Middle East

Why Britain shouldn’t recognise Palestine

There is increasing speculation that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state imminently, possibly in coordination with France. On this morning’s Today programme, for example, Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was the latest senior MP to push the idea. Open Jew hate is now the norm in Britain It sounds sensible, even obvious, doesn’t it? If a ‘political’ solution is the only way out of the current terrible situation in the region, surely a pre-requisite is to create a so-called partner for peace with Israel. But like so many superficially sensible and obvious ideas, that’s what it is: superficial. Worse, it’s dangerous – and specifically dangerous

The painful truth about Christian anti-Semitism

When I walked past a group of shouting protestors holding placards announcing, ‘Christians for Palestine,’ I couldn’t resist: ‘If Christians hadn’t treated Jews so appallingly for so many centuries there wouldn’t have been a need for Israel,’ I said politely. ‘Do you genuinely think that one-sided polemics are appropriate,’ I asked. There was a pause for self-righteous reflection, before one of the group responded: ‘Typical! A Zionist playing the antisemitic card.’ Early in its history, the church removed the Jewish Jesus from the Christian narrative The truth is that this Anglican priest with three Jewish grandparents wasn’t playing any card at all. I was trying to point out some of

Are we sure the Afghan data debacle won’t happen again?

‘Afghanistan’ was the heading of Defence Secretary John Healey’s statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday – a word that hardly does justice to a three-year saga involving a catastrophic security breach and loss of data by the Ministry of Defence, a superinjunction and billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Ministers and civil servants cannot be allowed to make policy and spend taxpayers’ money without any kind of oversight. That is not how a democracy works The bare bones of the story are these. In February 2022, the details of nearly 20,000 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK after the Taliban had seized power, as well

Is Britain an ally or an enemy of Israel?

Even as the British parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) published its stark warning yesterday that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Quds Force orchestrates spy rings on British soil, the UK continues its public ostracisation of Israel, the very country on the frontline of seeing down that exact threat. Britain must choose. Not between Israelis and Palestinians, but between honesty and hypocrisy Earlier this week, an Afghan-Danish spy working for Iran was arrested for photographing Jewish and Israeli targets in Berlin. The intelligence trail ran through Israel, Denmark, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. Israel’s cooperation helped foil an operation with chilling echoes of the Iranian regime’s 1980s and 90s terror

Britain must wake up to the threat of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a ‘wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable’ threat to the United Kingdom. That was the sobering conclusion this week of the intelligence and security committee, which has spent several years examining Iranian policy and activity, taking evidence and analysing a huge amount of classified information. The committee’s chairman, Lord Beamish (former Labour MP Kevan Jones), warned that the government had not developed a comprehensive or in-depth approach to the threat posed by Iran but had instead focused on short-term crisis management. The intelligence and security committee (ISC) of parliament is a unique body. Despite its name, it is not a select committee, but established by statute

Israel’s Sophie’s Choice

As pressure intensifies on Israel to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, the country faces a wrenching national dilemma: one that evokes a harrowing moral and strategic reckoning. With approximately 20 live hostages still held by Hamas, Israel must weigh the sacred imperative of bringing its citizens home against the hard-earned gains of a war fought to dismantle a terror regime. Israel stands alone before a terrible choice: pause now and risk preserving Hamas, or press on and risk the hostages’ lives The stakes are no longer theoretical. Hamas’s senior leadership has been decimated, its command structure shattered. Israeli forces now control more than sixty per

Gareth Roberts

The Dubai influencer craze can’t end soon enough

Marcus Fakana, a British 18-year-old, has been in prison in the United Arab Emirates since December. His crime? Having consensual sex with a 17-year-old British girl on a trip to Dubai. Now, thanks to the granting of a royal pardon by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Marcus has been freed and is back home in London. The merciful monarch did this as part of a tradition of releasing lesser miscreants during Eid, the feast that marks the end of Ramadan. Dubai comes with considerable risks – fun, fun, fun with a side order of mediaeval theocracy The freeing of Fakana is further confirmation – as if it were

