Palestinians make their way back to their homes in the ruins of Gaza On February 4, the international community will get to see President Donald Trump wading into the midstream of West Asia’s crisis, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters the Oval Office hoping for an opportunity to shape US regional policy. Do you …
US needs a junior partner in the Gulf
US President Joe Biden is dispatching one his top aides to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman The Biden Administration is in a persuasive mood, won’t take no for an answer. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed at a think tank conference in Washington on Thursday that he proposed to travel …
Erdogan weighs up Russia, dares Biden
Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s (R) friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) annoys the US (File photo) Turkish President Recep Erdogan has disclosed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the nuclear fuel loading ceremony on April 27 at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov deftly handled the political bombshell, choosing not to …
US occupation of Syria will continue
US Joint Chiefs Chair, General Mark Milley (L) paid an unannounced visit to a US military base in Northeast Syria, March 3, 2023 The sudden unannounced arrival of the top US military officer General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a dusty American base in Syria’s remote northeast on Friday may …
The West sees Iran in a new way
A drone exploding over a Defense Ministry workshop in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, on January 29, 2023 The Wall Street Journal reported from Tehran on Wednesday that “a lethal crackdown and an ailing economy have quieted anti-government street demonstrations … organised protests have largely tapered off.” The paradox is, this interpretation is widely applicable …
Syria’s power dynamic is shifting
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad met Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian, Damascus, January 14, 2023 The process toward a Turkish-Syrian rapprochement may lose momentum as a top aide to Turkish President Recep Erdogan threatened to derail it. On Saturday, Ibrahim Kalin, presidential advisor on foreign policy, stated during a media briefing in Ankara that the …
Russia consolidates in East Mediterranean
Turkish military convoy in border with Northern Syria (File photo) The curtain is coming down on the brutal 11-year old Syrian conflict, which former US President and Nobel Laureate Barack Obama initiated, as the Arab Spring swept through West Asia two decades ago. The United States has suffered yet another big setback in West Asia …
Continue reading “Russia consolidates in East Mediterranean”
Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Sochi, Russia, on August 5, 2022 The 4-hour meeting on Friday at Sochi between President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Erdogan promises to be a defining moment in regional politics. The single biggest takeaway from the Sochi meet is, of course, the “win-win” economic partnership …
Continue reading “Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions”
Assad renews Syria’s bonds with Iran
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi (right) in talks with visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran, May 8, 2022 The unannounced arrival of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran on Sunday makes yet another wrinkle to the geopolitics of West Asia. In a short trip of a few hours, Assad had meetings with Iran’s Supreme Leader …
US to remove IRGC from terror blacklist
Axios reported earlier this week citing Israeli officials and US sources that the Biden administration is considering the removal of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] from its terror blacklist, in return for a ‘public commitment from Tehran to de-escalation in the region.’ It is improbable that Tehran will give any such ‘public commitment’. But, …