The largely Shia-dominated Azerbaijan is backed by Turkey in its war with Armenia. The Shia Islamic Republic of Iran favours Armenia and Sunni Arab nations seem to tilt towards the mostly Christian nation in the current conflict in the Caucasus.
On (...)
When Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi came to power in May, he made broad promises to reform his country's dysfunctional political system and to improve the government's performance so it could respond to the needs of its citizens.
The (...)
It all started with the temporary marriage between the United States and Islamist extremists to fight the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan some 40 years ago, but jihadism ended with devastating consequences for the world as a whole.
As the US (...)
“The parliamentary elections to be held next year are of paramount importance, and all necessary preparations should be made in order to give their results a high degree of credibility,” said Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the highest-ranking Shia (...)
For over 18 years, Arab nations have repeated their proposal to end decades of conflict at the heart of Middle East problems, advocating peace with Israel hinged upon its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders.
Similar terms in the “Arab Peace Initiative” (...)
The relationship between France and the Middle East has been multifaceted, including not only deeper historical ties but also geopolitical, economic and cultural ones.
Yet, the centuries-old relationship between the former European colonial power (...)
When thousands of Iraqi demonstrators poured into the streets of cities across the country last year, they were largely protesting against unbridled corruption, government inefficiency, unemployment and the lack of basic services.
But soon the (...)
Like every country or region across the world, the Arab nations are likely watching the contentious presidential campaign unfolding in the US and anxiously wondering what the outcome could mean for them.
US policy in the Middle East, one of the (...)
Rarely in times of peace has a Middle Eastern country expanded its military, political, economic and cultural power beyond its borders as far away and at such a rate as Turkey has in recent years.
Three decades ago Turkey's soft power remained (...)
Shortly after a massive explosion caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a Beirut port warehouse last week, the Iraqi authorities began looking for hazardous materials stored at the country's ports.
An official statement said (...)
Since he took office in May, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has been invoking Iraq's fractured national sovereignty as a major impediment to the country's recovery and progress towards peace and prosperity.
Al-Kadhimi's vision for (...)
On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered his elite Republican Guard to storm into neighbouring Kuwait, claiming Iraq was answering a call from a group of revolutionary army officers in the tiny emirate that had overthrown the government.
Although (...)
One hilarious joke once circulating in Iraq referred to an imaginary “anti-concern” medicine named after former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, known as much for his diplomatic clichés voicing concern over the tragic events in the country while (...)
Along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq sit places of worship where Muslim imams, sheikhs and sages are buried. For centuries, devotees have been drawn to the sites for prayers and meditation as well as to tap into the mystical (...)
When Israel launched its war of aggression and conquest against the Palestinians, Egypt, Jordan and Syria in the summer of 1967, it absorbed the whole of historic Palestine, as well as additional territory from Egypt and Syria.
Israel's blitzkrieg (...)
Now that the United States and Iraq have agreed on a roadmap to advance their bilateral relationship, speculation is rising that the nation's new government has a better chance of ending Iran's malignant role in Iraq.
The election of Mustafa (...)
Next week the world will watch Iraqi and US officials meeting in Washington to hammer out agreements on how the two countries will go forward together at a time when Iraq is mired in political chaos and the Trump administration remains at a (...)
For many Iraqis, the anti-British revolt of 1920 was the greatest event in their modern history, an inspiring revolutionary movement which ushered in the birth of a new nation in ancient Mesopotamia.
Even though the revolt was crushed by the (...)
Shortly after the Iraqi parliament voted to endorse Mustafa Al-Kadhimi as the country's new prime minister after midnight on 6 May, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo picked up the phone to congratulate the former chief spy on taking the new (...)
On 22 April, Iraqi outgoing Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi abruptly ordered four brigades of the Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF) to be detached from the organisation and placed under his control.
In a decree, Abdul-Mahdi, who also serves as (...)
Egypt's major archaeological sites, hotels and tourist destinations have emptied out as fears of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak worldwide have shut down travel.
In Tunisia and Morocco, two top tourist destinations in North Africa, airports, (...)
Thursday 9 April marked the 17th anniversary of the fall of the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as a result of the US-led invasion of the country.
The invasion unleashed chaos that has shattered the country and left it paralysed by (...)
Heads of government from the Arab League usually meet in one of the league's 22 member states in March for their annual summit with its routine agenda of unifying ranks and pushing for joint action in fresh directions.
Not this year. Plans for a (...)
It is the Sacred House of God.
For the nearly 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, the images of shutting down Islam's most holy mosque in the city of Mecca, the standard-bearer of the ultra-orthodox Islam of Saudi Arabia, in order to stem the spread of (...)
Ethiopia and Turkey will start filling massive hydroelectric dams on the Nile and Tigris Rivers this summer despite protests from the downstream countries of Egypt and Iraq, two key Arab countries that have existed for millennia on rivers that form (...)
