Why is it that much of Egypt’s private media is “so profusely” opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, asks Washington Insittute fellow Eric Trager, before supplying an answer in the form of a link to a New York Times opinion piece published this weekend by Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Essa. It turns...

Iranian media today carried statements by a top Syrian officer declaring that Syria will lash out at Israel in the event of Western strikes against Damascus. A top officer with the Syrian army told the Iranian news agency FARS that should Damascus be attacked, the Syrians will retaliated against Tel Aviv....

Egyptian media outlets report on dwindling crowds at Muslim Brotherhood rallies being held in support of the country’s former president Mohammed Morsi, even as the pro-Brotherhood National Alliance to Support Legitimacy announced that it was seeking to conduct new demonstrations. Al-Awsat noted a “sharp decline” in turnout, among other things: Pro-Mursi...

Iran yesterday threatened that Western action against Syria would escalate into a regional war, pointedly warning of “perilous consequences” in the aftermath of harsh statements from the State Department and White House accusing the Bashar al-Assad regime of crossing Washington’s long-standing “red line” against the use of chemical weapons. Iranian foreign ministry...

The West appears prepared to strike Syrian military infrastructure perhaps as soon as this week, amid threats by both Damascus and its Iranian patrons to respond to Western action by attacking Israel and with “surprises.”  Syria vowed defiantly to defend itself against any attack with “surprise” measures, while its close ally Russia...

Sectarian violence inside Syrian is cascading across the Middle East. In Lebanon, Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni jihadists are locked in a spiral of violence. In Jordan, King Abdullah II is warning of sectarian “destruction.” Arabic media sources are openly worrying that Turkey will be pulled into a “sectarian swamp.” And...

Syrian state television reported this weekend that the governor of the Hama region was killed in a car bomb, likely by rebels battling to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime. Though a Sunni, Anas Abdel Razzaq al-Naem was an Assad loyalist and Baath party member. The car bomb was one of...

As the West gears up for near-certain strikes against Syrian military infrastructure, analysts are moving to unpack what might have motivated the Bashar al-Assad regime to unleash what appears to be the most devastating chemical attack since Saddam Hussein unleashed similar weapons against restive Kurds in Halabja in 1988. On...

The Associated Press assesses the willingness of the White House to accept an Egyptian government heavily backed by the army, and finds the administration… not totally unwilling, actually: The White House is reluctantly preparing to accept an Egyptian government that could be a democracy in name only, two years after...

The Baha’i World News service – a Haifa-based service that “reports on activities of the worldwide Baha’i community and on events that affect the Baha’i Faith ” – published details yesterday on the murder of Ataollah Rezvani, a “well-known member of the Iranian Baha’i community.” Rezvani was reportedly killed by...