Hundreds of Iranian troops and equipment have been transported to Syria ahead of a ground attack supported by Russian airstrikes to help President Bashar al-Assad recapture territory, Reuters reported today, citing Lebanese sources. “The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian...

• Kindle

The French government is currently investigating whether Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has committed crimes against humanity, Reuters reported Wednesday. The investigation, which is also examining claims of torture and kidnapping by Assad’s forces, was opened “on the basis of indications received from the foreign ministry” on Sept. 10, an official at the prosecutor’s office...

• Kindle

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insisted in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday that Iran would continue to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as long as ISIS and other terrorist groups still operate in Syria. Look, in a county where a large segment of the country has been occupied by terrorists, and there is bloodshed...

• Kindle

The Syrian army is now using advanced Russian weapons, a sign of increased Russian involvement in the country’s civil war, Reuters reported today. The reported cited a Syrian military source. “The weapons are highly effective and very accurate, and hit targets precisely,” the source said in response to a question about Russian...

• Kindle

The nuclear deal with Iran will give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a “fresh economic shot in the arm,” which will strengthen the dictator and add to Europe’s growing refugee crisis, Benjamin Weinthal, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote Saturday in an op-ed for the New...

• Kindle

Russian troops, weapons, and vehicles have been sighted in battles in Syria supporting the Assad regime, The Telegraph reported Wednesday. The video footage claimed to show troops and a Russian armoured vehicle fighting Syrian rebels alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s troops in Latakia. … In further indications of Russian “mission creep” in Syria,...

• Kindle

Iran has begun a weapons-buying spree shortly before it is due to receive over $100 billion in unfrozen funds as a result of the nuclear deal. Michael Rubin, a former Defense Department official who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, noted these developments in an article published today in Newsweek. With upwards of $100...

• Kindle

Iran is seeking to expel hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslims from Damascus, the capital of Syria, “in an effort to cement local support for the regime [of President Bashar al-Assad],” according to a report in a pan-Arab daily cited by The Times of Israel yesterday. According to the report, the overwhelmingly...

• Kindle

In an interview with Hezbollah’s al-Manar television network, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad praised Russian support for his beleaguered regime and hailed the recently concluded nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 nations, saying that “The power of Iran is the power of Syria,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today. “We have strong confidence in the...

• Kindle

Iran’s presence in Afghanistan, which is growing alongside that of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), “promotes chaos and radicalism” within the country and harms “forces of moderation and order,” Kyle Orton argued in an analysis published today at National Review Online. While Iran has claimed that it...

• Kindle