The U.S. Desperately Needs a Strategy to Deal With Russia’s Mercenary Armies

Reports this week that the United Arab Emirates is potentially financing Russian mercenaries in Libya affiliated with the notorious Wagner Group, according to a Pentagon watchdog, appear to be sending mini shockwaves through Washington. But the UAE has long had a fixation on mercenaries, and the fact that Russia is a regular supplier of soldiers of fortune should surprise no one. Much more worrying is the lack of policy coherence in Washington on what to do about it.

Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria return to Yemen’s Marib

Tribal sources have disclosed that a number of Al-Qaeda leaders and fighters have returned to the Yemeni province of Marib from Syria in recent days, according to the Yemen News Portal.

The Al-Qaeda elements have reportedly arrived in Marib through the coast of Shabwah with many returnees from Syria settling in the two Yemeni provinces. The sources did not rule out whether these groups were linked in any way to factions supported by Turkey in Syria, amid suggestions by some Gulf news outlets that it has the intention to intervene in Yemen.

Biden on Iran: Nukes first – again – analysis

Israel may not be happy, but president-elect’s views are better than Obama administration.

The waiting is over.

After writing a more general article in mid-September, US President-elect Joe Biden has finally gotten into the details of his strategy for dealing with Iran.

Iran Denounces US-Israel-Saudi Arabia Plot to Kill Scientist

Advocates of “maximum pressure” politics are trying to seize Trump’s last days in office to generate chaos in the Middle East region.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif Tuesday assured that the murder of the head of the Iranian nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was part of a conspiracy between the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

Turkish Reinforcements Pour Into Northwestern Syria

As they withdraw from more points that are surrounded by the Syrian army, Turkish forces send additional troops and resources in Idleb reports Al-Masdar.

The Turkish Armed Forces sent a large convoy of reinforcements to the northwestern region of Syria on Monday, coinciding with their recent withdrawals from areas surrounded by the Syrian army.

Refugee Issue Steals Show in Geneva

The Constitutional Committee has continued its work in Geneva, with talks dominated by the issue of refugees writes Alsouria Net.

The first day of the fourth round of the meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, held on Monday in Geneva, ended with an argument between the regime and the opposition delegation over the issue of the return of refugees.

Iran vows revenge after assassination of top nuclear scientist

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh gunned down near Tehran; Iran blames Israel; UN, Germany urge restraint.

Iran vowed revenge on Saturday for the assassination a day earlier of its top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, raising the threat of a new confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the West with just over seven weeks left of US President Donald Trump’s term in office.

A generation of fighters who died by the sword

In some ways it is a tragedy that these men turned their fire and anger against Israel and the US.

There was a time when Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, his No. 2, Imad Mughniyeh, and IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani would sit together and feel safe. They were leading the “resistance” against Israel, and the Jewish state would soon be defeated, or so they believed. These men had come through the fire of the 1980s, the civil war in Lebanon or the Iran-Iraq War, and they knew the privations of the past.

‘Tehran has become Mossad’s street corner’

Iranians tweet about the killing with surprise and also highlighting the abilities of those who allegedly killed him.

Iranians responded with awe and surprise as key Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was gunned down east of Tehran. Farsi social media was full of tweets about the surprising shooting of one of the key men behind the nuclear program in Iran.