Latest Articles about Middle East
Russian Views of the Saudi Oil Facility Attacks (Part One)
On September 14, Yemen’s Houthi militants claimed responsibility for an attack on crucial Saudi Arabian oil facilities in Buqayq and Khurais, which was carried out using a number of suicide drones (allegedly 18) and 7 cruise missiles. The exact area(s) from which the strikes were... MORE
Baluch Raji Ajohi Sangar: Emergence of a New Baluch Separatist Alliance
The surfacing of a new Baluch separatist organization in Pakistan’s terrorism-ridden Baluchistan province marks a major new development. The newly established organization, Baluch Raji Ajohi Sangar (BRAS) (in English, Baluch National Freedom Movement), is an alliance of three Baluch nationalist-separatist terrorist groups—Baluchistan Republican Army (BRA),... MORE
Cairo’s Struggle to Contain North Sinai Militancy
On July 18, militants executed four individuals in the town of Bir al-Abd, in North Sinai, for alleged cooperation with the Egyptian security services. One day later, at least two people, including a civilian and a member of the security services, were killed in an... MORE
Moscow Sees Saudi Drone Attack as an Opportunity
In an official statement, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the September 14 multiple unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and cruise missile attacks on Saudi Arabia’s main Abaqaiq oil processing facility and the Khurais oilfield that crippled Saudi oil production: “We strongly condemn attacks on... MORE
Strategic Consequences of Russia’s Economic Presence in the Suez Canal Zone
Belarus recently announced plans to join the Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) in the Suez Canal. Eventually, Minsk intends to set up its own industrial park in the Egyptian Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone); but for now, Belarus is content to cooperate with Moscow in the... MORE
Iran May Not Be the Entirely Reliable Ally in the Caspian Moscow Hopes For
Following last month’s (August 12) Caspian Economic Forum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (see EDM, September 4), a number of Russian commentators celebrated what they saw as a victory of the “Russian-Iranian approach,” which seeks to promote north-south trade over the east-west flows supported by the three... MORE
Crimea Offers Iran Use of Its Ports for Oil Transport
Both Iran and Russia suffer from the United States’ sanctions: the former since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the latter since its 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea. But in a recent bout of creative synergy, Crimean “deputy prime minister” and the permanent representative of Crimea to... MORE
Briefs
Iraq: External Actions Against PMF Threaten Delicate Balance Brian M. Perkins Iraq remains in an extremely precarious position after declaring victory over Islamic State (IS) in December 2017, and regional tensions continue to upset the local balance of power. Iraq relies heavily on the Popular... MORE
Islamic State Operations Room: Lebanon Prison Radicalization
On the evening of June 3, a gunman killed two police officers and two members of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Tripoli, Lebanon. The assailant, identified posthumously as Lebanese national Abdel Rahman Mabsout, opened fire and threw explosives at two security positions while riding... MORE
Some Old, Some New: Grievances, Players, and Backers in the Conflict in Southern Yemen
The war in Yemen has grown increasingly intractable over the past several months as the long-simmering rift within the anti-Houthi coalition has widened, with violence between the pro-secession Southern Transitional Council (STC) and Hadi and Islah-aligned forces erupting in Aden, Shabwa, and Abyan. The conflict... MORE