One of Iran's most senior military commanders has claimed that the United States engineered the September 11 terrorist attacks in order to sow Sunni-Shia strife, in the latest variation of a conspiracy theory confined to the fringes in the west but commonly believed in the Muslim world. In an interview with Iran's official Arabic-language
Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak said on Sunday that there are "fateful decisions" that need to be taken by current president Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, and that Egyptians should stand behind him. Mubarak, who was ousted in February of 2011 following an 18-day uprising, spoke on the phone with the Sada El-Balad private television channel and
Amid reports of a renewed Saudi offensive against Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen, Iran's news agency reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia had stopped Iranian aid planes from landing in Yemen. Not unexpectedly, a top Iranian official responded with threats directed at Saudi Arabia. Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian
The unity government fraught with high tensions since being formed between Hamas and the leading Palestinian Authority (PA) faction Fatah last April appears to be closer then ever to a collapse, as the unity government cut contact with Hamas on Sunday. PA unity government Labor Minister Mamoun Abu Shahla told the Palestinian Arab Ma'an
Syrian and Lebanese media are reporting at least two IAF raids that struck targets in Western Syria, but there is still confusion regarding when they took place and what targets were hit. According to Channel 2's website, “unofficial media” in Syria and Lebanon said there were two attacks – the second one on Friday,
Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, insisted on Thursday that the massacre of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks a century ago was not a “genocide”. Speaking at an international peace summit, Erdogan dismissed Armenian claims of genocide in 1915 were baseless, adding that he was willing to open the Turkish military archives to
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday referred to the Islamic State (ISIS) group as a “virus” working to destroy the Muslim community, in one of his strongest attacks yet against the jihadist group. Ankara has been repeatedly criticized in recent months for not doing enough to halt the advance of ISIS to its
At least 42 fighters were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between Islamist rebels and the Islamic State group in Syria's Damascus province, a monitoring group said Wednesday. "At least 30 Islamist rebels and 12 fighters from ISIS were killed in fighting since Tuesday" in the hilly region of Qalamun, the Syrian Observatory
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group and self-proclaimed "caliph" of the caliphate or Islamic state that it has established in large parts of Iraq and Syria, was critically wounded in a US-led coalition airstrike according to sources. The sources told the British Guardian that the strike took place
Under the radar last week, Vladimir Putin met with Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow. The meeting was not considered remarkable as Abbas has started to visit the Kremlin on an annual basis. The timing, though, corresponded with Putin’s definitely remarkable announcement Russia would reinitiate its sale of S-300 missiles to Iran. According to Sarah Fainberg of
