Yuriy Zinin

“Iraq caught between a rock and a hard place”, “Iraq between the hammer and the anvil” and similar headlines in Iraqi news reflect public reactions towards recent events within the nation. We are referring here to the assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al‑Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces…

In the run-up to September 15, when the country will go to the polls, the Tunisian presidential election campaign has been marked by the large number of candidates (26) running for presidency and the intense rivalry between them. This is the second multi-party presidential election…

This saying was fairly popular inside Daesh (or ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation that was active in the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR) and Iraq. This meant that former wives of fallen fighters automatically remarried their…

Middle Eastern media outlets have been actively reporting on the delivery of Russia’s S-400 Triumph missile systems purchased by Turkey. The authors of these articles have tried to assess the significance of this deal for Turkey, the reaction of Ankara’s NATO allies and the possible consequences in terms of the regional and…

Tensions which have been escalating since May this year between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf and Washington’s military intervention have been making headlines in the Middle East. The Saudi newspaper “Asharq al-Awsat” describes how the US has recently been ramping up their…

The sound of machine gun fire in Tripoli after the start of Khalifa Haftar’s military campaign to “liberate the city” is accompanied by a bitter squabble between two conflicting sides aired by media outlets and on social networking sites. These opponents are Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls…

Headlines, such as “Theft of Golan’s Oil and Water”, “Law of Jungle vs. Heights of Golan”, “Beyond Golan: Extent of Trump’s Support for Israel” and many others, have filled Middle Eastern media platforms in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israel’s…

During the recent Third Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria, in Brussels, the USA decided to allocate $5 million to the White Helmets, a decision which has once more turned the spotlight onto that organization. It first emerged in 2013, under a banner of political neutrality…

A US-led “Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East”, held from 13 to 14 February in Warsaw, generated a perceptible response from media outlets and experts in the region. Sixty countries were represented at the event, including a number of Arab…

Two themes have recently attracted the attention of media and social networks in the Middle East. The first is the trend towards a gradual restoration of Arab relations with the Syrian government. The second is the role of Russia in the region. The first is indicated by the resumption of the work of the UAE and Bahrain diplomatic missions in Damascus…

“Trump’s Syrian bomb”. “Washington reshuffled the deck with its sudden departure”. “Trump throws a wrench in allies’ plans”. These headlines in response to Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria fill the media space in the Middle East. The outlets are boiling…

The Strait of Kerch, a location that is not often mentioned in the Middle Eastern media – or social media – has become rather more familiar in that region since Ukrainian ships recently entered Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea. In the Arab world a number of journalists…