Orientul Mijlociu

Given that the U.S. presence is vital for the survival of the AANES, the prospect of withdrawal leaves the entire issue uncertain Akil Mahfouz writes in Athr Press.

While the Autonomous Administration and the SDF exert significant control in eastern Syria, the region faces persistent high levels of perceived threats. The presence of the United States, supporting the Autonomous Administration and opposing Turkey, contributes to this tension. There’s an American interest in forming militias from local tribes, potentially serving as a “partial replacement” along the Euphrates line and the Syria-Iraq border. Forecasts suggest a greater likelihood of violence than resolution in eastern Syria, intensifying tensions between the SDF and Arab tribes in the Euphrates line.

The Pentagon has proposed a plan suggesting that the Syrian Kurdish allies, involved in the campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS), consider forming a partnership with the Syrian regime. This proposal is part of a comprehensive reevaluation of the United States’ Syria policy, currently in progress at the State Department. Notably, input from Turkey, a key NATO ally, is being sought for this review, according to sources “familiar with the discussions” who spoke to Al-Monitor under the condition of anonymity.

En réponse aux nouvelles frappes des avions américains sur l’Irak & le Yémen, la Résistance islamique en Irak a promis de mettre les ports israéliens «hors service» jusqu’à la levée du blocus de Gaza.

Le secrétaire général des Brigades Sayyid al-Shuhada, Abu Ala al-Walaei, a annoncé aux premières heures du 24 janvier le début de la deuxième phase des opérations pro-palestiniennes de la Résistance islamique en Irak (RII), y compris la mise en œuvre d’un blocus naval contre Israël en mer Méditerranée.

Relatives mourn 17-year old American Tawfiq Ajaq at his funeral in his family’s Palestinian home village Al-Mazra’a ash Shaqriya, West Bank, January 20, 2024. Ajaq was killed by Israeli fire. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

If what is currently happening in the occupied Palestinian West Bank took place before October 7, our attention would have been completely fixated on that region in Palestine.

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said in a January 22, 2024, interview that aired on Russia Today TV that as long as Israel exists, the confrontation between it and Iran will remain. He added that Iran could never recognize the “plundering Zionist entity,” even if a Palestinian state is established as part of a two-state solution. Salehi added that this confrontation will continue until the “Zionist entity ceases to exist.”

On January 23, 2024, Channel 1 (Iran) aired a report about “multitudes” of drones that were manufactured by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and are being delivered to the Islamic Republic of Iran Army for use in its countrywide combat arrays. The drones – which include the Arash, Karrar, and Ababil-5 drones – have operational ranges of up to 1700 kilometers and can reportedly be used to carry out precision strikes, perform reconnaissance, or intercept hostile aircraft.

On January 21, 2024, “Al-Anbar Al-Yawm,” a media outlet which opposes Iran-backed militias in Iraq, shared a report by a news outlet, “Iraq Eye,” detailing how the Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades militia is building its own “drug empire” in Iraq with the help of Lebanese Hizbullah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The aim, according to “Iraq Eye,” is to monopolize the drug trade in the region.[1]

The Islamic State has regained its momentum, and the Biden administration might inadvertently give it another boost.

Since Hamas’s brutal attack against Israel on Oct. 7 and the resulting Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, tensions and hostilities across the Middle East have reached fever pitch. And with such a complex regional crisis playing out, it should not come as a surprise that the Biden administration is reconsidering its military priorities in the region.