The Levant Files

Iran’s growing aviation restrictions are not just about cancelled flights. They are making travel, trade, family visits and access to essential services more expensive and uncertain for ordinary people—while adding another layer to the country’s already strained ties with the outside world. By the Editorial Team of TLF Washington is reportedly expanding pressure on Iran beyond direct sanctions on airlines and banks, seeking to influence the foreign airports, fuel suppliers, ticketing services and financial institutions that keep Iranian aircraft moving. The strategy, described in a report published by Shargh Daily , aims to make continued commercial engagement with Iran riskier for third countries. The effect is being felt across the region. Flights have reportedly been restricted or suspended in countries including Iraq, Oman, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Iraq, which has deep economic and social ties with Iran but also faces pressure from Washington, has reportedly explored w...

Serbia has entered one of those tense, unsettled political moments when a resignation changes the formal picture overnight, while leaving the deeper struggle completely open. Aleksandar Vucic is no longer president. His political influence, his party's machinery and the anger that has filled Serbia's streets for nearly two years have not disappeared. The country now faces a parliamentary election on October 25 and a presidential vote by the end of December. By the Editorial Team of TLF 1. What happened? Aleksandar Vucic resigned as Serbia's president on September 27. He said he wanted to take part in the coming parliamentary election as an ordinary citizen, though this is plainly a major political move rather than a retreat from public life. Vucic has led Serbia as prime minister or president since 2012 and is barred from seeking another presidential term. He is now heading the Serbian Progressive Party's electoral list and is expected to seek the pr...

The affair surrounding US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle is bigger than gas, bigger than AKTOR and bigger than one ugly remark at a private dinner. It goes to a harder question: how much room is left for a small democracy to make its own decisions when an allied superpower arrives with political access, commercial interests and the confidence that it can shape events "here" as well? By the Editorial Team of TLF According to the Wall Street Journal's investigation , Guilfoyle clashed with Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou at a March dinner in Athens attended by Greek and US officials. The discussion concerned Romania's expected government collapse. Guilfoyle was quoted as saying, "We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here." Papastavrou, the Journal reports, replied that the United States could not replace a Greek government elected by its people. Guilfoyle's lawyer disputes that account of the exchange. That matters. A seri...

By the Editorial Team of TLF Five British men remain in custody after armed police intercepted three suspicious vehicles near RAF Fairford, as counter-terrorism officers continue an investigation that has left a Gloucestershire village under heavy security. The men, all from London and aged between 23 and 25, were arrested in the Whelford area in the early hours of Sunday. They were first detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, then arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. No one has been charged and police have not publicly identified the men. The incident began at about 12.45am when Gloucestershire Police received a report that three vehicles were travelling towards the air base. Armed officers moved into the area and made the arrests. The Army's explosive ordnance disposal specialists were called in to examine the vehicles, while Counter Terrorism Policing took charge of the wider inquiry. A 400-metre cordon remains around the scene. Around...

By the Editorial Team of TLF Itamar Ben-Gvir's appearance at Al-Aqsa during Sukkot was presented as a religious visit. It was also a show of power. According to Al Jazeera , the Israeli national security minister entered the compound under police protection, and video released by his office showed him taking part in religious rituals. The setting gave the moment its weight. Ben-Gvir is not a private citizen making a pilgrimage. He is the minister responsible for Israel's police. At Al-Aqsa, that distinction is combustible. The compound is administered day to day by the Jordanian-appointed Islamic Waqf under the long-standing status quo. Muslims pray there. Jewish visitors are allowed entry under Israeli control, but public prayer by non-Muslims has long been restricted because of the risk of confrontation. Ben-Gvir's visits have repeatedly pressed against those limits. According to Anadolu Agency , about 1,500 Israeli visitors, including Ben-Gvir, entered the com...

By the Editorial Team of TLF Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has threatened to drive forces he described as enemies out of the Arabian Sea, claiming Iranian attacks had already pushed them away from waters off the country's southern coast. Al Jazeera reported the remarks on September 28, citing Iranian state media. The message marked Sacred Defence Week, commemorating the Iran-Iraq War, and the anniversary of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's killing in 2024. No deadline was given. In the excerpt, Khamenei praised Iranian fighters and those guarding the Strait of Hormuz, saying opposing forces had suffered when they ventured closer to Iran. "The time is fast approaching when the Arabian Sea, too, will be cleared of their presence," he said, according to Al Jazeera's English rendering. The military claim remains independently unverified. The published passage supplies no ship names, locations or supporting evidence, and the original ...

Five men, three suspicious vans, a US-operated air base and an investigation that now reaches directly into the security fallout from the Iran war. What began with a late-night telephone call from a member of the public has become one of Britain's most closely watched counter-terrorism investigations. By the Editorial Team of TLF There is still much that British authorities have not disclosed about what happened outside RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in the early hours of Sunday, 27 September. But by Sunday night, the picture had become significantly clearer — and considerably more serious. Five men remain in custody. Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation. Army bomb-disposal specialists have been examining three vehicles. And investigators are looking at whether the suspected plot could have an Iranian connection, although no such link has been established publicly. Here are five questions — and what we actually know so far. 1. What Exactly Happened Near RAF...

The arrests near a UK airbase used for US operations against Iran raise a question that reaches far beyond Gloucestershire: could Britain’s military role make its bases — and the communities around them — increasingly vulnerable, from the English countryside to Cyprus? For now, police have established no Iranian connection. By the Editorial Team of TLF Five men are in custody after police received a report of three suspicious vehicles apparently heading towards RAF Fairford early on Sunday. They were arrested near the base initially on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Counter-terrorism officers are investigating, while around 85 households have been advised to evacuate as Army specialists examine the vehicles. No attack has been confirmed, and investigators have not publicly identified a motive or established a connection to Iran. The latest official information has been released by Counter Terrorism Policing . Why Fairford M...

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act after three suspicious vehicles were reported travelling towards RAF Fairford — the British airbase used by US forces during the war against Iran. Counter-terrorism investigators are now examining the circumstances surrounding the incident, dramatically raising the stakes of a security operation that began near the strategically important American bomber base early on Sunday. There is still no evidence publicly establishing Iranian involvement . But the location, the terrorism arrests and RAF Fairford's role in US operations against Iran mean investigators face an obvious question: was the airbase itself the intended target, and was anybody outside Britain connected to what happened? Three Vehicles Heading Towards RAF Fairford According to Counter Terrorism Policing , police received a call at approximately 00:45 on Sunday concerning three suspicious vehicles that appeared to be travelling towards RAF Fairfo...

Turkey’s widening fund scandal has entered a more dangerous phase. Investigators are moving higher into the financial groups at the centre of the affair, while a growing trail of political connections is raising an increasingly uncomfortable question in Ankara: who knew what was happening before ordinary investors did? By the Editorial Team of TLF The Turkish fund scandal is no longer confined to obscure portfolios, spectacular share-price movements and the traders accused of engineering them. It is moving up the chain. By Sunday, 27 September, investigators had reached the senior leadership of Tera, the political fallout had cost former minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya her position in the governing AKP, and new questions were being asked about the people surrounding Özata Denizcilik — one of the companies that has emerged at the heart of the affair. At the same time, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government appears to be confronting another problem: how to retur...