An Iraqi military parade in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone celebrated final victory over Islamic State on Sunday, with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi looking on as troops marched in formation, their bodies spelling ‘victory day’ in Arabic.
Iran has virtually completed a ‘Shiite Crescent’ of influence across the heart of the Middle East, using a string of battlefield successes to link a network of allies and proxy forces now spanning from nation’s border with Iraq all the way to Lebanon.
Russia will help rebuild Christian churches in Syria and establish peace in historically Christian regions of the war-torn country, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Monday during a meeting with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Israel’s military struck a Syrian military installation on the outskirts of Damascus late Monday night, according to initial reports.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to President Donald Trump by allowing his latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries to go into full effect even as legal challenges continue in lower courts.
The Israeli Air Force struck a military base near Damascus, Syrian state media reported Saturday. The site is believed to have been earmarked for use by Iranian forces in Syria and local militias loyal to them.
The head of a large Iranian-backed Iraqi militia that has been fighting in Syria said his group was ‘fully prepared’ to fight Israel if Damascus asked it to.
Russia proposed a two-day ceasefire on Monday in the last major rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus, where warplanes killed at least 41 people in two days of air strikes as Russian-backed government forces tried to capture the area.
The locations of some of Iran’s military installations in Syria, including some within 30 miles of Israeli territory in the Golan Heights, may be motivated more by Tehran’s desire to provoke an Islamic end-of-the-world cataclysm than for strategic value, contends an expert on Shiite religious dogma.
Russia’s UN ambassador said Wednesday the expert body that has determined responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria ‘is dead’ — but Moscow is ready to discuss ‘a new mechanism.’
Israel sees Iranian activity in Syria as “a target” for its forces, and may carry out strikes against Iranian objectives if security needs require it, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in talks with leaders of Turkey and Iran to end the civil war in Syria that has been raging since 2011.
Iran’s top military officer signed agreements in Syria last month that will keep Iranian forces there indefinitely with a pledge to help the Bashar Assad regime rebuild damaged military bases, according to the main opposition group to Tehran’s Islamic rulers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed President Trump by phone Tuesday on Moscow’s plans for ending Syria’s 6-year-old civil war, a development that likely will keep U.S. foe Bashar Assad in power in Damascus and underscores Russia’s growing influence in the Middle East.
On a surprise trip to Russia, Syria’s Bashar Assad discussed potential new peace initiatives for post-war Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin who declared that Russia’s two-year military campaign in Syria is wrapping up, the Kremlin said Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump described the conversation with the Kremlin chief as a ‘great call’ and said the two leaders spoke ‘very strongly about bringing peace to Syria.’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone about a ceasefire deal in the Syrian civil war and Iranian presence near Israel’s borders with the war-torn country, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
President Donald Trump announced Monday the U.S. is putting North Korea’s ‘murderous regime’ on America’s terrorism blacklist, despite questions about Pyongyang’s support for international attacks beyond the assassination of its leader’s half brother in February.
Israeli tank units in the Golan Heights fired a warning shot at a Syrian army position inside a no-man’s land along the Israeli-Syrian frontier Sunday evening.
Gadi Eisenkot has offered to share Israeli intelligence about Iran with Saudi Arabia, in remarks published in a rare interview with a Saudi newspaper published in London.