Category: 2. Middle East

AL-Monitor is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the highest levels, as well as by media, thought and business leaders and academia.

AL-Monitor is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the highest levels, as well as by media, thought and business leaders and academia.

AL-Monitor is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the highest levels, as well as by media, thought and business leaders and academia.

Mossad carried out secret operations inside Iran at the same time as the Israeli airstrikes launched early Friday, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The Israeli newspaper reported that Mossad’s activities included pre-emptive strikes targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure and air defence systems, as well as “intensive activity in the heart of Tehran” before the opening round of airstrikes.

An Israeli official told the paper that Mossad led a series of…

Israel launched a wide-scale attack on Iran early on Friday, in an operation named “Rising Lion”, aimed at “eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat”. A state of emergency was declared across Israel, with the home front command suspending all activities. Ben Gurion Airport was evacuated, all flights were cancelled, and the airspace was shut until further notice.

Iranian state media reported that the Israeli airstrike killed Major General Hossein Salami,…

Airlines in the Gulf have cancelled flights to many Middle East destinations as some governments closed their airspace following Israeli strikes on Iran.

Emirates, the Middle East’s largest airline, said it had cancelled flights to and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran after Israel launched the strikes.

Several flights scheduled for Friday and one Tehran flight on Saturday were listed as cancelled on the airline’s website.

Qatar Airways, the country’s national carrier and one of the Middle…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Israeli military operation launched overnight Thursday–Friday against Iran is aimed at removing what he described as an “existential threat” to Israel, stressing it would continue as long as needed

Meanwhile, Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said the attack came after reaching what he called “the point of no return”.

In a video statement released about an hour after the operation began,…

Before Israeli strikes on Friday, Washington and Tehran had held several rounds of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, as concerns mounted about its rapid expansion.

Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear programme in recent years, after a landmark deal with world powers curbing its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief began to unravel in 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew.

As of mid-May, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,247.6…

Israel launched a sweeping military operation against Iran on Friday, with strikes targeting its nuclear program and long-range missile capabilities, Israeli Army Radio reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech posted on YouTube that his forces struck the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program.”

Netanyahu described the attacks as a “targeted military…

US President Donald Trump on Thursday implored Israel not to attack Iran and declared once again his goal was to be a peacemaker.

Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest international allies, brazenly defied his advice by unleashing a major military campaign described as a “preemptive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program.

The attack marks only the latest setback for Trump’s lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a “man of…