How Qatar helped Trump broker peace in Iran

Qatar is basking in its latest diplomatic success. On Monday evening, Qatari diplomats brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. This truce remains intact despite Iran’s parliamentary vote to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog and brinkmanship over alleged breaches of the ceasefire.  Qatar’s success was the product of years of tenacious diplomacy and capitalisation on time-tested partnerships with the key warring parties. During the summer of 2022, Qatar hosted indirect nuclear negotiations between US and Iranian officials. While these talks did not produce immediate results, Qatar continued its efforts. In August 2023, Qatar facilitated a US-Iran hostage deal that led to the unfreezing of $6 billion (£4.4

Iran’s supreme leader looks more deluded than defiant

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has made his first public comments since the ceasefire with Israel took hold. Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over all major decisions in the country, has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. His pre-recorded speech, aired on state television, is meant to put an end to rising speculation about his fate after he went into hiding at the start of the conflict. In the televised address, the Iranian leader hailed his country’s ‘victory’ over Israel and vowed never to surrender to the United States. The Iranian leader was eager to tell anyone who would listen that the US bombing of

Israel has weakened Iran – but not destroyed it

With the ceasefire between Iran and Israel so far holding, a preliminary assessment of the 12-day campaign is now possible. Jerusalem and its US ally achieved a considerable amount. Iran’s deficiencies on a tactical level were laid bare. Structural flaws in Tehran’s strategy of war by proxy have been made apparent. Both the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have been significantly damaged. The hands of the doomsday clock, which were getting close to midnight, have been vigorously pulled back.   Unlike the actual digital clock in Tehran’s Palestine Square, however, which was destroyed by Israeli ordnance during the campaign, the Iranian strategy for the destruction of Israel has not been comprehensively defeated. Nor does the regime appear

Freddy Gray

As Donald Trump declares peace, the war goes on

Donald Trump’s presidency is often compared to a reality TV show. Yet that conceit barely captures the radical strangeness of his leadership. Trump is a hypnotist, a master of persuasion who tries to shape world events through CONFUSION, BIG BOMBS and CAPITAL LETTERS.  ‘THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!’ he announced in the early hours this morning.  How will Trump the peacemaker respond to such a clear abrogation of his demands? For an hour or so, it seemed as if Trump could be right. Iran and Israel did make the right noises, through the correct channels, about a cessation of fire. But then this morning,

Will Iran seize this moment for revolution?

Last night began with dramatic news: the Islamic Republic of Iran had launched a volley of ballistic missiles at the US-run Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, a retaliatory gesture following the devastating American strikes on the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities. In Washington, President Trump entered the National Security Council, according to some reports accompanied by the nuclear ‘football’. The world held its breath in what was turning into the highest-stakes game of chess. Soon it happened: Trump had indeed pressed the button and unleashed chaos and mayhem across the region. But it was not the one that launches missiles. Instead, it was the presidential CAPS LOCK. Trump took to social

Will Khamenei accept that it’s over?

It is a fair bet that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ‘so-called supreme leader’ in the words of president Trump, didn’t expect it to end like this. Holed up in a bunker somewhere in Tehran, exchanging messages with a small and ever-diminishing group of allies, and impotently raging against the West, namely America and Israel. Khamenei is no longer master of his own destiny What can the 86-year-old Khamenei, plagued by ill-health in recent years, really be thinking? He has ruled Iran with an iron fist for more than three decades, but is now reduced to cowering for his life underground. Just as humiliating must be the realisation that he owes his life to

Why the US will probably strike Iran again

It was bound to happen. Leaving aside, for the moment, the burning question of whether the US strikes on Iran will have set back Tehran’s nuclear programme by weeks, months or years, this moment feels in many ways like an apotheosis of sorts. The Omega (or perhaps Alpha depending on your sense of ontology) of US attempts at talking to the Islamic Republic, a culmination of decades of frustration at the Ayatollah’s unique ability to talk peace and negotiation while murdering and destabilising. The Islamic Republic now has few good options The history of the Islamic Republic, from its brazen assassinations to the long-drawn out nuclear saga, is one in which the public face of the regime – suave diplomats and

