Category: Middle East
Coverage of geopolitics, international relations, and current affairs from across the Middle East, including conflicts, alliances, energy politics, peace processes, and regional security issues.
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Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) advanced across Hadramout this week, escalating tensions with forces loyal to the internationally recognised government and tribal groups aligned with Saudi Arabia. The clashes highlighted widening strategic differences between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which backs the separatists. The STC said its operation aimed to “restore stability” in…
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Hezbollah’s chief Naim Qassem has said the group has the “right to respond” to Israel’s assassination of senior commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. In a televised address, Qassem described the killing as “a blatant aggression” and indicated that any response would be timed by Hezbollah. He added that Lebanon…
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Lebanon and Cyprus have finalised a long-delayed maritime demarcation agreement, opening the door to potential offshore gas exploration and wider energy cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Signed in Beirut by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, the deal is expected to strengthen ties between Lebanon, EU-member Cyprus, and the broader European Union.…
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Saudi Arabia has launched the Middle East’s first industrial-use quantum computer, marking a major step in its Vision 2030 technology ambitions. The system — developed by Pasqal and deployed at Aramco’s data centre in Dhahran — is also the kingdom’s first quantum computer. Pasqal said the machine can control 200 qubits in programmable two-dimensional arrays,…
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Israel killed Ali Tabtabai, the acting chief of staff of Hezbollah, in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday (23 November), according to the Israeli military. It was the first strike near the Lebanese capital in months, carried out despite a U.S.-brokered truce agreed a year ago. Lebanon’s health ministry reported five…
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Israel has carried out new strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, reporting a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement” after an alleged gunman crossed into Israeli-held territory. Gaza health authorities say at least 24 people were killed across four airstrikes, with 54 injured. The Israeli military said an “armed terrorist” exploited a humanitarian route to…
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Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that the country must relocate its capital, arguing that severe environmental pressures have made Tehran unsustainable. Speaking in Qazvin, President Pezeshkian said water shortages, accelerating land subsidence and infrastructure strain leave the government with “no option” but to act. Parts of the capital are sinking by up to 30…
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Iran has halted all remaining cooperation with international nuclear inspectors after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board passed a resolution demanding clarity on Tehran’s near–bomb-grade uranium stockpile. The resolution — sponsored by France, Germany, the UK, and the US — urged Iran to provide details on its nuclear fuel inventory “without delay”. It passed…
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged neighbouring states to help “expel Hamas from the region,” following the UN Security Council’s endorsement of President Donald Trump’s multi-phase plan for ending the conflict. Netanyahu previously backed the proposal during a White House visit, but his latest remarks highlight differences over how Hamas should be addressed. Hamas…
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The UN Security Council has adopted a US-drafted resolution aimed at shifting Gaza from a fragile truce toward long-term stabilisation and reconstruction. The measure passed 13–0, with Russia and China abstaining. The resolution gives international backing to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which underpins the current ceasefire. It authorises an International Stabilization Force to…
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