The Russian government has pledged to revive its economic ties with Arab nations. However, Moscow's relations with the Arab world now hardly sound reminiscent of the Soviet-era alliance, as the Kremlin has struggled to cooperate with major Arab energy producers.The Russian first Deputy Prime Minister... MORE

On June 15-16 Russia managed to hold two major heads-of-state summit meetings in the city of Yekaterinburg. That Yekaterinburg was chosen as the site is perhaps fitting, because it marks the geographical beginning of Russian Asia. These two summits were, for the most part, about... MORE

The son of a top Chechen rebel commander was reportedly among six students from Russia who were supposed to be deported from Egypt on June 18. According to Western media reports, two of the six, including Maskhud Abdullaev, son of rebel commander Supyan Abdullaev, did... MORE

The timing of Egypt’s April 8 announcement of its arrest of 24 men—allegedly linked to Hezbollah—on  Egyptian soil in November and December 2008 upped the ante in the already tense relationship between Cairo and the Lebanese Islamist resistance movement and, by extension, Hezbollah’s supporter, Iran... MORE

Iranian authorities in the southeastern region of Sistan and Baluchistan hung three men in public on May 30 for their role in a mosque bombing that killed 25 and injured over 100 worshippers in the city of Zahedan two days earlier. The men were convicted... MORE

After a gradual handover process, the Sunni fighters of the Sahwa (Awakening) Councils have come under the responsibility of Iraq’s Shi’a-led central government. From their emergence two years ago until recently, the Sahwa councils, which cooperated with Coalition forces to drive al-Qaeda out of their... MORE

In response to reports appearing in the British media, the Syrian embassy in London released a statement on May 10 regarding two British nationals who were arrested in Damascus on March 17, Maryam Kallis and Yasser Zahur Ahmed. According to the statement, “interrogations indicated that... MORE

On May 24 in Tehran, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his counterpart in Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari signed an intergovernmental framework declaration on gas pipeline construction and gas deliveries from Iran to Pakistan. The declaration pledges support for the agreements of intent, signed by the... MORE

Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Iraqi Shi’a cleric who has been studying to become an Ayatollah in the Iranian city of Qom since 2007, recently visited Turkey in a trip whose purpose is reported to have been a series of talks on Iraqi-Turkish security issues (al-Jazeera,... MORE