damascus

Subversion in Syria: The Extent of Iran’s Involvement

The main pieces are being put in place… A likely diplomatic showdown — or, if diplomacy fails, a military confrontation — between the Iranian axis and the Western camp is clearly taking shape, both in Lebanon and across the regional landscape. Several clear signs of this looming standoff have surfaced in recent days amid an increasingly ...

Partition of Syria, the 'David Corridor'… What’s Really at Stake?

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has ramped up its operations in Syria, seemingly seeking to assert itself as the dominant player against Turkey, which is trying to fill the vacuum left by Iran’s retreat. It has carried out strikes on military positions of the former regime and pro-Iranian militias, expanded its presence in ...

Syria Forces Deploy in Damascus Suburb After Deadly Unrest

The forces of Syria's new authorities deployed Sunday in a Damascus suburb following deadly clashes with Druze gunmen, state media said amid tensions after Israeli demands to protect the minority group. Jaramana, a mostly Druze and Christian suburb of the capital, saw a fatal shooting at a checkpoint on Friday, followed a day later by clashes ...

PKK Declares Ceasefire with Turkey after 40 Years of Armed Struggle

Outlawed Kurdish militants on Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. It was the first reaction from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Ocalan this week called for the dissolution of the group ...

Syria: 12 SDF Members Killed in Airstrikes Attributed to Turkey

Kurdish-led forces that control large areas of northern and northeastern Syria said 12 people were killed Wednesday in air strikes it blamed on Turkey. "Turkish occupation warplanes and UCAVs (drones) targeted a military position belonging to our forces" as well as civilian homes and a vehicle in the Al-Shaddadi area, the Syrian Democratic Forces ...

New Syria leader holds talks with Jordan king

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman on Wednesday on his third foreign visit since ousting Bashar al-Assad. King Abdullah II greeted Sharaa at Amman's Marka airport, the royal court said in a statement. The two leaders then headed to Raghadan Palace for their first talks since Sharaa took power. It is ...

Syria National Conference Lays Out Post-Assad Priorities

Syria's national dialogue conference, held Tuesday in Damascus, called for transitional justice, freedom and a state monopoly on arms to be among the cornerstones of the country's reconstruction after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a speech earlier to the hundreds of attendees, said the country was ...

Sweida's Military Council Announces Its Goals Amid Fears of Israel

The Military Council in Syria’s Sweida announced on Monday that it is coordinating with the spiritual leader of the Druze, Hikmat al-Hijri, and is advocating for a decentralized secular state. This announcement was made in the council’s first official statement during a military parade held at the Kafr Agricultural Airport in the province's ...

Mullahs and Company, Hands Off the Airport!

In 1973, Henry Kissinger refused to land at Beirut International Airport because it was under the control of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He also avoided traveling by road to the airport for the same reason. At the time, President Sleiman Frangieh welcomed him instead at the Rayak military airport — an implicit admission that ...

Iran Confirms Receiving 'Messages' From New Syrian Government

Iran said Saturday that it had received messages from the new government in Damascus following the ouster of its longtime Syrian ally, former president Bashar al-Assad. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is indirectly in contact with Damascus," Tehran's special envoy for Syrian affairs, Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani, was quoted as saying by the ...