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Tehran’s Quiet Campaign on the Kurdistan Border
At least nine Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Komala movement were killed today in an Iranian attack in Sulaimani province. The strike caps a violent stretch inside Iran’s majority Kurdish…
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Arivan
Syria’s Arms Seizure Sells Washington Its Leverage Over Hezbollah
Syrian authorities have intercepted a truck carrying Iraqi oil that was found to be concealing a shipment of weapons, including long-range missiles and drones, destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon via…
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Arivan
Where Turkey’s PKK Framework Law Stands
Negotiations over the legal framework for the PKK peace process have entered their final stage, with the ruling bloc aiming to pass the law before parliament rises for its summer…
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Arivan
Iran’s Power in Iraq Has Become Harder to See
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi arrived in Washington on Monday for his first foreign trip since taking office, leading a delegation that includes the foreign and oil ministers and the…
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Arivan
The Kurdish Layer in Washington’s Iraq-Syria-Turkey Design
A new Middle East is taking shape, and its organising principles are trade and connectivity rather than military power alone. The order being built is state-anchored. For the first time,…
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Arivan
Two Power Centres: How the KDP and PUK Became Different Kinds of Useful
The Kurdistan Region has one flag and is constitutionally one polity, but for nearly two years it has not been able to form a new government, with the current caretaker…
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Arivan
The point of no return: PKK reported to have evacuated Gara stronghold
The PKK has evacuated some of its most important camps in the Gara Mountains, in the central-northern Kurdistan Region, according to Nefes, a Turkish liberal-leaning newspaper, citing Turkish security forces.…
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Arivan
After the Ceasefire, Iran’s Kurdish War Moves Inside
A two-week escalation across Iranian Kurdistan has killed at least 21 people. It is the deadliest confrontation between Tehran and the Kurdish armed parties in over a decade, and the…
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Arivan
The Sunni Dimension of Zaidi’s Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s anti-corruption campaign follows a familiar template in one respect and breaks new ground in another. The Shia component of the crackdown targets the networks of his…
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Arivan
Zaidi’s ‘Anti-Corruption’ Raids Follow Iraq’s Post-Succession Pattern, and Fall Hardest on Halbousi’s Rivals
Iraqi security forces detained as many as 20 senior officials during raids in Baghdad’s Green Zone and other areas late on June 28. The most prominent reported detainee is Muthanna…
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