Syrians at home and abroad sighed with relief when last Saturday guns and mortars fell silent in their country and Russia suspended for 24 hours aerial bombing of groups dubbed “terrorist” by the UN.The partial cessation of hostilities, which had come into effect overnight, is th

Tomorrow’s elections to Iran’s parliament and Assembly of Experts have been hard fought by reformists and moderates, on one side, and conservatives and hardliners, on the other, although campaigning has been restricted to a week.Both sides realise that the future shape of the Ira

The US has had a long history of overthrowing regimes it does not like.Among the most dramatic examples are Mexico in 1910, Guatemala in 1954, the failed 1961 attempt in Cuba, Chile in 1973, Nicaragua in the 1980s and Panama in 1989-1990.The first 20th century coup engineered in

Turkey is using the ongoing build-up of Syrians fleeing fighting around Aleppo, on the Syrian side of its border to achieve three objectives.The immediate objective is to maintain Ankara’s recently adopted policy of allowing Syrians to enter Turkey only if they have visas.This ha

A week after mediated talks to end the war in Syria were due to begin in Geneva, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura finally declared: “The talks have started” following Monday’s meeting with the Saudi-sponsored Syrian opposition delegation.He had met with the government team

“I participated in the January revolution,” Egyptians boasted on social media in the days before January 25, the fifth anniversary of the 18-day mass uprising that drove president Hosni Mubarak, at the helm for 30 years, from power and, thanks to satellite television, galvan

The agreement to “lift” sanctions on Iran in exchange for limiting its nuclear programme, reached with the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany, has been hailed as a triumph and a means for Iran to export oil, secure much needed investment, sell its product

UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura must have the patience of the biblical figure Job, the tenaciousness of a limpet and the strength of Hercules if he is to succeed in bringing the proxy-warring and street-fighting parties in this Arab country together around the negotiating ta

Israel marked the 51st anniversary of the first resistance action of the ruling Palestinian Fateh movement by handing over to the Palestinians 23 bodies of mainly young men slain during “lone-wolf Intifada” — which has nothing to do with Fateh.Fateh leaders refer the third Intifa