
Latest Articles about Middle East

Regional Tensions Could Trigger Energy Deficit in Karabakh
Last September, long-brewing strains between Iran and Azerbaijan reached an unprecedented level, resulting in the deployment of troops and large-scale military drills by both sides. The most immediate trigger was the Azerbaijani authorities’ arrest of two Iranian truck drivers on Armenia’s Goris–Kapan highway (which partially... MORE

Assassination Attempt against Prime Minister Al-Khadimi Highlights Intra-Shia Divisions in Iraq
A loud explosion was heard in the early hours of November 7 in the fortified area in Baghdad known as the “Green Zone.” This was followed by heavy gunfire in the Green Zone, which hosts government offices and U.S. and other Western diplomatic missions. The... MORE

Briefs
Togo Suffers First Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Jihadist Attack On November 11, Togo announced that it had suffered the first ever jihadist terrorist attack on its territory. According to the country’s security forces, the attack occurred in Kpendjal, in the town of Sanloaga, along Togo’s northern border with... MORE

Four Obstacles to Iranian Oil and Gas Production in the Caspian Sea
In recent months, a series of analytical publications sparked fresh debate in Iran about the status of Iran’s oil and natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea as well as why it has still not taken greater efforts to exploit those resources. Namely, a piece... MORE

Iran’s Impending Military Intervention In Iraqi Kurdistan: Catalysts and Unintended Consequences
The Iranian Foreign Ministry warned on October 4 that its “strategic patience” with what it described as anti-Iranian terrorist groups operating in the Iraqi Kurdistan region had come to an end (Pars Today, October 5). The remarks followed threats by both Iran’s top military commander,... MORE

How Confucius Institutes in the Arab World Shape Positive Perceptions of China
Introduction Much has been written about Confucius Institutes (CI) in the West, but this tool of Chinese influence does not receive much attention for its activities in the Arab world. This article aims to fill this gap. CIs, which operate in universities worldwide, are managed... MORE

Turkish-Azerbaijani Exercises in Nakhchivan: A Turkic Axis on Iran’s Doorstep?
Since signing the 2010 Strategic Partnership Treaty, Turkey and Azerbaijan have transformed their rhetorically close ties, encapsulated in the oft-repeated slogan “one nation, two states,” into a real military alliance with a casus foederis clause, resembling Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO)... MORE

Tensions in Tehran-Baku Relations: Iran’s New Transit Routes in Armenia and the Caspian Sea
Although many observers assumed that the recent uptick in tensions between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan (see EDM, October 6) would die down following the telephone calls between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov (Al Jazeera, October 13),... MORE

Who Is Losing Belarus?
On October 7, the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution demanding that the European Union (EU) impose the fifth package of economic sanctions on Belarus, including additional sectors, such as metallurgy, woodworking, and chemical. According to the EP, the sanctions should affect “all remaining uncovered... MORE

Yemen’s Houthis Close in on Marib
After a brief lull in fighting, the rebels of the Yemeni Houthi movement, Ansar Allah, are closer than they have ever been to surrounding Marib city. The city, which is the capital of the governorate of the same name, is also the de-facto capital of... MORE