US ambassador: Foreign groups likely behind Sri Lanka attacks

US ambassador: Foreign groups likely behind Sri Lanka attacks Reuters |Published:  04.24.19 , 10:56 The scale and sophistication of the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka suggested the involvement of an external group such as Islamic State, the US ambassador to said on Wednesday as the death toll jumped to 359. […]

Jordan’s Security is at the Mercy of Foreign Powers

How the Trump administration chooses to roll out its peace plan, and whether Netanyahu decides to start annexing parts of the West Bank, could have major repercussions for Jordan. Seth J. Frantzman Jordan’s King Abdullah II travelled to Assisi in Italy to receive a reward for his efforts to advance peace on March 29. He […]

Putin views launch of new submarine to carry nuclear drones

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a visit a shipyard in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Putin said the government will pursue an ambitious navy modernization effort. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of guardian council of the […]

Greenblatt to NYT: Hamas has been driving Gazans into lives of misery

Greenblatt’s op-ed is part of a series of written attacks the special envoy has launched against the Palestinian leadership in both the West Bank and Gaza in past weeks, particularly on social media. Tovah Lazaroff April 24, 2019 08:59 Hamas, not Israel, is responsible for the miserable conditions in Gaza, US special envoy Jason Greenblatt […]

‘Israel must recognize Armenian genocide, not fold to Turk pressure’

MK Yair Lapid (Blue and White) will submit a bill to lead to official recognition by Israel of the Armenian genocide. “Today is the Memorial Day of the Armenian Genocide. The time has come for Israel to officially recognize the Armenian genocide and stop folding before Turkish pressure. We have moral and historical responsibility to […]

Breaking: Two powerful explosions hit Syrian gov’t and opposition areas

    .td_uid_6_5cc013809cf55_rand.td-a-rec-img{text-align:left}.td_uid_6_5cc013809cf55_rand.td-a-rec-img img{margin:0 auto 0 0} BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:10 A.M.) – A massive blast hit the Idlib Governorate city of Jisr Al-Shughour this morning, resulting in tens of casualties. According to preliminary reports from opposition activists in Idlib, a car bomb was detonated inside a popular part of the city. Meanwhile, in Damascus, a […]

The Moral Case For Israel Annexing The West Bank—And Beyond

Israel has the moral right to annex all of the West Bank, for a plethora of reasons. Israel’s right to exist is non-negotiable and it has a right to unilaterally apply Israeli law over its nation-state. The April 2019 election victory for Benjamin Netanyahu will see him serve a record fifth term as Israeli prime […]

US vows to keep using Strait of Hormuz despite IRGC threats

The United States has pledged that its military will fly and sail wherever the international law allows ensuring the safety of commercial and non-commercial traffic in response to Tehran’s warning to close the Strait of Hormuz, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said in a press briefing on Tuesday. “Iran on a fairly regular basis […]

#Washington is choking the Iranian regime and its allies in the #MiddleEast:

#USAVSIran #Washington is choking the Iranian regime and its allies in the #MiddleEast: 1. Zero Iranian oil sales. 2. Increase of the siege on #Assad regime by preventing fuel from reaching #Syria. 3. Economic sanctions on #Hezbollah’s financial network.1/4 #USA #Iran #IRGC 4. Possiblity of reactivation of Project Cassandra against sources of funding for #Hezbollah […]

Crafting a Regional Policy to Contain Erdoğan

By Dmitri Shufutinsky April 23, 2019 BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,149, April 23, 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey poses a long-term threat to the security of the Middle East. Containing Neo-Ottomanism requires a defensive policy that integrates Greece, Cyprus, Israel, and the Kurds into a regional alliance. A new era has dawned in the northern Levant. […]

Palestinian to Iranian media: Israel is stronger, future unpredictable

Soltan-Shahi was described by MEMRI in 2018 as secretary-general of the Organization for Aiding the Islamic Revolution of the Palestinian People in the Office of the Iranian Presidency. Seth J. Frantzman April 23, 2019 18:04 Iran’s Tasnim News ran a long and important interview on Tuesday with a Palestinian named Ali Reza Soltan-Shahi. The interview […]

RUMORS SEEK TO DRIVE US AND IRAN INTO CONFLICT IN EASTERN SYRIA

False reports of airstrikes come in context of US-IRGC tensions and tensions between the SDF and the Syrian regime BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN  APRIL 24, 2019 02:04     b President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. (photo credit: REUTERS) Over two consecutive nights rumors of airstrikes by the US against pro-Syrian regime forces in eastern Syria have led […]

Unconfirmed Reports Claim US-led Air Strikes Target Iranian Forces, Oil Tankers in Syria

Hana Levi Julian19 Nisan 5779 – April 24, 2019 U.S.-led air strikes targeted Iranian-backed forces and oil tankers late Tuesday night, according to multiple unconfirmed reports from local sources, Middle East political analysts and Arab media. A gathering of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were targeted by air strikes aimed at the forces in the Syrian […]

Report: Senior IRGC Officer Flees Iran With Secret Intel

Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps / Getty Images BY: Adam Kredo Follow @Kredo0 April 23, 2019 2:45 pm A senior Iranian military officer affiliated with the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, has fled the Islamic Republic with a cache of secret documents said to contain information on Tehran’s military plans, according to […]