The Levant Files

Iraq has emerged from nearly half a year of political paralysis after President Nizar Amedi named Ali al-Zaidi, a 40-year-old businessman with no prior government experience, as the country's prime minister-designate. The appointment, announced on Monday, came just hours after the Coordination Framework — the Shia-led coalition that holds the largest bloc in parliament — settled on al-Zaidi as a compromise candidate, averting a constitutional crisis that had been building since the November 2025 elections. Background: A Deadlock Driven by Foreign and Domestic Pressure The road to al-Zaidi's nomination was anything but straightforward. Following the parliamentary elections of November 11, 2025, the Coordination Framework declared itself the largest bloc and, under Iraq's confessional power-sharing system, claimed the right to nominate the next prime minister. Under that system — known as the Muhasasa arrangement and in place since the 2003 US-led invasion — the presidency is...

The United Arab Emirates' decision to withdraw from OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance, effective May 1, has sent tremors through global energy diplomacy, threatening to unravel a producer bloc that has steered crude markets for more than six decades. Announced Tuesday by Abu Dhabi's state news agency WAM, the move strips the cartel of its third-largest producer at a moment when the organization is already strained by a nine-week war involving Iran and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Although UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei framed the departure as a "policy decision" tied to long-term national strategy, the international fallout is likely to be considerable. Energy analysts warn that losing a founding-era member with capacity above 4 million barrels per day — and ambitions, through ADNOC, to reach 5 million by 2027 — fundamentally weakens OPEC's ability to present a unified front on production policy. Rystad Energy described the withdrawal as a ...

The complaints Turkish Cypriot politics levels against the EU, Turkey, and the Greek Cypriot leadership are justified — but incomplete. The real question is whether we're willing to confront our own responsibility. Dr. Nikolaos Stelgias The grievances rising from the segments that backed Tufan Erhürman in the latest presidential election point to three major fault lines in Turkish Cypriot political life: the European Union's "loophole" diplomacy that turns a blind eye to Turkish Cypriots, the bloc's double-standard approach toward Turkey, and the Greek Cypriot leadership's rejection of political equality. No one can deny there's a kernel of truth in each of these three areas. The problem is that grievance can all too easily settle into a comfortable groove — a way of avoiding the mirror. This piece takes each of the three fault lines in turn and makes the case that the issue isn't solely about external actors; it needs to be sought at home, too. The EU...

Kıbrıs Türk siyasetinin AB, Türkiye ve Rum liderliğine yönelik şikâyetleri haklı — ama eksik. Asıl soru, kendi sorumluluğumuzla yüzleşip yüzleşmeyeceğimiz. Dr. Nikolaos Stelgias Son cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimlerinde Tufan Erhürman’a destek veren kesimlerden yükselen serzenişler, Kıbrıs Türk siyasal hayatının üç temel kırılma noktasına işaret ediyor: Avrupa Birliği’nin Kıbrıslı Türkleri görmezden gelen “delik” diplomasisi, Birliğin Türkiye karşısındaki çifte standartlı tutumu ve Kıbrıs Rum liderliğinin siyasi eşitliği reddeden çizgisi. Bu üç başlığın her birinde gerçeklik payı olduğu yadsınamaz. Ne var ki serzeniş, çoğu zaman aynaya bakmaktan kaçınmanın da konforlu bir halini alabilir. Bu yazı, üç başlığın her birini sırayla ele alıp meselenin yalnızca dışarıda değil, içeride de aranması gerektiği görüşünü öne çıkarıyor. AB’nin “Delik” Diplomasisi: Yalnızca Brüksel’in Suçu mu? Kıbrıs Türk tarafının küçümseyerek “delik” diye andığı diplomasi, aslında tarihî bir gelişme. Kıbrıslı Türklerin AB...

Despite economic shocks from the Israeli-American war on Iran, Erdogan is positioning Turkey as the region's next energy hub and trading center. Writing for Haaretz, analyst Zvi Bar'el reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finds himself navigating a precarious but potentially lucrative moment. The Israeli-American war on Iran caught Ankara off guard — but with the worst-feared scenarios now seemingly off the table, Turkey is pivoting from damage control to opportunity. Turkish intelligence had warned that an Iranian collapse could trigger civil war, mass Kurdish mobilization, or a refugee surge across Turkey's border. None of those scenarios materialized. NATO's anti-aircraft batteries intercepted the Iranian missiles aimed at U.S. bases on Turkish soil, and Turkey was spared the physical devastation that hit the United Arab Emirates hardest. Even so, the economic toll was severe. The war sent Turkey's finances into a tailspin. Ankara was forced to sel...

