The paradox of Syria: What to expect next from key players
RT | Fyodor Lukyanov: Let’s factor all the official statements, political campaigns, personal relations and ‘credit history’ of the Syrian conflict out…
Regional Affairs
Israeli drone shot down in southern Lebanon
Press TV – An Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle has been shot down while flying over southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported…
Three scenarios of how Kurds, Turkey and Damascus could solve Northeast Syria crisis
Sputnik – According to various reports, Kurdish forces have been withdrawing from the 120-kilometre (75 miles) wide and 30-kilometre (20 miles) deep…
America’s Syria exit improves Iran’s fortunes
The Wall Street Journal | Gerald F. Seib: In the tortured history of U.S.-Iranian relations, no American leader has been as intent…
Erdogan, Putin hold talks as withdrawal deadline for Syria Kurds draws near
Press TV – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as a deadline draws near for Kurdish militants to…
Trump’s Syria pullout divides Iran hawks
Al-Monitor | Julian Pecquet: As Turkish troops fought Kurdish militants over the past week, a parallel but bloodless battle played out among…
Lebanon heads for showdown as reform vows fail to quell protests
Bloomberg | Dana Khraiche: Lebanese officials were scrambling to finalize a plan to avert a financial meltdown as tens of thousands of protesters…
Street protests express ‘people’s pain’: Lebanon’s Aoun
Press TV – Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has expressed solidarity with the protesters who have flooded the streets of the country in…
How Trump’s sellout of the Kurds threw Iran a lifeline in Syria
Independent | Ahmed Aboudouh: Donald Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria, paved the way for Turkey to push the Kurds…
Syria cease-fire may not be a win for Turkey
Bloomberg | Bobby Ghosh: Any number of players — including Trump — could undermine the plan negotiated by Erdogan and Pence. At…
Millions march in Iraq in annual Arbaeen Shia pilgrimage
AP | QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and HADI MIZBAN: Millions of pilgrims made their way on foot to the Iraqi city of Karbala on…
US troops leaving Syria will move to Iraq: Pentagon
Press TV – US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says all of the American troops pulling out of northeastern Syria will move to…
Calm returns to Lebanon after ministers resign following protests
Tasnim – A Lebanese Christian party announced it is quitting the government after a third day of protests across the country against…
Turkey, Kurdish militants accuse each other of violating truce
Press TV – Turkey has accused Kurdish militants of violating a temporary truce in northern Syria even as a fragile ceasefire was reported…
Pence: Turkey, US agree to temporary ceasefire in Syria
Press TV – Turkey has agreed to end the military offensive in northern Syria after Kurdish fighters withdraw from a safe zone,…
Kurdish deal with Syrian regime against Turkey a boon for Iran
Al-Monitor | Makram Najmuddine: One Mideast player in particular looks likely to benefit from the travesty playing out between Turkey and the…
Syria will respond through all legitimate means to Turkish aggression: Assad
Press TV – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the Damascus government will respond through all legitimate means available to the ongoing ground…
Local sources: Several cases of chemical burns after targeting Ras al-Ayn city by Turkish aggression
SANA – Several cases of people suffering from severe burns have arrived in Hasaka Hospital coming from Ras al-Ayn area in Hasaka…
Erdogan lays out condition to end Syria offensive: Syria update
Bloomberg – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s military operation in Syria could end after Kurdish fighters leave a strip of territory…
US pressed for Turkish military intervention in Syria in its interests, says analyst
TASS – Leading analyst of the Italian geopolitical magazine Limes Dario Fabbri believes that Turkish interference has no direct effect on Russia’s…
Trump’s Syria mess
The Wall Street Journal – What a fiasco. Foreign-policy blunders often take months or years to reveal their damaging consequences, but the…
Syrian troops enter three towns after deal with Kurds
Press TV – Syrian army troops have entered the towns of Tabqah, Ain Issa and Tel Tamer in northeastern Syria after Damascus reached an…
Erdoğan has managed the unthinkable: uniting all the other Middle East rivals
The Guardian | Simon Tisdall: Turkey’s Syria invasion following US withdrawal of its troops means that all bets are now off in…
Turkish troops seize Syria’s Suluk; Daesh families flee camp
Press TV – Turkish forces have seized large parts of the northern Syrian town of Suluk on the fifth day of an invasion which also saw families…
Trilateral talks on Syria may be postponed till November: Kazakh FM
MNA – The next international meeting on Syria, planned to be held in Kazakhstan’s capital, may be postponed until November, Kazakh Foreign…
Russia will pull out of Syria if Damascus decides troops have to leave – Putin
TASS – Moscow will pull out of Syria if the country’s future government decides that Russian troops have to leave, Russian President…
Three Turkish soldiers killed, six others injured in the aggression on Syrian lands
SANA – Three Turkish soldiers were killed and six others were injured in the Turkish aggression on Syrian territories. Anadolu News Agency…
No ‘peace’ spring: Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria met with worldwide condemnation
RT – Ankara’s operation against Kurdish-led militias in northeastern Syria has been criticized across Europe and the Middle East, as one country…
Russia will push for Turkish-Syrian dialogue: Lavrov
MNA – Russia plans to push for dialogue between the Syrian and Turkish governments following an incursion by Turkish troops into Syria,…
Civilians flee Syrian border towns as Turkish offensive kicks off
Press TV – Syrians fled on foot and by car from border towns as Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters…
Turkey launches military invasion into northeastern Syria against YPG forces
Press TV – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country’s military forces and the Turkish-backed militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) have launched…
Hezbollah chief had foreseen US would leave Syrian Kurds unprotected
MNA – In a speech back in August, the Secretary-General of Lebanese Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah had predicted that the United States would…
Syria condemns hostile intentions of Turkish regime, affirms determination to confront aggression by all legitimate means
SANA – Syria condemned in strongest terms the hostile intentions of the Turkish regime and the military build-up at the Syrian borders,…
Erdoğan, Putin discuss on Turkey’s attack in Syria
MNA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed Turkey’s operation in northeastern Syria and the safe…
Putin discusses with National Security Council situation in north Syria
SANA – Russian President, Vladimir Putin, discussed with members of the Russian National Security council the latest developments in Syria and the…
For Kurds in Syria, a conflict renewed
The Wall Street Journal | Raja Abdulrahim: President Trump’s decision to step out of the way of a Turkish offensive in northern…
Iranian officials growing concerned about Iraqi protests
Al-Monitor – As the mostly peaceful protests over corruption and unemployment continue into their second week across Iraqi cities, Iranian officials are…
Latest betrayal of Kurds risks undermining defeat of ISIS
The Guardian | Martin Chulov: It is unclear whether Turkey has the will or capacity to take over detention camps In early…
Turkish aggression on al-Malkiya area, Hasaka northeastern countryside
SANA – SANA’s reporter in Hasaka said that the Turkish regime’s army on Monday evening launched an assault on a number of…
Ex-ambassador attributes Iraqi unrests to foreign interventions
IRNA – Former Iranian ambassador to Jordan said that the recent unrests of Iraq have originated from outside Iraq, adding that the…