Orientul Mijlociu

A year after the October 2021 elections, the Iraqi Council of Representatives finally ended the stalemate and confirmed the country’s fifth president. The election of Abdul Latif Rashid removed the complex constitutional obstacle prior to government formation. The intra-Kurdish competition for the Iraqi presidency was the de jure reason for the one-year delay to finalize the process of what was supposed to be an early election to swiftly replace Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government. In real time, the new government—which was seated after the natural end of its predecessor’s term—may be an interim government, as another early election seems to be the only way to restore the political equilibrium in Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish militia group, which is banned in Turkey as a terrorist organization, said on Monday that it was not involved in the Sunday explosion in Istanbul.

“We have nothing to do with this incident and it is well-known by the public that we would not target civilians directly or approve of actions directed at civilians,” PKK said in a statement published by the Kurdish Firat News Agency.

A group of Iranian clerics visited the headquarters of the Baqir Brigade, Iran’s ally, in the city of Aleppo. The brigade has played a major role in curbing Russian influence in Aleppo in favor of Iran.

Over the past few days, Iranian clerics have visited the headquarters of the Baqir Brigade in Aleppo.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Idlib, is taking advantage of the difficult living conditions of the people to attract more people into its ranks by offering high salaries.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is still the largest and most dominant faction in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, amid its continuous attempts to control other areas to expand its influence, despite the existence of other factions supported by Turkey.

Iran again bombed Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, targeting alleged headquarters of the Iranian-Kurdish opposition located in northern Iraq.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bombed the Koysinjaq area in both Erbil and Sulaimaniyah provinces on the morning of Nov. 14. At least five rockets hit both sides of the border between the two provinces, injuring many residents, according to the local health authorities. Two deaths have been reported so far.

CIA chief warns his Russian counterpart “on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons” during face-to-face talks in Ankara.

US and Russian spy chiefs traveled to Turkey’s capital for a delicate meeting amid increasing fears that Russia may be readying to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Turkish security forces have arrested a Syrian woman they say confessed to carrying out the attack under instructions from Kobani, but both the Kurdistan Workers Party and Syrian Kurdish forces deny any involvement.

The Iran-backed Hamas terror group is investing great resources in its cyber espionage capabilities, opening an increasingly dangerous front in its war against Israel, according to a new report.

In Syria, opponents found in oil a rare point of consensus to cooperate and pick clean the country’s wealth and revenues, according to Ibrahim Hamidi for Asharq al-Awsat.

With the war in Syria now in its twelfth year and with the US-Russian conflict still ongoing to control the oil sector and its potential, local belligerents and regional opponents have found in oil a rare point of consensus to cooperate and pick clean the country’s wealth and revenues.