Important note: Please note that the Arabic service of TLf is currently in a beta phase. We have launched this initiative with the support of our followers, volunteers, and AI technology. Please keep in mind that during this first phase, the Arabic text may contain slight phrasing or translation errors. We aim to launch a fully professional Arabic service in the near future. يرجى العلم أن الخدمة العربية لـ TLf لا تزال في مرحلة تجريبية (Beta). لقد أطلقنا هذه الخدمة بدعم من متابعينا والمتطوعين وباستخدام تقنيات الذكاء الاصطناعي. يرجى أخذ العلم أنه في هذه المرحلة الأولى قد تحتوي النصوص العربية على بعض الأخطاء البسيطة في الصياغة أو الترجمة. نهدف في المستقبل القريب إلى إطلاق خدمة عربية احترافية بالكامل. بينما تتصدع التحالفات الراسخة تحت وطأة الضغوط، تسارع الدول في جميع أنحاء العالم إلى إقامة شراكات جديدة - وتجد تركيا نفسها في قلب خريطة استراتيجية سريعة التغير. في مقال كتبه في موقع "يتكين ريبورت" التركي، يرى المحلل حسن غوغوش أن سياسة الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب الخارجية الخارقة للأ...

Important note: Please note that the Arabic service of TLf is currently in a beta phase. We have launched this initiative with the support of our followers, volunteers, and AI technology. Please keep in mind that during this first phase, the Arabic text may contain slight phrasing or translation errors. We aim to launch a fully professional Arabic service in the near future. يرجى العلم أن الخدمة العربية لـ TLf لا تزال في مرحلة تجريبية (Beta). لقد أطلقنا هذه الخدمة بدعم من متابعينا والمتطوعين وباستخدام تقنيات الذكاء الاصطناعي. يرجى أخذ العلم أنه في هذه المرحلة الأولى قد تحتوي النصوص العربية على بعض الأخطاء البسيطة في الصياغة أو الترجمة. نهدف في المستقبل القريب إلى إطلاق خدمة عربية احترافية بالكامل. أجبرت المواجهة المستمرة بين إيران والولايات المتحدة بشأن مضيق هرمز على إعادة تفكير جذرية في طرق الطاقة وممرات التجارة الإقليمية. ووفقاً لما نقلته وكالة أنباء تسنيم الإيرانية عن موقع "أويل برايس"، فقد برزت أفغانستان كنقطة ارتكاز محتملة لمسار بديل يلتف على عنق الزجاجة الحرج في هرمز - ...

They came, they talked, and they left — only to return within a day. That, in a single sentence, is the rhythm of Pakistan's week as the self-styled mediator in the US-Iran conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shuttled in and out of the capital twice over the weekend, while American envoys, said to be holed up in the Serena Hotel, ultimately never boarded the plane from Washington. The ceasefire holds — extended indefinitely by President Donald Trump — but, as journalist Arifa Noor writes in Dawn, "the stalemate continues, though those in the know insist there is slow and steady progress behind the scenes." The diplomatic backdrop is genuinely historic. The Islamabad Talks of April 11–12 represented the first direct, high-level engagement between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — 21 hours of negotiations brokered by Pakistan. They ended without a deal: US Vice President JD Vance said Tehran "chose not to accept our terms,...

In what analysts are calling a watershed moment for Russian influence in the Sahel, Mali's military junta suffered a devastating blow over the weekend of April 25–27, 2026, as coordinated attacks by Tuareg separatists and Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists overran key towns and forced Russia's Africa Corps paramilitaries into a humiliating retreat from Kidal, the symbolic northern stronghold they had seized just two and a half years ago. According to the Le Monde, the assault, launched on April 25 by the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF) and the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), struck simultaneously across multiple locations — including Bamako's military district of Kati, the airport at Sévaré, and Gao — marking the largest rebel offensive in Mali since 2012. By Sunday, the pro-independence flag flew over Kidal's fort, the same spot where Wagner mercenaries had triumphantly raised their skull-and-crossbones banner in November 2023. Moscow's local p...