The Levant Files

Iran appears to have begun retaliating following a new wave of US strikes across southern Iran on Tuesday evening, September 1, as the confrontation between Washington and Tehran entered another potentially dangerous phase. Initial Iranian reports indicate missile launches against US military positions in the region, while information on the precise targets, interceptions and possible casualties remains fragmentary. The developments are unfolding rapidly, and independent confirmation of the targets and impact of the latest Iranian response remains limited. At the time of publication, no comprehensive assessment of damage or casualties from the reported retaliation had been released by US Central Command. The apparent Iranian response comes shortly after Tehran's military leadership publicly promised retaliation for the latest American attacks. According to Iran International's live coverage, Iran's Armed Forces General Staff said US air strikes against targets in Sistan and...

Iranian media and local officials reported a widening series of U.S. strikes across southern Iran on Tuesday evening, with confirmed impacts in the Chabahar-Konarak area and additional, less firmly established reports emerging from Hormozgan province. The clearest confirmation came from Sistan and Baluchestan. At around 20:30 local time, Ali Khalilabadi, deputy governor of the province, said that four projectiles had struck locations in the counties of Chabahar and Konarak. Iranian authorities said assessments of possible casualties and damage were still under way. Tasnim News Agency also reported multiple explosions in the broader Konarak area, while separate Iranian reports referred to explosions along the southern coast of Qeshm Island. At this stage, however, Iranian authorities have not publicly provided a detailed list of military installations or other sites that may have been targeted. Further reports from Hormozgan require greater caution. Iranian media citing the Young Journa...

Two months of uneasy quiet just broke. At noon Eastern Time on Tuesday, U.S. warplanes began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets across Iran — the second direct military clash between Washington and Tehran in three days, after tanker attacks and an attempted sea-mine operation pushed the Strait of Hormuz back to the brink. Here's what's known so far, in five questions. 1. What Just Happened? At  12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets inside Iran, U.S. Central Command announced. CENTCOM said the strikes follow recent attempted IRGC attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on American service members deployed to the region. Explosions were reported around the Strait as the operation got underway. A pair of oil tankers had come under attack in the shipping route shortly before the strikes were launched. 2. Why Now — What Triggered This Round? Iranian forces had reportedly tried to launc...

Search and rescue efforts off the coast of Keryneia (Girne) entered a critical new phase on Tuesday, 48 hours after a passenger ferry sank in the northern shores of Cyprus, as a Turkish naval vessel equipped with deep-sea robotic systems arrived on scene. Speaking to The Levant Files, Kanal T Editor-in-Chief Aytuğ Türkkan said the TCG Işın, which had sailed from Çanakkale, reached the site on Tuesday morning and deployed unmanned robotic systems capable of diving to depths of 1,000 metres. The wreck itself lies at roughly 500 metres, and many of the 20 people still listed as missing are believed to be trapped inside the hull. According to Türkkan, the robotic units carry cameras that can document conditions inside the wreck, along with robotic arms capable of lifting up to 130 kilograms — giving rescuers a real capacity to intervene, not just observe. Türkkan said the initial emergency response, in which survivors were rushed to hospitals by ambulance crews and medical staff, had gone ...

"Bir Mucize Beklentisi, Bir de Kabulleniş Var" Konuk: Aytuğ Türkkan, Kanal T Genel Yayın Yönetmeni.  Mülâkatın tümünü haber metninin altındaki pencerede izleyebilirsiniz.  Kıbrıs'ı yasa boğan gemi faciasının üzerinden 48 saat geçerken arama kurtarma çalışmaları teknolojinin desteğiyle sürüyor. The Levant Files'a konuşan Kanal T Genel Yayın Yönetmeni Aytuğ Türkkan, Türkiye'den Çanakkale'den yola çıkan TCG Işın gemisinin bu sabah Girne açıklarına ulaştığını ve 1000 metre derinliğe kadar dalabilen robotik sistemlerin göreve başladığını açıkladı. Batığın yaklaşık 500 metrede bulunduğu belirtilirken, aranan 20 kişiden birçoğunun geminin içinde sıkışmış olabileceği değerlendiriliyor. Türkkan, robotik sistemin kameraları sayesinde batıkta tespit yapabildiğini, 130 kiloya kadar kaldırma gücüne sahip kollarıyla da müdahale kapasitesi taşıdığını aktardı. Kaza sonrası ilk müdahalenin başarılı olduğunu, ancak sonraki süreçte devletin bilgilendirme konusunda sınıfta kaldığ...

