officers in an ambush on Sunday in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province.

Dozens of Iranian people arrested at recent protests either have been sentenced to death or have faced charges such as “armed insurrection against the regime (Baghi)”, “enmity against God (Moharebeh)”, or “spreading corruption on the earth”. Charges which may result in death penalty. At the time of this writing, 2 protestors have been executed, 11 others have been sentenced to death and 47 others are facing charges that could lead to death sentences. This report provides the legal case details of 58 of these individuals.

Two soldiers were killed and three were injured in an explosion in northern Iraq, Iraqi state news said Thursday.

The soldiers were traveling in an army vehicle a day earlier in the Makhmour district when an explosive device detonated, the state Iraqi News Agency reported.

Introduction

Iran’s mullahs’ regime may be toppled and replaced with a secular setup, but the repression in the country won’t end if minorities in Iran are not given their rights. The people of Balochistan are demanding not just regime change but independence. The solution to Balochistan’s problems is to break the chains of slavery for which its people have paid enormous sacrifices over decades. This position is shared by the people of Kurdistan and Ahwaz as well. For these reasons, it is the minorities in Iran that are most committed to the uprising against the Islamic Republic and they who are suffering the harshest consequences from the regime’s crackdown.

On November 29, 2022, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani, who was on his first visit to Tehran since assuming office. Al-Sudani was elected on October 27, 2022 by the pro-Iranian majority in the Iraqi parliament. In their meeting Khamenei instructed him on how to promote Iran’s interests, and warned, for the first time, that if Baghdad fails to impose its authority in Kurdistan – which, according to Tehran, is a source of terror against Iran, especially in the form of encouraging civil protests by Kurds within Iran – Iranian forces will “defend Iraq.” Khamenei added that ” Iraq’s security is Iran’s security, just as Iran’s security affects Iraq’s. He also called on Al-Sudani to “make maximum use of young and motivated Iraqi forces,” namely the Shi’ite militias established by Iran in Iraq, apparently as a counterweight to the public influence of Muqtada Al-Sadr, who has declared his opposition to the Iranian order promoted by Tehran in Iraq.

The Islamic State continues to carry out attacks in northern Iraq, creating serious security challenges for the country.

At least nine members of the Iraqi security forces were killed and three others were wounded on Sunday in a bomb attack targeting their convoy in the Kirkuk governorate of northern Iraq.

The Islamic State (IS) immediately claimed responsibility via its Telegram account. The attack took place near Safra, a village about 20 miles south of Kirkuk in the Kurdistan Region.