![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-middle-east.jpg)
Latest Articles about Middle East
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Umar_Shishani_in_Syria_-_EDM_January_23__2014.jpg)
Has the Number of Chechens Fighting in Syria Reached Its Peak?
The situation in Syria has not changed significantly in the past month, but the same cannot be said about the Chechens who are fighting there. Indeed, the Chechen groups in Syria have evidently radicalized and split into different factions because of the dispute between al-Nusra... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Javad_Zarif_and_Sergei_Lavrov_-_EDM_January_16__2014.jpg)
Russia Is Prepared to Sell Iranian Oil as Its Own
The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem have flown to Moscow on the same plane this week to meet their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to discuss the situation in Syria and the Geneva II peace conference due later... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rebel_commander_Saddam_al-Jamal_announced_he_was_joining_the_Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant__YouTube_.jpg)
December 2013 Briefs
EASTERN SYRIAN MILITANT LEADER ANNOUNCES CHANGE OF ALLEGIANCE FROM FSA TO AL-QAEDA Nicholas A. Heras Saddam al-Jamal, the former leader of the Liwa Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest Brigade) announced his defection from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to join the Islamic State of Iraq... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/A_demonstration_after_the_March_2013__liberation__of_Raqqa__the_first_and_only_provincial_capital_to_fall_out_of_regime_control__Source_Syria_Deeply_.jpg)
Abu Sa’id al-Hadrami: The Amir of Jabhat al-Nusra in the Raqqa
An unattended car was found near the Syrian town of Dayr Hafir in eastern Aleppo province in late September containing an explosive belt usually worn by Abu Sa’id al-Hadrami (a.k.a. Muhammad Sa’id al-Abdullah), the amir of Jabhat al-Nusra (JN). Al-Hadrami was on his way to... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bashar_al-Zoubi__Source_LiveLeak_.jpg)
Bashar al-Zoubi: The FSA’s Most Powerful Leader in Southern Syria
Bashar al-Zoubi (a.k.a. Abu Fadi) is the leader of the powerful Syrian armed opposition group Liwa al-Yarmuk (Yarmuk Brigade) and the military commander of the Free Syrian Army-Supreme Military Council’s (FSA-SMC) Southern Front. He is a member of the Arab al-Zoubi tribe, one of the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Kurdish_members_of_the_FSA_are_seen_on_a_tank_stolen_from_the_Syrian_army_in_Fafeen_village__north_of_Aleppo_province__Source_AP_.jpg)
Kurdish Strategy Towards Ethnically-Mixed Areas in the Syrian Conflict
Kurdish fighters in Syria have taken greater control of areas inhabited by both Arabs and Kurds since July 16, and aim to capture three other mixed areas in the governorates of Raqqah, Aleppo and Hasakah in order to connect existing Kurdish areas (al-Monitor, October 25).... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Jaysh_al-Adl__Source_Kavkaz_Center_.jpg)
The Army of Justice and the Threat of Sunni Militancy in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province of Iran
Fourteen border guards in the southeastern Iranian region of Saravan were assassinated and five seriously wounded on October 25 by a shadowy militant Sunni group known as Jaysh al-Adl (JA – Army of Justice) (IRNA, October 25; Mehr News, October 25). In retaliation, Iranian authorities... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Syrian_chemical_weapons_-_EDM_December_12__2013.jpg)
Kazakhstan Offers to Dispose of Syrian Chemical Weapons
On November 28, the deputy head of the Department for Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Anuar Tanalinov, said that his country was considering the possibility of taking part in the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. According to the Kazakhstani diplomat,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Chechen_commanders_in_Syria_-_EDM_December_12__2013.jpg)
Chechens Among the Syrian Rebels: Small in Number, but Influential
The situation of Syria’s Chechen community is changing rapidly. Three commanders—Emir Muslim (Muslim Margoshvili), Emir Seifullah (Ruslan Machaliashvili) and Emir Abu-Musaaba (Musa)—joined forces on October 31 (https://usudusham.com/ru/2013/11/1004/#more-1004), resulting in the establishment of a new group under the command of Emir Muslim, who had previously led... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Iran-Azerbaijan_border_crossing_-_EDM_December_11__2013.jpg)
US-Iran Rapprochement and the Immediate Consequences for Azerbaijan
The interim agreement, concluded on November 24 with Iran and six world powers led by the United States, will see Tehran cap its nuclear program at a reduced capacity in exchange for relaxed international sanctions. The deal has met with strong resistance from some quarters,... MORE