Orientul Mijlociu

Is Assad Trying to Escape Iran’s Grip?

Assad’s debt to Iran is substantial, both financially and politically, Omar Kaddour writes in al-Modon.

Recent Israeli airstrikes in Syria, including a rumoured strike on a villa linked to Hezbollah and Maher al-Assad, signal a heightened warning to the Assad regime. Israel has reportedly conveyed messages through Arab intermediaries, urging Assad not to intervene in the current conflict. While Assad’s military strength is insufficient to support Iran or Hezbollah directly, it’s clear that Tehran exercises significant influence over Syria, often acting independently of Assad’s authority.

Syria TV Reveals Incursion of Israeli Tanks into Syria: What’s Happening in the Golan?

Syria TV reported the incursion of Israeli tanks and vehicles that have started constructing a military dirt road in the Golan region of Syrian territory.

Syria TV reported the incursion of Israeli tanks and vehicles that have started constructing a military dirt road in the Golan region of Syrian territory. Images show land levelling operations and trench digging near the border fence, coinciding with escalating Israeli actions against Lebanon.

Violent ‘Megalomaniac’ Sinwar Takes Hamas on Even More Radical Path

After Yahya Sinwar, the man responsible for launching the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, took full control of Hamas over the summer, Arab intelligence officials say he sent a directive to a senior operative: Now is the time to revive suicide bombings.

A few days later, a bespectacled Palestinian entered Tel Aviv with a blue backpack loaded with explosives. Although the bomb exploded before the man reached his target, killing only him, the attack sent an unmistakable message.

The Geopolitics of South-East Europe and the Importance of the Regional Geostrategic Position at the Turn of the 20th Century

Preface

A geopolitical issue of South-East Europe became of very importance for scholars, policymakers, and researchers with the question of the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire as one of the most crucial features of the beginning of the 20th century in European history. A graduate collapse of the one-time great empire was accelerated and followed by competition and struggle by both, the European Great Powers and the Balkan national states, upon the territorial inheritance of it. While the European Great Powers had the aim to obtain new spheres of political-economic influence in South-East Europe, followed by the task to establish a new balance of power in the continent, a total collapse of the Ottoman state was seen by small Balkan nations as the unique historical opportunity to enlarge the territories of their national-states by the unification of all ethnolinguistic compatriots from the Ottoman Empire with the motherland. The creation of a single national state, composed of all ethnographic and historic “national” lands, was in the eyes of the leading Balkan politicians as a final stage of national awakening, revival, and liberation of their nations which started at the turn of the 19th century on the ideological basis of the German romanticist nationalism expressed in a formula: “One Language-One Nation-One State”.[1]

The Potential for a Dangerous Arms Race in the Middle East

  • As Israel continues to prepare its response to Iran’s missile barrage, one of the target sets could include Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, including striking weaponization facilities, fuel enrichment plants, and/or research and development laboratories.
  • In the event of a significant strike on Iran, the Supreme Leader may opt to pursue nuclear deterrence by developing a bomb.
  • CIA Director William Burns recently reaffirmed that, while Iran has so far adhered to the Supreme Leader’s policy against pursuing a nuclear bomb, they are only about a week away from reaching the breakout time required to produce weapons-grade material for a single nuclear weapon.
  • If Iran pursues a nuclear weapon, it could trigger an arms race in the Middle East, prompting other nations to follow suit in a bid to maintain regional balance.

Iraq’s Dollar Auction: The ‘Monster’ Funneling Billions to Fraudsters and Militants Through the U.S. Federal Reserve

A system set up to channel dollars from Iraqi oil sales to importers has been exploited by money launderers and militant groups for years. An OCCRP investigation shows how the fraud works in practice.

Key Findings

  • Al-Huda, an Iraqi bank whose owner was sanctioned after a drone attack on U.S. forces, allegedly exploited the dollar auction to obtain billions of dollars.
  • Files from an Iraqi parliamentary investigation show how Al-Huda and two other banks used apparently fake documents to manipulate the process.
  • Over 99 percent of the money obtained by one bank in a single month in 2012 was cleared based on documents that appeared fraudulent.
  • The dollar auction has been used to fund U.S. adversaries including Iran-backed militias, the Islamic State, and Syria’s Assad regime, experts say.
  • At least $28 million was sent to a company the U.S. says handled funds for a Revolutionary Guard member later sanctioned for financing Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Turkey Supports Russia and Hamas; The US Should Not Give It F-35 Fighter Jets

Recent discussions between Turkey and the United States indicate that the Biden administration is actively pursuing Ankara’s reinstatement in the F-35 program.

It is difficult to justify why Washington would want to arm Turkey with these highly advanced fighter jets, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes fervent measures to undermine the core security interests of the United States, NATO, and our transatlantic allies.

Understanding Nasrallah’s speech: How will Hezbollah avenge Shukr?

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah spoke for the second time in seven days on August 6, commemorating one week since the assassination of the group’s military commander Fuad Shukr by Israel on July 30. Uncharacteristically calm, Nasrallah devoted much of his speech to covering the Lebanese group’s weaknesses exposed by the assassination and promising to avenge the fallen commander. Like his speech on August 1, this address by Nasrallah also contained hints regarding the form of Hezbollah’s anticipated revenge attack.

Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis

On October 1, 2024, the IRGC fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and Hassan Nasrallah and a senior IRGC officer in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Most of the missiles were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force and air defense forces, in collaboration with the United States and other countries. After the attack, senior Iranian officials stressed that the attack was carried out as part of their legitimate rights and that Iran did not want further escalation. However, they threatened a powerful response to an Israeli attack against them.