Middle East

By Einat Gedalya-Lavy | – Israelis are heading to the polls in a unique election. The vote on September 17 is the first time Israelis will vote in two elections in the same year, after the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, failed to form a new coalition government following the April 2019 […]

Donald Trump

Trump Has been Waging a Brutal War on Iran for over a Year, in Alliance with Saudi Arabia & Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – You will note that in 2015-2018 we never heard anything about military tensions in the Gulf. During those years, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal, was in effect and in January of 2016 all economic sanctions were lifted on Iran by the United Nations, the […]

Arms Sales

Despite Brutal Yemen War, will Saudis stock up at London’s Arms Fair?

Human Rights Watch

Conduct in Yemen War Means UK Government Should Not Resume Arms Sales

Israel/ Palestine

Surprise! Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ = Annexation & Apartheid

Ramzy Baroud

By Ramzy Baroud | @RamzyBaroud | – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving quickly to alter the political reality in Palestine, and facing little or no resistance. On September 10, Netanyahu declared his intentions to annex swathes of Palestinian land adjacent to the Jordan River, an area that covers 2,400 square kilometres, or nearly […]

Iraq

How Iraq Is Standing Up For Itself, After Israeli Attacks

Mustafa Habib

(Niqash) – Mustafa Habib Often trapped between Iran and the US, Iraq’s foreign policy experts have been playing a wily game to avoid it happening again – especially after suspected Israeli attacks inside the country. 6.09.2019 | Baghdad Politics Unusual: Iraqi leaders came together to formulate a measured response. In Iraq, both politicians, military and […]

Saudi Arabia

The Saudi-United Arab Emirates Game of Thrones in Yemen

Middle East Monitor

By Mareb Al-Ward | – Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are exchanging roles in Yemen. While the former pretends to be completely biased in favour of the legitimacy, which requested its interference, the latter has adopted a clear position in favour of its military militias in the south. It is true that there is a difference […]

Donald Trump

Trump Awaits orders from Saudis; and Why the Houthis could have Done It

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s bizarre infatuation with strongmen and dictators was on full display in his response to Saturday’s drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. As our foremost Gulf expert, Kristian Ulrichsen, noted, The way you phrase it sounds like you are waiting for the Saudis to tell you what to do. […]

Featured

Pompeo Manipulatively blames Iran as Saudi Arabia loses 58% of Oil Production to Houthi Attack

Juan Cole

Yemen’s Zaydi Shiite Houthi rebels, who control the northwest of Yemen, including the capital of Sana’a, claimed on Saturday to have launched the 10 drones that struck the major Saudi petroleum production and refining installations at Abqaiq and Khurais. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that the drones came from Yemen, blaming the attack on […]

Iran

Forget Politics: The Joys of Iran’s Traditional Music

The Conversation

By Darius Sepehri | – Weaving through the rooms of my Brisbane childhood home, carried on the languid, humid, sub-tropical air, was the sound of an Iranian tenor singing 800-year old Persian poems of love. I was in primary school, playing cricket in the streets, riding a BMX with the other boys, stuck at home […]