The Levant Files

Syria and Russia have entered a more restrained phase of their long relationship after reaching an agreement that reduces Moscow’s military privileges while preserving channels for economic cooperation and political influence. Writing for Al-Monitor on Aug. 15, Samuel Wendel reported that the agreement reorganizes Russia’s presence at Tartus and Hmeimim, two installations that were central to Moscow’s regional power projection under former President Bashar al-Assad. The shift became visible on Aug. 11, when Syrian authorities began receiving wheat and cement at a commercial berth previously used by Russian forces. Russian personnel were simultaneously observed moving equipment away from the pier, according to Reuters. Under the agreement, negotiated over 18 months, Damascus will recover control of civilian facilities at Tartus and Hmeimim. The military sections are expected to become joint training centers within three months. Russia will retain a military presence, although under tig...

Turkey’s intensifying rivalry with Israel and growing instability across the Middle East have driven Ankara into a new defence alliance with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, although the arrangement risks entangling it in its partners’ conflicts and complicating its NATO obligations. As Al-Monitor correspondent Barin Kayaoglu reported on August 16, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the trilateral pact in Mecca on August 7. Its collective-defence provision states that an armed attack against one signatory will be considered an attack against all three. The language resembles NATO’s Article 5, under which allies pledge assistance to a member under attack. However, neither framework necessarily requires an automatic deployment of troops, leaving governments some latitude in deciding how to respond. The partnership brings together three complementary sources of power. Turkey contributes an increas...

Greece has become the latest European country to be drawn into the intensifying diplomatic drama surrounding Iran, as Washington searches for new channels capable of restarting stalled negotiations and easing the confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz. According to Iranian newspaper Entekhab, citing an Associated Press report, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of Greece and Austria this week. Both European officials then contacted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi almost at once after their discussions with Rubio. The timing has raised questions about whether Washington is quietly expanding its diplomatic outreach beyond the Middle East in an urgent attempt to stop the conflict. Rubio met Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger in Washington on Tuesday and held a telephone conversation with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis on Wednesday. Official US statements initially described the exchanges in broad terms and did not identify...

The killing of one of eastern Libya’s most senior intelligence officers has exposed vulnerabilities at the heart of Khalifa Haftar’s security apparatus, just as international efforts to reunify the country appear to be gaining momentum. Major General Fawzi al-Mansouri, head of military intelligence for the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), was killed late on Monday, 10 August, when an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated in Benghazi. He had just left evening prayers at a mosque in the Sayyida Aisha quarter of the al-Hawari district. No one else was killed. Nearly a week later, no group has claimed responsibility, and no credible evidence has emerged publicly identifying those behind the attack. Haftar appointed al-Mansouri director of military intelligence on 20 May 2024. Before that, he had spent almost three years commanding the Sabha military zone, a strategically important area in Libya’s southern desert. The region borders Chad, Niger and Sudan and lies at th...

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a collective-defence treaty on 7 August. Long before the ink was dry, all three were already backing the same side in Africa’s largest war — against another Gulf power. When Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on 7 August, its collective-defence provisions were framed around attacks on the three signatories. Yet on the very same day, analysts were tracing Pakistani weapons in the hands of Sudan’s army. In that sense, the new alliance does not need to wait for its first conflict. Its members are already deeply entangled in one. Sudan, now in the fourth year of a devastating civil war, has emerged as one of the clearest arenas of competition between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have all aligned themselves, to varying degrees, with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). On the other side, the United Arab Emirates has been...

Two mosquito-borne diseases have drawn attention in Greece and Turkey this week, but the cases are unrelated. West Nile virus is responsible for nine deaths in Greece, while Turkish journalist Serdar Akinan contracted dengue during a trip abroad. West Nile Cases Rise Sharply in Greece Greece is experiencing one of its fastest-developing West Nile virus seasons in recent years. According to figures released by the National Public Health Organisation (EODY) on 13 August, 110 locally acquired infections had been recorded by 12 August. Of these patients, 81 developed complications affecting the central nervous system, including encephalitis, meningitis and acute flaccid paralysis. Nine people have died, all of them over the age of 65, while 16 patients remain in intensive care. The sudden acceleration in infections has heightened concern among health authorities. Forty-five cases were diagnosed in just one week. Investigations have identified infections in 39 municipalities across 14 regio...

Since the start of the hostilities, from the vantage point of Iranian state media, the ongoing conflict with the United States is a narrative of strategic resilience and undeniable victory. Flatly rejecting President Donald Trump's recent assertions that Washington controls the vital Strait of Hormuz, Iranian outlets are framing the ongoing conflict as a testament to Iran's military superiority and the enemy's growing desperation.  The Strait of Hormuz remains the central battleground in this media war. On August 13, Iranian state media strongly rejected Trump's claims that the critical waterway is open and under full American control. Instead, Iranian officials and military commentators assert that the strait remains firmly under Tehran's command, characterizing the US posture as a clear "defeat". On August 14, Press TV clarified that a recent agreement between Iran and Oman regarding the strait does not equate to a reopening of the waterway, issuing a st...

Says It Shows Region Moving Away From U.S. Security Iran on Monday offered a measured welcome to the newly signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, viewing the trilateral pact as evidence that regional powers are moving away from reliance on American security guarantees while reaffirming that Tehran sees no reason to view the alliance as a threat. Speaking at his weekly press conference on Journalists' Day, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the defense pact represents a significant shift in regional security perceptions. "In a general view, we can say that this development is a sign of change in the perception of regional countries," Baghaei stated. "Regional countries, in light of the developments of the past two to three years, have come to realize that security is not a commodity that can be purchased from false dealers." Bagaei emphasized that Iran sees no reason to be concerned about the pact, noting that ...

Tunisia is facing mounting domestic and international pressure as its political and economic crises deepen. The latest flashpoint is the deteriorating health of 85-year-old Rached Ghannouchi, the imprisoned leader of the Ennahda movement. According to reports from Anadolu Agency and the Middle East Monitor, Ghannouchi recently launched a hunger and medication strike from his hospital bed. His plight underscores the severe democratic backsliding and human rights abuses characterizing President Kais Saied's increasingly authoritarian rule. The legal persecution of Ghannouchi has reached unprecedented levels this year. As reported by Al Jazeera, a Tunisian court formally sentenced the Ennahda leader to life in prison on June 3, 2026. This latest verdict adds to a staggering cumulative sentence; according to the Middle East Eye, the opposition figurehead is already serving over 150 years in prison on a multitude of charges that his supporters widely dismiss as politically motivated. Hi...