Το ταχύπλοο καταμαράν Filo Jet, που ανατράπηκε ανοικτά της Κύπρου λίγο μετά τον απόπλου του από την κατεχόμενη Κερύνεια με προορισμό το Τάσουτζου της Μερσίνης, με 259 επιβάτες και οκτώ μέλη πληρώματος, φέρεται να είχε ήδη υποστεί δομική βλάβη όταν απέπλευσε, σύμφωνα με πραγματογνώμονες ασφαλιστικών εταιρειών που επικαλείται η τουρκική εφημερίδα «Χιουρριγέτ». Οκτώ άνθρωποι έχασαν τη ζωή τους και 18 αγνοούνται. Οι πραγματογνώμονες που ορίστηκαν από τους ασφαλιστές κύτους και P&I αναφέρουν ότι οι ρωγμές που βύθισαν το σκάφος δεν δημιουργήθηκαν την ημέρα του δυστυχήματος. Ημέρες νωρίτερα, το πλοίο είχε ταξιδέψει μέσα σε θύελλα, με ανέμους περίπου 30 κόμβων και κύματα τεσσάρων έως τεσσεράμισι μέτρων — συνθήκες πολύ πέραν του ορίου των τριών μέτρων που ισχύει για ταχύπλοα σύνθετης κατασκευής. Υποστηρίζουν ότι διαθέτουν βίντεο που δείχνει τη ζημιά στο κατάστρωμα από εκείνο το ταξίδι και ότι ο πλοίαρχος και το πλήρωμα απέπλευσαν παρά ταύτα. Σύμφωνα με την ανασύσταση των πραγματογνωμόνων, θ...

The high-speed catamaran Filo Jet, which capsized off Cyprus shortly after leaving Kyrenia (Girne) for Taşucu, Mersin, with 259 passengers and eight crew, appears to have sailed with structural damage sustained days before the accident, according to insurance surveyors cited by the Turkish daily Hürriyet. Eight people died and 18 remain missing. Loss adjusters appointed by the vessel's hull and P&I underwriters told Hürriyet that the cracks that sank the ship were not opened on the day of the disaster. Days earlier, the ferry had been driven through a storm in roughly 30 knots of wind and waves of four to four-and-a-half metres — conditions the surveyors say were well beyond the three-metre limit for a composite-hulled fast craft. They claim to hold video showing damage to the deck structure from that earlier passage, and allege the master and crew put to sea regardless. The surveyors' reconstruction is that seawater filled the void space beneath the passenger saloon, surfa...

By Al-Nuwai Qahdoun Damascus asserts itself as the oldest capital in history, yet repeatedly finds itself burdened with the disgrace inflicted upon it by those who have lost their humanity. They envy it because it taught them reading and writing; it is struck by the arrows of jealousy fired by the new enemies of civilisation. And so there is no wonder that Damascus falls and rises again, time after time. It confronts all the backwardness, ugliness and resentment the world can muster and endures the recklessness of those who seek to toy with its fate. Damascus can bear it because it is greater and stronger than they are. They will disappear; Damascus will remain. Poets and historians will continue writing verses of love, passion and pride for a capital whose history is not written by history itself—for Damascus is one of the cities that created history. I remember the days following the death of Hafez al-Assad, may he rest in peace, in June 2000, when the Syrian People's Assembly co...

Greece’s Communist Party (KKE) has sharply condemned the government’s new air-defence agreement with Israel, arguing that the so-called “Achilles Shield” will deepen Greece’s military involvement in regional conflicts while imposing a multibillion-euro burden on the public. According to the Greek news outlet 902.gr, agreements signed on Monday between Athens and Israel cover the acquisition of several Israeli-made air-defence systems at a total cost exceeding €3 billion. The package reportedly includes Rafael’s David’s Sling and Spyder systems, as well as the Barak MX system produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. A separate €26 million agreement is also said to cover the Drone Dome counter-unmanned aerial vehicle system. The deal forms part of Greece’s broader “Agenda 2030” defence modernisation programme and has been promoted by the government as a multilayered architecture designed to strengthen protection of Greek territory. KKE, however, rejected that description. In a statement ...

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan met in Istanbul hours after Washington and Tehran resumed direct strikes Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gave their three-week-old defence pact an institutional skeleton on Monday, naming it the Mecca Defence Alliance and agreeing to seat its permanent secretariat in Riyadh under a Pakistani secretary-general. The decisions came out of the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee, held at Istanbul's Çırağan Palace. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan led his delegation with Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu. Saudi Arabia sent Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Gen. Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili. Pakistan was represented by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. Fidan said the alliance would run through a ministerial committee modelled on NATO's structure, and...