Seth J. Frantzman

Beijing has been treading carefully in the region. It doesn’t want to be involved in conflict. Let’s examine five reasons the US-China meetings matter for the region.

The UAE is looking to increase its role in Syria via investment while taking a cautious approach. Key talks discussed expanding economic and investment cooperation during a two-day forum in Damascus.

Iraq’s army is now being told to “defend” the desert and the homeland so that “Iraq will not be a launchpad or arena for aggression against neighboring countries.”

Trump said he was disappointed, apparently referring to weapons transfers involving Kurdish opposition groups. He claimed that only “some guns with ammunition” had been sent.

Reports of a secret Israeli base in Iraq have now led Baghdad to feel it must do something and stage a show of force, resulting in Iranian-backed militias sending forces to southern Iraq.

Anti-ship, surface-to-air, and ballistic missiles are among these weapons, demonstrating that the Houthis now possess a range of advanced offensive capabilities.

Today, Ankara appears to have changed course. It backs the new Syrian government and has appeared to support the Syrian Democratic Forces’ integration into the new Syrian security forces.

As Israel has established a buffer zone inside Lebanon, the Iranian-backed terrorist group has shifted to using relatively small quadcopter-type drones that are attached to a fiber-optic cable.

Reports that Iraq’s sovereignty may have been undermined by a foreign force operating in the desert will cause controversy in Baghdad.

The reshuffle, announced by Syrian state media, included the appointment of new governors for several key provinces.