Not only Iranian politics but the whole of Southwest Asia enter another era after the heart attack, this past Sunday, that killed Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 82, president from 1989 to 1997 and a stalwart of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It’s as if for these past four decades, “Hashemi” – as he is popularly know in…
There is a campaign underway to destroy Syria’s public utilities. Al-Qaeda, ISIS and the U.S. airforce are involved. Their action is coordinated. That is an outrageous statement? No such coordination would ever happen? Consider: The idea of the Islamic State was “born” in the U.S. military prison camp Bucca in Iraq. Many of its future…
The Russian-Iranian-Turkish Tripartite is preparing to mediate a new round of intra-Syrian talks in Astana sometime soon, and President Assad just announced that he is ready to negotiate on “everything” provided that the process follows the legal mechanisms laid out in the Syrian Constitution. Australian professor and prominent Syrian activist Tim Anderson is correct when…
That Israel a rogue state has long been beyond dispute in discerning company. In light of the recent revelation that an Israeli official, working for the country’s embassy in London, was plotting ways to “take down” various British politicians over their opposition to Israeli settlements and support for a Palestinian state, it is now becoming increasingly…
With President Obama down to less than two weeks in office, everyone is busy assessing his legacy. So let’s begin with the Arab world. Not since the Vietnam War, we can safely say, has an administration left a region in ruins the way Obama has left the Middle East (although it’s true that George W. Bush contributed…
Over 5 million civilians are struggling to obtain the most basic of necessities in and around Damascus amid the escalated fighting between the Syrian army and the rebels for control over a valley with the main regional water source. Residents of Damascus rely heavily on water from the Barada River. However, that water supply was…
