The Levant Files

Bahrain, in the wake of previous Iranian attacks and threats of continued missile and drone strikes, has placed all its units on the highest state of alert, warning that the risk of a new assault by the Islamic Republic has not been fully eliminated. In a new statement, Bahrain’s General Command of the Defence Force announced that all military units are now at the “highest level of readiness and defensive alert,” a move that follows the wave of tensions triggered by recent Iranian missile and drone strikes on Bahraini territory. According to the Iran International, the decision comes amid warnings from Bahraini officials and regional analysts that the possibility of renewed Iranian attacks on military and infrastructure targets, especially around Manama and key energy and security installations, remains serious. During the 2026 war, Iran used a mix of missiles and drones to hit Bahrain several times, and according to official estimates, dozens of missiles and hundreds of ballistic and ...

A recently resurfaced photograph of a blindfolded man, believed to be a Greek Cypriot prisoner of war from 1974, has been confirmed as authentic by the Turkish journalist who says he was present when it was taken, according to a fact-check published by the Cyprus Information and Research Network (CIReN). The image, showing a blindfolded man flanked by a civilian and an armed soldier in front of a black Mercedes, has circulated widely on social media in recent days, reigniting public debate over the fate of thousands of missing persons from the 1974 conflict in Cyprus. At the same time, it has prompted questions and scepticism about whether the photograph might have been manipulated or created using artificial intelligence tools. Researcher’s Post and AI doubts The first widely shared version of the photograph was posted on 4 May by researcher Odysseas Christou, administrator of the Facebook group “1974 Eyewitness Accounts and Evidence.” CIReN reports that initial checks with specialise...

US President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing a fresh round of military action against Iran within the next 24 hours, thrusting an already volatile region to the brink of a dramatic new escalation in the 2026 Iran war. As ceasefire talks falter and front lines harden from the Strait of Hormuz to Israel’s northern border, diplomats and analysts warn that the conflict is entering one of its most dangerous phases yet, with the risk of a sudden slide into large-scale regional war growing by the hour. According to the Iran International, s peaking in recent interviews and social media posts, Trump has repeatedly signaled that his patience with Tehran is “running out,” insisting he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons and vowing to hit the country “a lot harder, and a lot more violently” if it does not quickly accept a US‑backed deal. US strikes on Iranian targets have already continued despite an officially declared truce, with Washington describing recent attacks as “limited” r...

Two major reports released within days of each other this week documented sexual violence from opposing sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, revealing not only horrific crimes but also deeply tribal responses that rely on dangerous notions of uniqueness, according to Haaretz political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin. A heavily researched column by veteran New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof presented stark documentation of sexual abuse of Palestinians by Israeli prison authorities, while the Israeli Civil Commission released its nearly 300-page report on Hamas' sexual violence during the October 7 attacks and against hostages, Scheindlin reports. She notes that the vast majority of responses focused on defending one's own side while attacking the other, with each community treating their victimization as unprecedented. According to Scheindlin, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian readers "snapped into action like automatons," picking apart flaws in reports about the ...

Despite widespread speculation that Turkey's Democratic Society Process has been "frozen" or "ended," contacts between the parties continue at both Kandil and İmralı, according to NuMedya24 journalist Tuncay Doğan. The negotiations have now moved beyond the question of disarmament to address the fundamental issue of the Kurds' future political status in Turkey. A Turkish state delegation is conducting discussions in Kandil, the PKK's mountainous stronghold, while high-level political contacts also continue with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı prison, Doğan reports. These revelations emerged from two key media reports published within days of each other in mid-May 2026. According to Doğan's analysis, the first indication came from Dr. Hayri Hazargöl's reporting in Yeni Yaşam newspaper on May 13, which revealed that contacts between the state and Kandil representatives included not just indirect communication but face-to-face meetin...

Tehran-based media portray Donald Trump’s two-day visit to Beijing as a noisy, high-visibility trip that delivered little concrete progress on Iran or the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz, despite fanfare over trade understandings and political symbolism. According to Nournews, which reflects an Iranian establishment perspective, China stuck to its familiar script of calling for de-escalation, dialogue and an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East, while carefully avoiding any binding commitment to use its leverage on Tehran or to join a U.S.-led plan to reopen Hormuz. From Tehran’s vantage point, the visit confirmed that Washington cannot easily marshal Beijing into a pressure front against Iran, even when the Strait of Hormuz is closed and more than 1,500 vessels are waiting for passage, roiling global energy markets. The Iranian reading underscores that for all Trump’s claims of “important” industrial and trade deals, nothing on paper indicates a Chinese pledge to “act on Iran,” a...

Turkey’s education authorities have rolled out sweeping changes to state‑approved school textbooks ahead of the 2026–2027 academic year, replacing long‑standing historical and geographical terms with language that officials describe as more “national” and ideologically aligned with the country’s conservative‑nationalist outlook. The revisions, introduced under the “Türkiye Yüzyılı Maarif Modeli” (Turkey‑Century Education Model), are among the most extensive in recent years and have already drawn regional attention and criticism. One of the most discussed changes is the replacement of the term “Bizans” (Byzantium) with “Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu” (Eastern Roman Empire) across history courses. The move effectively reframes the medieval Christian empire centered on Constantinople as a continuation of the Roman world rather than a discrete “Byzantine” entity, a shift that also resonates with nationalist narratives emphasizing Anatolia’s layered but predominantly “Turkish” historical identity...

Greek MEP Nikolas Farantouris warns that a planned Turkish law on maritime spatial planning in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean would mark a dangerous escalation of Ankara’s disputes with Greece, in an opinion piece published by Ta Nea on 15 May. Citing the article “Casus belli No 2 from Ankara” in the Athens daily, Farantouris argues that the move would violate international law by ignoring exclusive economic zone and continental shelf rights for Greek islands and would transform Turkey’s longstanding claims into a formal, binding domestic framework. According to Farantouris, previous Turkish NAVTEX notices in contested waters, while provocative, remained temporary operational signals without creating legal titles or permanent rights under international law. He notes that the recent NAVTEX which effectively split the Aegean “down the middle” paved the way for the current legislative initiative, which he and fellow PASOK MEPs have already raised with the European Commission, reques...

Israeli forces have intensified military activity in Syria’s Quneitra countryside, carrying out shelling, incursions, and arrests in a series of moves that have heightened tension among local residents. According to Enab Baladi, on Thursday, 14 May, areas of Quneitra in southwestern Syria witnessed a new escalation that included artillery fire, troop movements and the detention of civilians, according to Enab Baladi’s correspondent in the governorate. The Israeli army reportedly fired several artillery shells at the outskirts of Hamidiyah town in central Quneitra countryside, striking nearby agricultural land around al‑Hurriya, Jubata al‑Khashab and Hamidiyah without immediate reports of casualties. In parallel with the shelling, an Israeli patrol conducted an incursion into the village of Sida Golan, where troops searched several homes and arrested one resident, local sources told Enab Baladi. A separate force entered the town of Kudna in southern Quneitra at around 2:00 a.m., searche...