![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-middle-east.jpg)
Latest Articles about Middle East
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/IRAN-articleLarge.jpg)
Low Level Boundary Dispute Intensifies as Iran and the UAE Contest Control of Strategic Gulf Islands
The April 22 visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Island of Abu Musa near the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz has triggered new tensions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (al-Jazeera, April 16; Gulf News April 16). The decades-long territorial... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Tariq_al-Hashimi_and_Recep_Tayip_Erdogan_-_EDM_May_3__2012.jpg)
Turkey Is Drawn into Iraqi Affairs
The developments in Iraqi domestic politics, coupled with their regional implications, continue to drag Turkey deeper into Middle Eastern affairs, while its involvement in the Syrian conflict already occupies a large part of Ankara’s foreign policy agenda. The ongoing power struggle between Iraqi Prime Minister... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Safar_Abiyev_and_Ahmadinejad_-_EDM_April_23__2012.jpg)
Critical Time for Azerbaijan-Iranian Relations
For the last two months, Azerbaijani-Iranian relations were put under serious stress. Relations between the two countries lacked cordiality for many years; yet, both countries refrained from harsh criticisms and hostile actions against each other. However, several recent events exacerbated the uneasy relations between the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pro-Russia_Syrian_demonstrators_-_EDM_April_20__2012.jpg)
Moscow Mixes Profit with Principle in Syria
To hear Moscow tell it, Russia’s aims in Syria are only motivated by principle. It opposes the use of ambiguous UN resolutions to permit intervention to forcibly democratize a country, an outcome that it believes invariably leads to protracted war. Russia is also against forcing... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Smetliviy_Russian_warship_-_EDM_April_19__2012.jpg)
Russian Permanent Naval Deployment Resumed off Syria
Since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in Syria more than a year ago, Western and Arab diplomats and journalists continue to ask the same question: When will Moscow abandon the seemingly doomed regime or put pressure on Damascus to stop the carnage that,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ahmadinejad_nuclear_program_-_EDM_April_13__2012.jpg)
Turkey Facilitates Talks with Iran, Following Bickering over Venues
A new round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Germany) engaged in diplomatic efforts with the Islamic Republic is scheduled to be held in Istanbul this weekend. As the meeting comes against the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Turkish_FM_Ahmet_Davutoglu_at_FoS_conference_-_EDM_April_4__2012.jpg)
Supporters of Syria Take Significant Steps, but No Endgame in Sight
On April 1, Turkey hosted the second meeting of the Friends of Syria group, which produced mixed results as to the future of the Syrian uprisings. While the meeting lent some legitimacy to the opposition organized around the Syrian National Council (SNC) and warned President... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Al-Murqoshi.jpg)
Abu Hamza Al-Murqoshi: The Enigmatic Amir of Yemen’s Ansar Al-Shari’a
Abu Hamza Al-Murqoshi, the enigmatic Amir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) newly formed Ansar al-Shari’a, rose to power last spring as anti-government revolts overwhelmed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government and military in Sana’a. Under the Amir’s leadership, Ansar al-Shari’a has seized control of and... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aslan_Tkhakushinov_at_inauguration_-_EDM_March_26__2012.jpg)
Syrian Circassians Under Pressure from both the Government and Opposition
On March 20, members of a Russian parliamentary delegation who traveled to Syria reported that at least 100 families of Syrian Circassians were prepared to immediately emigrate to the Russian North Caucasus. They said at least 300 families were also considering emigration to the Circassian... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Safar_Abiyev_and_Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_-_EDM_March_20__2012.jpg)
Azerbaijan Breaks Iranian-Linked Spy Network
The South Caucasus has emerged as a battleground between Iran and its adversaries. Recent weeks have seen Iranian assassination attempts against Israeli diplomats in Baku and Tbilisi, a massive Israeli-Azerbaijani arms deal (EDM, March 7) and, most recently, the announcement that Azerbaijan’s national security ministry... MORE