Iran, Deeply Embedded in Syria, Expands ‘Axis of Resistance’
posted in: Middle East, News
Kiswah base, above: Tiyas air base Compound near Damascus Airport, above Al Shayrat airfield By The … Read More
Netanyahu to Iran: ‘Do Not Test Israel’s Resolve’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who spoke at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on Sunday, brandished a remnant of what he said was an Iranian drone shot down in Israeli airspace.CreditLennart Preiss/MSC Munich Security Conference, via Reuters MUNICH … Read More
Russia Is Taking Over Syria’s Oil And Gas
If finally happened… In accordance with an energy cooperation framework agreement signed in late January, Russia will have exclusive rights to produce oil and gas in Syria. The agreement goes significantly beyond that, stipulating the modalities of the rehabilitation of … Read More
What Iran Is Really Up To in Syria
posted in: Middle East, News
BEIRUT—On the day Syrian anti-aircraft missiles downed an American-made Israeli F-16 fighter jet, a banner boasting of the feat in both Arabic and Hebrew script went up in a village in southern Lebanon. To the northeast, loyalists of Bashar al-Assad, … Read More
Israel squares off for showdown with Iran in Syria
Israel has viewed Iran’s growing footprint in neighbouring Syria with alarm [File: Omar Sanadiki/Reuters] A surge in Israeli-Syrian cross-border incidents has turned into the “biggest” confrontation between the two countries in decades, and confronted Russia with a new dilemma: how to preserve … Read More
Mideast tensions get even worse
posted in: Middle East, News
(CNN)As if the broken, angry, dysfunctional Middle East needed another conflict, along came an unprecedented escalation between Israel, Iran and Syria to make the region even more volatile and dangerous. In the predawn hours of Saturday, an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli airspace … Read More
Mattis dismisses concerns of broader [conflict] after deadly conflict in Syria
posted in: Middle East, News
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed concerns on Thursday that the United States was being dragged into a broader conflict in Syria, after a major clash with pro-Syrian government forces overnight that may have left 100 or more of … Read More
Turkey is using Syrian refugees as bargaining chips as it moves against the Kurds
posted in: Middle East, News
Kurdish protestors against the Turkish operation in Afrin outside the EU building in Lebanon on January 28. Wael Hamzeh/EPA When Turkish ground troops rolled into Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria, in January, the regime was making a considered political calculation. … Read More
Russia intensifies bombing of Syria’s Idlib after rebels down jet, killing pilot
AMMAN, Jordan — Russian jets intensified their raids on rebel-held towns and cities in Syria’s northern Idlib province on Sunday night, a day after rebels shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot. Civil defense sources said air raids struck … Read More
Syrian refugees at risk of being forced back home despite ongoing violence, report warns
posted in: News, Refugee Crisis Europe
PHOTO: Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are at risk of being forced to return as violence continues.(Reuters: Muhammad Hamed, file photo) RELATED STORY: Syrian refugees fleeing violence shot at and beaten at Turkish border, HRW says RELATED STORY: After years of bombing … Read More