Iran and Syria sign deal for military cooperation
Iran and Syria signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in Damascus, the Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.
Syria
Top Iranian cleric threatens Tehran will target Israel if US attacks
A senior Iranian cleric on Wednesday warned that Tehran would target Israel if the United States harmed the Islamic Republic, continuing an escalating war of words over sanctions reimposed by Washington.
US not discussing recognition of Israeli sovereignty on Golan — Bolton
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday said the administration wasn’t discussing potential recognition of Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights, despite reported pressure from Jerusalem to make the move.
Bolton: Putin said he can’t force Iran out of Syria, but wants it gone
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the United States that his country would like Iranian forces to withdraw from Syria but cannot force them out, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said on Wednesday, despite Israeli calls for Iran to leave immediately.
US security adviser: Our goal is to get Iran out of Syria
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton arrived in Israel Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks focused mainly on Iran.
Russia says drone attacks on its Syria base have increased
Russian air defense assets in Syria have downed 45 drones targeting their main base in the country, its military said Thursday, after an attack by the Islamic State group on a Syrian army base a day earlier killed seven troops.
U.S. welcomes Saudi Arabia’s pledge of $100 million for Syria
The United States on Thursday welcomed Saudi Arabia’s contribution of $100 million to help stabilize parts of Syria no longer held by Islamic State, which comes as the Trump administration looks to cut back on foreign aid.
‘There Are No Girls Left’: Syria’s Christian Villages Hollowed Out by ISIS
The number of Christians across the Middle East has been declining for decades as persecution and poverty have led to widespread migration. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, considered Christians infidels and forced them to pay special taxes, accelerating the trend in Syria and Iraq.
Trump and Putin see eye to eye on Iran leaving Syria
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘agreed in principle’ during their latest meeting in Helsinki last month that Iranian forces should leave Syria, according to a report in Bloomberg.
‘ISIS 2.0’: Semi-independent terror cells, loyal only to radical ideology, plot strikes around world
Osama Bin Laden has been dead for years and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s ‘caliphate’ in the Middle East has crumbled, but the global jihadist threat continues to boil as extremists retreat underground to plot terror strikes around the world.
Russia exerts growing clout in Middle East as it begins patrols in Golan Heights
Russian military police have begun patrolling the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, highlighting Moscow’s increasing clout as a Middle Eastern power broker following its intervention in the civil war there.
UN report: Up to 30,000 Islamic State members in Syria, Iraq
The Islamic State extremist group has up to 30,000 members roughly equally distributed between Syria and Iraq and its global network poses a rising threat — as does al-Qaeda, which is much stronger in places, a United Nations report says.
Syria Blames Mossad as Top Syrian Rocket Scientist Assassinated
Aziz Azbar, head of the Scientific Research and Studies Center in Masyaf, also known by its French acronym ‘CERS’, was killed in a car bombing incident alongside his driver on Saturday night in an alleged Mossad operation, a senior official from a Middle Eastern intelligence agency told the New York Times on Monday.
Israeli airstrike kills 7 ISIS terrorists on Syrian border
An Israeli airstrike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights border has eliminated seven terrorists, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Thursday.
Syria claims to down ‘hostile target’ during airstrike near Damascus
Syria said late Thursday that its air defenses destroyed an unspecified enemy target during an attempted airstrike west of Damascus, as residents reported a series of loud explosions around the Syrian capital.
Hezbollah likely to replace ISIS on Israel’s northern border, IDF says
The Syrian army is expected to complete its takeover of the country’s southwest, near the border with Israel, in the next day or two. This will allegedly restore a familiar situation, in which Syria’s regime is once again stable, even if under the auspices of Russia.
Russian envoy: Deal reached to keep Iran 85 km from Israeli-Syria border
Russia and Israel have reached an agreement to remove Iranian forces in Syria to within 85 kilometers of the Golan Heights border, Russia’s special envoy for Syria told the Sputnik news agency on Wednesday.
IDF’s massive May attack in Syria combined artillery and jets
The IDF released on Tuesday a video clip showing parts of Israel’s May attacks on more than 50 Iranian targets in Syria in what was the widest military operation launched by the IDF in the war-torn country since 1974.
Israel trying to prevent a massacre of Syrians on Golan Heights border
Israel has reportedly asked Russia to ensure that Syrian government forces do not harm or massacre civilians in the south of the war-torn country as they complete their takeover of the area bordering Israel’s Golan Heights from rebel groups.
Syria boots IS from Golan Heights, retaking full control of frontier with Israel
The Syrian government regained control of the frontier with the Israel’s Golan Heights for the first time in seven years on Monday, after Islamic State-linked militants gave up their last pocket of territory in the area.