Month

Archives: Middle East

Despite Trump, IAEA Confirms Iran’s Compliance with Nuclear Deal

TeleSur | - - Despite accusations by the Trump administration against Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, the U.N. nuclear agency chief denied these claims. The International Atomic Energy Agency Director General…

Yemen: Is Saudi Coalition deliberately Blocking Aid and Fuel to Civilians?

Human Rights Watch | - - Houthi-Saleh Obstruction also Heightens Crisis (Beirut) – The Saudi-led coalition’s restrictions on imports to Yemen have worsened the dire humanitarian situation of Yemeni civilians, Human Rights…

Former US Allies peeling off under Trump: Turkey halts US Visas

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The US and Turkey have ceased processing non-immigrant visas for one another's citizens. That's right. If you're an American and were planning to…

Trump Finally Ditches the Iran Nuclear Deal, but at What Cost?

Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | - - President Trump is set to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, as reported by the global news media. That such a decision was coming was…

What if we Gave Six Wars and No Americans Noticed?

What if we Gave Seven Wars and No Americans Noticed?

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Consider, if you will, these two indisputable facts. First, the United States is today more or less permanently engaged in hostilities in…

Rouhani: Ten Trumps couldn’t scrap Iran Deal

TeleSur | - - "The nuclear deal was our moral victory,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. Amid speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump is to “decertify” the Iran Nuclear Deal next week,…

Plummeting in Polls, will Trump ‘Wag the Dog’ with Iran, N. Korea?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Voice of America reports that on Thursday, Trump met with US military leaders to discuss Iran and North Korea, then staged a…

Was Ayatollah Khamenei right about Washington? Trump Reneges

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Trump appears likely to attempt to derail the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]), next week. The deal curbs…

Iraq: How Saddam Hussein’s Ghost haunts Kurdish Referendum

Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | (Niqash.org) | - - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to exterminate the Kurds in Iraq. Now Iraqis angry about the Kurdish desire to secede are bringing…

Iran and Turkey tag team Iraqi Kurds over Secession

TeleSur | - - "The only beneficiaries are the Zionist regime and the U.S.," Ayatollah Khamenei said. Warning against alleged foreign plots, the leaders of Turkey and Iran said harsh measures would…

Israel to uproot 100k Palestinians by Annexing their Land

TeleSur | - - The move would hurt Palestine's aspirations of statehood. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed legislation that would lead to the annexation of nearly 19 Palestinian settlements and…

Israel to close off Palestinian West Bank, Gaza for 11-day Jewish holiday

Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities will completely seal off the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip for 11 consecutive days over the Jewish holiday of…

Last Flight Departs as Iraq punishes Kurds’ Secession Vote

TeleSur | - - Domestic flights are still allowed, so travelers are expected to travel to Kurdistan mostly via Baghdad's airport. The last international flight left Erbil airport on Friday as the…

Iraq: Kurds, United, Confident in Negotiated Settlement

Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | - - In the end, the Kurdish people and politicians united around the independence referendum. But what happens next? Some senior politicians believe negotiations with…

Iraqi Kurdistan defiant in face of Baghdad sanctions, threats

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Kurdistan Regional Government on Thursday rejected the decisions of the Iraqi parliament and government. It nevertheless expressed a willingness to conduct a…

Saudi decree allowing women to drive cars is about politics, not religion

By Haifaa Jawad | (The Conversation) | - - In an unexpected move that surprised everyone, including his own people, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has suddenly passed a…

What it means to raise the Palestinian flag in today’s America

Tom Brocket | (The Conversation) | - - It is a wet and dreary February afternoon in Union City, the compact and densely populated township sitting on the New Jersey bank of…

Iraq strikes Back: Kurds under air travel ban, Turkey blocks Oil

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding that the Iraqi army take control of the province of Kirkuk and reclaim the…

The Biggest Impediment to Saudi Women Was Never the Driving Ban

By Medea Benjamin | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - No matter their age, Saudi women are treated like minors — to the point that many require permission from their sons…

Saudi King seeks Recognition for letting Women Drive, a basic right

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued a decree on Tuesday permitting women to drive as of June of next year. Saudi Arabia was the…