The consequences of the Geneva Accords – known as “Yalta 2” (June 16, 2021) – for the wider Middle East are about to reach a new stage: foreign forces occupying parts of Syria are about to withdraw. After 12 years of massacres, the war against the Syrian Arab Republic is ending. President Bashar al-Assad went…
From the looks of it, the plan is for the West to waive select sanctions against Syria with regards to its facilitation of energy exports to Lebanon via the Arab Gas Pipeline in exchange for Damascus requesting Tehran’s dignified but phased withdrawal from the country. Axios cited two unnamed “Israeli” officials last week when reporting…
Travelling to Lebanon last week U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy had promised to find additional means “to support” the population and the Lebanese army. On September 7, Murphy came good on his promise after U.S. President Joe Biden authorized Secretary of State Antony Blinken to raise a total of $47 million to provide aid for the Lebanese…
A high-level Lebanese government delegation held talks in Syria in an attempt to solve the severe fuel crisis that has paralyzed the entire country. This is the highest level of official visit since the civil war in Syria started, unleashed by the West and the Gulf monarchies, more than a decade ago. The Lebanese delegation, headed…
At a time when Lebanon is facing a severe economic and political crisis, new border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel are, quite naturally, particularly undesirable for the country. But this week, both Israel and militants of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah attacked each other across the Israel–Lebanon border. It is unclear why each side…
Lebanon’s Central Bank governor Riad Salameh proved he is the country’s real ruler by unilaterally deciding to lift fuel subsidies — in defiance of President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and all other critics. The move had a crippling effect on what remains of normal life in Lebanon, causing electricity and water cuts, forcing…
