ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Beijing relies on the Middle East for oil but has tended to leave Middle Eastern diplomacy to the other four permanent members of the UNSC This aerial photo taken on 2 January, 2017 shows a Chinese navy formation, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning (C), during military drills in the South China Sea (AFP) Chinese warships have embarked on a tour of Gulf Arab states for the first time in six years as Beijing has signalled a desire to play a bigger role on the global stage. Three Chinese vessels, including a guided-missile destroyer warship, arrived in Qatar's capital Doha on Saturday following a visit to the Saudi port city of Jeddah, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. China's navy regularly tours the world and its ships patrol off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia as part of international anti-piracy operations. Visits to Gulf Arab states, where both the US and Britain have naval bases, are less common. China's navy visited Iran for the first time in 2014 to ta...

By Gareth Porter  A new coalition of US-based organizations is pushing for a more aggressive U.S. intervention against the Assad regime. But both the war in Syria and politics in the United States have shifted dramatically against this objective. When it was formed last July, the coalition hoped that a Hillary Clinton administration would pick up its proposals for a more forward stance in support of the anti-Assad armed groups. But with Donald Trump in office instead, the supporters of a U.S. war in Syria now have little or no chance of selling the idea. One of the ways the group is adjusting to the new political reality is to package its proposal for deeper U.S. military engagement on behalf of U.S.-supported armed groups as part of a plan to counter Al Qaeda, now calling itself Jabhat Fateh al Sham. But that rationale depends on a highly distorted presentation of the problematic relations between Syria’s supposedly “moderate” rebel groups and Al Qaed...

ISIS terrorists have targeted a Russian-made T-90 main battle tank with an anti-tank guided missile near the village of Drehym in the area east of the town of Khanasser in the province of Aleppo. The incident took place on January 23 and allegedly resulted in killing of the tank’s crew. Pro-ISIS sources claim that it was totally “destroyed” and the released video shows a burning T-90 tank. The further developments over the tank are unknown. This could be the first T-90 battle tank destroyed by terrorists during the conflict. The flag on the picture suggests that the battle tank had been operated by crew from Hezbollah, Fatimyoun Brigade or Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba – pro-government paramilitary groups backed by Iran. Click to see the full-size image

The map shows a military situation in Yemen on January 23, 2017 Click to see the full-size map

Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups have gathered in the Kazakh capital Astana to hold peace talks aimed at ending the six-year conflict in the Arab state, with senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey mediating the process. The two-day talks opened at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on Monday with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov delivering the keynote speech. The negotiations, which are backed by the United Nations, will be held behind closed doors. At the event, Iran and Russia will be mediating on behalf of the Syrian administration, while Turkey will be siding with the opposition. Syria’s UN ambassador and head of the Damascus delegation Bashar al-Ja’afari (R) speaks with Syrian ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad prior to the first session of Syria peace talks at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on January 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP) On the eve of the negotiations, delegates from the three countries held long-hours talks in Astana. They discussed...

Syrian security forces have prevented an attempt to supply militants operating in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus with US-made TOW anti-tank guided missiles. According to reports, last weekend, security forces seized a batch of at least 12 TOW units (some sources say that over 20) en route to the region. Most likely, the missiles were set to be delivered to the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam militant group, operating in the area. A Twitter user, WithinSyriaBlog, released alleged photos of the captured missiles:

A logo of the Turkish-backed police Some 450 members of “police units” trained, backed and supplied by Turkey have been deployed to the Syrian border town of Jarabulus, controlled by pro-Turkish militant groups and the Turkish Armed Forces. General Abdel Razaq Aslan, a defector from the Syrian Army is a commander of the Turkey-led police in the town. The logo of the so-called “Jarablus police” includes the word “police” written in Turkish. Abdel Razaq Aslan In 2016, reports appeared that Turkey was recruiting Syrian refugees (males aged between 20 and 35 years) in order to create police and security units in the Turkish-controlled area in northern Syria. The deployment of police units to Jarabulus is the first public result of this effort.

Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionTrump's inauguration (left) and Obama's in 2009, viewed from the Washington Monument President Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonesty over the number of people attending his inauguration. Mr Trump was speaking after photographs were published appearing to show more people attended the inauguration of his predecessor Barack Obama in 2009. Mr Trump's press secretary said it had been "the largest audience to ever see an inauguration" even though figures he cited add up to under 750,000 people. He said the new US administration would hold the media accountable. On Saturday, millions in the US and around the world took part in protests to highlight women's rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the new administration. The largest US rally was in the capital, Washington DC, which city officials estimated to be more than 500,000-strong, followed by New York with some 400,000 and hundreds of thousands else...