Aug 12 2018
Riyadh seems to think it needs no other friends so long as it has Donald Trump By Abdel Bari Atwan Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up its harsh punitive measures against Canada in response to the Canadian foreign minister’s tweet condemning the detention of Saudi rights activists and demanding their immediate release. The Financial Timesreported that […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia •
Aug 12 2018
There are four main reasons for Trump’s attempt to ruin the Turkish economy By Abdel Bari Atwan US President Donald Trump has escalated his economic war on against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to a new and more aggressive level. On Friday he announced he was doubling tariffs on imported Turkish iron and […]
By mahaburbar1 • Turkey •
Aug 11 2018
The deal to bring ‘calm’ to Gaza aims at affirming absolute Israeli domination By Abdel Bari Atwan Many people inside and outside the Gaza Strip were expecting an imminent announcement from Cairo about a ‘calming’ deal reached between Hamas and the Israeli occupation state through Egyptian mediation. But two days of heavy Israeli air raids […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Aug 9 2018
Targeting civilians has become a deliberate policy of the Saudi-led coalition By Abdel Bari Atwan It is hard to comprehend the logical and moral criteria on which spokesmen for the Saudi-UAE coalition base their defence of the air-strikes their warplanes – the world’s most modern, expensive and precision-killing – launch against civilian targets in Yemen. […]
By mahaburbar1 • Islamic emirate of the Caucasus, Saudi Arabia, Yemen •
Aug 9 2018
Iraq’s prime minister may become an early victim of Trump’s sanctions on Iran By Abdel Bari Atwan Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi could end up being one of the most prominent victims of the Trump administration’s latest sanctions against Iran, after he officially announced his government would abide by them and ordered a halt to […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iraq •
Aug 7 2018
Saudi Arabia should practice what it preaches before complaining about foreign interference in its internal affairs By Abdel Bari Atwan It would be an under-statement to describe Saudi Arabia’s response to the Canadian government’s criticism of its human rights record as a mere over-reaction. The Canadians publicly called for more freedom for Saudi women’s rights […]
By mahaburbar1 • Saudi Arabia, The Gulf •
Aug 7 2018
Trump is taking on more than he or his allies can handle by trying to throttle Iran By Abdel Bari Atwan The first tranche of the economic sanctions which Donald Trump decreed against Iran came into effect at 0400 GMT on Tuesday morning. It consists of a halt to all US financial transactions with the […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iran, United States of America •
Aug 2 2018
What made the US president climb down from his tree? By Abdel Bari Atwan Nobody understands Donald Trump or knows how to deal with him and his arrogance better than the Iranians. Their firm and solid response to his surprise offer earlier this week to meet with them without preconditions at any time they choose […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iran, United States of America •
Jul 25 2018
Has Israel opted for direct military intervention to protect the rebel militias? By Abdel Bari Atwan Tuesday’s downing by Israeli Patriot missiles of a Syrian SU-22 warplane as it was overflying southern Syria – and the killing of its pilot Maj. Omran Marei – marks a serious turn in the course of the Syrian crisis […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Jul 23 2018
Iran does not want a fight, but Trump and Netanyahu have other ideas By Abdel Bari Atwan Repeated threats by Iranian leaders – most recently Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – to close the Strait of Hormuz reflect the country’s growing apprehension rather than any desire for war. They are an indirect call on the […]
By mahaburbar1 • Israel, Syria •
Jul 22 2018
Will Israel make good its threat to assassinate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar? By Abdel Bari Atwan The Gaza Strip is back in the news headlines due to the determination of the leadership of the Hamas movement and its military wing to have its say and to apply in practice the theory of meeting fire with […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Jul 17 2018
Did Trump persuade Putin to agree a trade-off on Iran and Syria? By Abdel Bari Atwan It could be said at first glance, from viewing the press conference held by the Russian and American presidents after their summit in Helsinki on Monday, that they reached agreement on two main things related to the Syrian crisis. […]
Jul 11 2018
Israel can threaten and posture, but it has lost its capacity to influence developments on the ground in Syria By Abdel Bari Atwan Whenever the Syrian army achieves battlefield victories on the ground and recaptures major Syrian towns or governorates, the Israeli leadership feels frustrated and disappointed. It reacts by ordering air or missile or […]
By mahaburbar1 • Israel, Syria •
Jul 4 2018
Abbas needs to abandon the policies that have brought the Palestinian cause to such a low ebb By Abdel Bari Atwan Many Palestinians, including politicians, writers, and former officials, have been urging us, directly or indirectly, to support President Mahmoud Abbas and his bolster his position of refusing to engage in any dialogue with the […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Jul 2 2018
How will Syrian opposition leaders justify the tragic situation in which they have placed their supporters? By Abdel Bari Atwan Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was not far off the mark when he declared last week that the situation in the region is proceeding in a manner that is favourable to the resistance, starting from Syria […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Jun 30 2018
Is the Trump administration seeking a trade-off with Putin: Palestine for Syria? By Abdel Bari Atwan It is far from certain that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be able to take up his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s invitation to attend the World Cup Final in Moscow in mid-July. The news coming from Ramallah about his […]
By mahaburbar1 • Palestine •
Jun 26 2018
The US, Israeli and Arab allies are abandoning their protégés in southern Syria By Abdel Bari Atwan Unable to intervene to protect the armed factions facing an overwhelming Syrian army assault in south-western Syria, the Israeli military opted instead to fire missiles at Damascus International Airport, on the perennial pretext of targeting arms depots belonging to […]
By mahaburbar1 • Iran, Syria •
Jun 22 2018
The army is determined to retake the area. Israel is determined to prevent it By Abdel Bari Atwan Most analysts linked this week’s visit to Amman by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his meeting with King Abdallah to the talks held in the Jordanian capital just hours later – without publicity – by Donald […]
By mahaburbar1 • Syria •
Jun 17 2018
The Saudi/UAE-led assault on Hodeida will prolong rather than shorten the war By Abdel Bari Atwan The war in Yemen has reached a decisive stage with the announcement that the army of President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-UAE coalition and forces loyal to Gen. Tareq Ali Abdallah Saleh, had taken control of Hodeida […]
By mahaburbar1 • Yemen •
Aug 17 2018
Throwing Erdogan a Lifeline Qatar is repaying favours by helping Turkey out, but will the US forgive its defiance? By Abdel Bari Atwan Qatar threw all its weight behind its Turkish ally on Wednesday when its emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin-Hamad Al Thani announced — after flying to Ankara and holding a three-hour meeting with President […]
By mahaburbar1 • Turkey •