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Russia Expands Its Air Defense Network in Syria

Russia has finished an advanced anti-access / area denial (A2AD) network that constrains U.S. freedom of maneuver in Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The zone integrates air defense and electronic warfare systems imported from Russia with modernized equipment formerly operated by Syria....

Gulf states rush to normalize Israel ties: Analysts

A flurry of visits by senior Israeli officials to Arab Gulf states reflects a rush by Gulf countries to “befriend” with Israel, analysts believe. “The peace rail link between Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf countries is an economic normalization at the expense of...

Israel’s Gaza op failed to achieve objectives: Analysts

Gaza-based political experts say Israel’s brazen incursion into Gaza on Sunday was meant to "disrupt and confuse" Palestinian resistance groups, especially Hamas, which has governed the strip since 2007. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least seven Palestinians, including a...

Saudi admission over critic's killing shields crown prince

Saudi Arabia's admission -- after emphatic denials -- over the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi is aimed at shifting the responsibility away from the powerful crown prince, whose position so far appears unshaken, analysts say. The kingdom sacked two top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed...

Conflict of interest mounts between Russia, Iran in southern Syria

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Once the Syrian regime and key ally Russia took the Syria south from rebels, a power struggle has begun to appear between these forces. each side is now trying to win over the support of civilians by rallying the youth and spreading ideas that back up its military, economic and...

Washington seeks the Iraqi scenario in Syria: opinion

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A very significant development has taken place in the last few hours where the congressional council approved one of the laws before it concerning the amendment of the Federal Aviation Administration Act and the development of its items, promising to achieve the...

How UN humanitarian aid has propped up Assad

The international sanctions imposed on Syria since April 2011 are the most comprehensive on record. Nonetheless, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has over the past seven years waged an extraordinarily brutal war on his own people, killing half a million Syrians, displacing millions more, and...

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham: Syria regime's toughest foe in Idlib

The Syrian regime and its Russian ally are threatening an offensive to retake the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria's last rebel bastion, where jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham holds sway. The jihadist alliance, the core of which is formed by the former Al-Qaeda branch in Syria,...

What next in Idlib?

Syria's northern province of Idlib is home to the last major rebel bastion in the country, and part of it could be the next target of Russian-backed government forces. An operation looks imminent but may be limited in scope, giving more time for a deal with Turkey, which also has forces...

The reality of Daesh in Iraq: Far from dead

At his post-summit news conference with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Monday, President Donald Trump praised the U.S.-led coalition’s “successful campaign” that had “just about eradicated” Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. Daesh, however, is far from dead in the region. I...

Saudi Arabia Can Ease Trump's Gas Price Fears

Saudi Arabia confronts something of a dilemma. On the one hand, it really wants to put the squeeze on arch-rival Iran, and few things squeeze that country harder than the resumption of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports. Yet the mere prospect of taking that much oil off the market has helped to...

Daesh attacks in Syria signal further violence

Daesh (ISIS) may have lost most of its territory in Syria but recent deadly attacks against pro-regime fighters are a foretaste of more to come, analysts say. Despite pro-government forces ousting Daesh from urban centers in eastern Syria last year, surprise raids there in past weeks have killed...

Pyongyang outmaneuvers Trump, as Tehran watches

“Should [Iranians] begin to enrich, we’re fully prepared to respond to that as well. I’m certainly not going to share with you today precisely what our response will be. But we watch them talk. We’ve heard them say -- I hope that they’ll make a different decision, that they’ll...

The princes, the president and the fortune seekers

After a year spent carefully cultivating two princes from the Arabian Peninsula, Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, thought he was finally close to nailing more than $1 billion in business. He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the...

Russia as a new power broker

By Aruuke Uran Kyzy The writer currently works at TRT World Research Centre as an Associate Researcher. Her current areas of focus are Russian foreign policy, modern cultural colonization, Turkish-Iranian-Russian relations and political aspects of Russian colonialism in Central Asia and...

Israel’s Airstrikes in Syria were a message

By Elizabeth Tsurkov (The Forward)- Israel’s bombing campaign against dozens of Iranian, Hezbollah and Syrian Army targets across Syria last night was the most extensive Israeli operation in Israel in over 40 years. Through these strikes, Israel is signaling to Tehran that it...

Russia has won in Syria, will it challenge U.S. in Lebanon next?

Lebanon held on Sunday its first parliamentary elections in nine years, as citizens expressed cautious optimism that the country's rigid, oft-deadlocked sectarian political system could be swayed. Behind the scenes, however, one of the world's leading powers has quietly eyed the small state as...

Blair endorses Syria strike, calls for International Intervention

(Zaman Al Wasl)-Even though 15 years have passed since the invasion of Iraq, the picture of the former Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair is still haunting many as the biggest engineer, warmonger, and influencer of that invasion. Today, Blair’s name is trending again as the...