Mark Galeotti

Putin spies an opportunity in Trump’s attack on Iran

Is Donald Trump’s decision to join attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities an embarrassment, a provocation or an opportunity for Russia? The honest answer is that it is all three, but likely more of an opportunity than anything else, if Moscow is willing to play it cool. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is in Moscow today to meet with Vladimir Putin, and before he set out, he was trying to sound bullish, asserting that ‘Russia is a friend of Iran’, and that he expected concrete measures in support. Yet one can question how far the two countries were ever truly allies, so much as frenemies who shared a series of common

The Isis threat to Syria hasn’t gone away

Just as things were starting to get better in Syria, an attack against the Christian community has shaken the country. In the suburbs of Damascus, a suspected Isis member entered the Mar Elias Church during Sunday mass, opened fire on the Greek Orthodox worshipers and then detonated a suicide vest. So far, the Syrian Health Ministry has confirmed at least 20 dead and 52 injured. As I arrived at the scene, armed members of the security forces were closing off the premises, trying to herd away the anxious locals who had gathered. Rubble and shattered glass on the streets, inside pools of blood. The Syrian White Helmets were picking through

Is Britain ready to defend itself against Iranian reprisals?

Operation Midnight Hammer, America’s air and missile strikes against Iran at the weekend, did not involve the United Kingdom. Although the Prime Minister was informed of the military action in advance, there was not, so far as we know, any request from the United States for British approval, participation or support, and Sir Keir Starmer continues to call for a de-escalation of the conflict. There had been a great deal of suggestion that the UK might be drawn into action against Iran. The most likely scenario was thought to be a request from Washington to use Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, the maritime and air base America leases from Britain

Is Iran about to choke the West’s energy supply?

Nato has learned nothing from Russia’s energy blackmail – and Iran is about to prove it. With precision warheads and hypersonic payloads tearing Israeli and Iranian skies, you might think we’re witnessing the next frontier in modern warfare. But it’s an old game, played with old rules. And once again, Tehran reaches for its well-worn lever of power: energy blackmail. Already, markets are twitching. Crude has jumped over 10 per cent Senior Iranian officials, including Revolutionary Guard commander Esmail Kowsari, have warned that, if Israeli attacks continue, Tehran will not only exit the non-proliferation treaty (thus tearing up its last fig-leaf of nuclear restraint), but will also close the Strait of Hormuz. That’s

Why Muslim-majority countries have turned against Iran

Swift condemnations have poured in from the Muslim world castigating Israel for bombing Iran. The UAE condemned Israel ‘in the strongest terms’, Jordan spoke up against Israeli attacks ‘threatening regional stability’, Saudi Arabia denounced ‘blatant Israeli aggressions’, Turkey espoused ‘an end to Israel’s banditry’, while various Muslim diplomatic groups, including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), demanded ‘international action’ against the Jewish State. But cloaked underneath this predictably farcical rhetoric of ‘Muslim unity’ are the evolving interests of many of these states, which today align seamlessly with Israel. Saudi Arabia has described ‘evil’ Iran as the ‘head of the snake’ In Israel’s immediate neighbourhood, Lebanese officials are blocking the depleted Iranian jihadist proxy Hezbollah from taking action against Israel. Meanwhile, the Ahmed al-Sharaa-led Syria,

Only regime change will solve the problem of Iran

The Middle East currently stands at a crossroads. The future geopolitical balance and perhaps also the historical direction of the region depend on the outcome of the war currently underway between Israel and Iran. With the US poised on the cusp of possible intervention, it’s important to grasp the nature and dimension of what is at stake.   To understand the weight of the present moment, it is necessary to accurately define the nature of the current conflict and its roots. This is a war not only or primarily between states. It is a conflict between systems of governance and between rival visions of the region.   The objective needs to