Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Iraq did not witness a sharp division between the Shiites in the political arena and the street, but this is happening after the parliamentary elections that led to the Sadrists winning the parliamentary majority (73 seats) and the election of the Speaker and his two deputies. However, differences are […]

Read More Will al-Maliki trigger a Shiite-Shiite clash, and what is Iran’s position?

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Russian and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss Moscow’s concerns about Ukraine’s joining NATO and a Western military presence threatening Russia’s security along the Ukrainian border. But is there a Russian security threat to the European continent, or is Europe content to continue […]

Read More Russia’s meeting with NATO on Ukraine: The US behind the curtains

Does estrangement prevail between Sayed Muqtada and Iran? Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: The Iraqi parliament convened on Sunday to gather together the people elected representatives after long weeks of «hit and run» protests by Shiite political parties that initially rejected – and later acquiesced in the fait accompli – the results of the elections. The demonstrations by pro-Iranian Shia […]

Read More Al-Sadr is moving forward without Shiite parties to choose Iraq’s leaders

Al-Sadr climbed down from his tree  Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: The Iraqi Shiite parties decided to remove the barriers, tents, and sit-ins they have displayed for a few months in Baghdad at the gates of the “Green Zone”. They are now headed towards engaging the political process and accepting the election results approved […]

Read More Choosing Baghdad’s new rulers: it’s a long road

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: In the second targeting of its kind this month of December, Israeli warplanes hit the container yard in the Syrian port of Latakia with several bursts of missiles launched from above the Mediterranean sea. This Israeli type of strike was rare in the past ten years of war and took place […]

Read More Israel bombs Latakia but hits Russia

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: After 42 years of the Cold War between Iran and the United States of America, there were irregular relations with countries in the Middle East. Iranian-Saudi meetings were held in Baghdad and Amman without achieving the desired warmth. Despite the apparent Iran-Saudi de-escalation and while waiting for Tehran to provide guarantees to reassure their suspicious, Middle Eastern countries have decided to […]

Read More Does Iran have the will and the courage to build bridges of trust in the Middle East?

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Iraq is still far from heading towards domestic stability, especially after National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji announced “the end of the combat missions of the US-led coalition forces and their withdrawal from Iraq.”However, the response came from the Pentagon’s press secretary, John Kerry, that “there is no significant change in the situation in Iraq and the number (2500 soldiers deployed) will […]

Read More Iraq is heading towards instability: America withdraws… and remains.

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Notwithstanding that China is a relatively “shy participant” in Middle Eastern policy, the US hegemony, which claims exclusivity among the most “obedient” Arab countries (those which fall into its strategic sphere of influence), is threatened by it. The worrying aspect for the US is that Beijing seeks to present […]

Read More The US fears the Chinese model and its impact on Middle Eastern countries

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: The negotiation marathon began positively in Vienna between Iran on the one hand and the signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement on the other, excepting the US, whose President Donald Trump tore apart the deal in 2018. Iran continues to refuse the US visible presence in the negotiating meeting room. Negative but unfounded […]

Read More “No nuclear agreement means a certain possibility of war in the Middle East.”

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: No one is concerned and moving as intensively as Israel, in a desperate attempt to prevent the US and Iran from reaching a nuclear deal, even though it is far from being close to being achieved. Tel Aviv is seeking support in Washington and the capitals of the European […]

Read More Iran hits Israel from Vienna

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: What just happened behind the closed doors of the Vienna negotiations regarding the nuclear deal? Where did the European-Iranian negotiations get to after this, the first session since the new Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi was elected, and the seventh round of negotiation since the start of the talks between […]

Read More What happened in Vienna? How did the Western negotiator threaten Iran, and what was the response?

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Sayed Muqtada al-Sadr has taken the first step in the right direction as the more significant winner in the Iraqi parliamentary elections. He has visited al-Fath group leader Hadi al-Amiri at his house in Baghdad, in the presence of other Shiite leaders who objected, and others who accepted the […]

Read More Al-Sadr breaks the ice and builds bridges…but the Government’s birth is arduous

Written by Elijah J. Magnier: Iran has returned to the negotiating table in Vienna Monday after nearly five months of suspension. The indirect US-Iranian talks collide with Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which recently amounted to 60 percent, with a total of 23 kilograms. Moreover, Iran insists on its justified escalatory stance due to the US administration’s […]

Read More Whatever the US options are, Iran’s nuclear knowledge can’t be removed.

By Elijah J. Magnier: Iran and the US are not far from reaching a nuclear deal following a European initiative to break the deadlock due to what each side had defined as “impossible demands”. Sources who participated in the latest negotiation in Iran said “European envoys met with the Iranian foreign ministry team in charge […]

Read More A new Iran-US nuclear deal has been prepared but “the devil will be in the details!”

Written by Elijah J. Magnier: The strong indicator of the fate of the US forces occupying parts of Syria is manifested by the positive developments of the Kurdish-Damascus relationship, and the apparent and gradual Syrian return to the Arab league. What is evident is the fact that the US administration has no real intention of […]

Read More Syria benefits from the US’s lack of appetite for sustaining a military presence

By Elijah J. Magnier: The Shia Sairoon party’ leader Sayed Moqtada al-Sadr presented his vision of the new cabinet’s political road map by stating his conditions, and unwittingly opening the door to negotiation with all political parties. Moqtada sent a positive message to all regional and international countries that, if he nominates the Prime Minister, […]

Read More Is this the end of the Iraqi militias or just an “al-Sadr media bomb” to negotiate his share?

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Iraq is preparing for the High Electoral Commission’s announcement of the final results of the Parliamentary elections following a manual recount in a large number of stations, based on the objections and appeals of parties and independent candidates in multiple constituencies. However, the announcement is not expected to produce […]

Read More Iraq is facing the lack of alliances of all political parties

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: Israel has promised ten million dollars to anyone who provides information about Lt. Colonel Ron Arad, whose plane crashed in 1986 over Lebanon. However, this reward has not resulted in finding Arad or his remains, principally because Israel did not follow the well-known and- in such circumstances- accepted protocol to reach […]

Read More Are Arad and Cohen in one place waiting for an exchange with the 4 Iranian diplomats?

By Elijah J. Magnier: Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates expelled the Lebanese ambassadors, gave them 48 hours to leave and recalled their respective ambassadors from Beirut. The pretext was an interview released by a recognised journalist, George Kordahi, a month before he was appointed to be the new information minister in Prime Minister Najib […]

Read More It is not Lebanon confronting Saudi Arabia; it is Iran and the possible fall of Ma’rib 

Written by – Elijah J. Magnier: In 1992, I asked the President (Speaker) of the National Transitional Council, Mohamed Al-Amin Khalifa, at his office in Khartoum: Who rules Sudan, Omar al-Bashir or Hasan al-Turabi? During that period, al-Turabi had told me when I visited his house in the Sudanese capital that he thought “an officer […]

Read More A US-Israeli conflict in Sudan: Coup d’Etat or Readjustment of the Partnership?