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For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the new government in Damascus has so far remained officially silent on the unprecedented conflict.Iran was one of former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s biggest backers, playing a crucial role in propping up his government by providing military advisers and the support of affiliated armed groups throughout the 14-year Syrian civil war.Israel, meanwhile, has occupied the Golan Heights since seizing it from Syria in 1967, and has kept troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone there since December, when the fall of Assad at the hands of an Islamist-led coalition sparked a wave of Israeli air strikes on military targets.But despite both countries looming large in Syrian affairs over the years, Damascus — and everyday Syrians — appear eager to keep the current crisis at arm’s length.”From my balcony at night, I watch the missiles going towards Israel and the anti-missile systems, and I observe the explosions in the sky,” said surgeon Mohammed Khayr al-Jirudi.”The people are fed up with everything related to killing and destruction, we’ve had enough. Therefore, we are currently in the position of spectators to both sides, and will not gloat over either of them.”On Friday, Israel launched an unprecedented campaign against Iran, saying it aimed to stop the country from obtaining the nuclear bomb — an ambition Tehran denies.Iran has responded with barrages of ballistic missiles targeting Israeli cities, with the exchanges of fire sparking fears of regional spillover.Unlike most Arab countries, which issued strong condemnations of Israel’s strikes, Syria’s new government has not commented on the war, potentially signalling a shift in the country’s regional posture.”It is very difficult for us to take a stand,” Jirudi said, with many war-weary Syrians seeming to share the government’s reluctance.- ‘Both dictatorial systems’ -Sitting with his wife in Damascus’ famous Rawda cafe, 42-year-old actor Ahmad Malas said he hoped to “be rid of both the Iranian and Israeli regimes, as they are both dictatorial systems (and) Syrian people have been paying the price for their actions”.However, he added, “I have an emotional connection with the Iranian people, and with the Palestinian people, as their cause has been ours for a long time”.Iran’s support for Assad following his violent repression of peaceful protests in 2011 created strong animosity towards Tehran among many Syrians.Thousands of Iranians left Syria after the fall of Assad, and Tehran’s embassy was subjected to looting and vandalism.The walls surrounding the embassy in Damascus still bear the spray-painted slogans “curse Iran” and “free Iran”.Since becoming Syria’s interim president, former rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has repeatedly criticised Iran’s role in his country during the civil war, stating that restoring relations with Tehran will require respect for Syria’s “sovereignty” and “non-interference” in its affairs.Iran has said it is “not in a hurry” to establish ties with the new Syrian authorities.Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria since Assad’s fall, saying it aimed to stop advanced weapons from reaching the new rulers, whom it considers jihadists.Israeli troops in the UN-patrolled buffer zone between Syria and the Golan Heights have also regularly carried out ground incursions, condemned by Damascus.Syria admitted to holding indirect talks with Israel seeking de-escalation, and the United States has called for it to normalise ties with its southern neighbour.- ‘Neutrality’ -Amid the breaches of Syria’s airspace, at least one civilian has been killed and several others injured by fallen debris from intercepted projectiles.The Syrian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the war.”Damascus adheres to a policy of neutrality… It tries to completely distance itself from the war and any mention of it, because Syria has no interest in getting involved,” said Bassam al-Suleiman, a political analyst close to the new authorities.As the government tries to kickstart post-war economic recovery and reconstruction, Syria’s primary battle is “internal”, according to Suleiman.He added that while “both Israel and Iran are a source of danger, we have no stake in this war”, which he said Syria should “avoid”.From a rooftop nightclub overlooking Damascus, a 27-year-old doctor who gave her name as Sarah watched the flash of missiles in the sky.”We try to forget the atmosphere of war by spending time here with friends,” she said.”However, I still fear that some effects of the war will reach us.”

President Donald Trump warned he was weighing US military action against Iran, as Israel launched fresh strikes against Tehran on Thursday.As the war entered its seventh day, Israel’s military said it was striking Tehran and other parts of Iran, but all eyes were on whether Washington would enter the fray.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile rejected Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender”, despite claims from the US leader that “Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate”.Trump has left his intentions on joining the conflict deliberately ambiguous, saying Wednesday: “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.””The next week is going to be very big,” he added, without further details. The White House said Trump would receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday. Top US diplomat Marco Rubio meanwhile will meet his UK counterpart for talks expected to focus on the conflict.”I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final (decision),” Trump said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change. Especially with war.”The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had told aides on Tuesday he had approved attack plans but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear programme.Trump told reporters that Iranian officials “want to come to the White House”, a claim denied by Tehran.The US president had favoured a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear programme, seeking a deal to replace the agreement he tore up in his first term.But since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed the campaign against Iran one week ago, Trump has stood behind the key US ally.The United States is the only country with the “bunker buster” bombs needed to destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant, but US military action is deeply unpopular with parts of Trump’s base.Khamenei on Wednesday insisted Iran “will never surrender,” and called Trump’s ultimatum “unacceptable”.”America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage,” Khamenei added.- Dozens of civilians killed -A week of strikes has significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear and military installations, including buildings making and testing centrifuge components in Karaj and Tehran.Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.Iranian strikes have also caused damage in Israel, where at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu’s office.Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.On Thursday morning, Israel said it was carrying out fresh strikes on Tehran and other parts of Iran, and warned civilians in two villages, Arak and Khondab, to leave ahead of new attacks.Those strikes came after Israel said it had destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters in Tehran, and Iran unleashed Fattah hypersonic missiles and so-called super-heavy, long-range missiles.An Israeli military official, who asked not to be named, said Wednesday that Iran had fired around 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones since the conflict began on Friday. About 20 missiles had struck civilian areas in Israel, the official added.Israel says its surprise air campaign is aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.Iran theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for more than nine bombs, but it denies seeking nuclear weapons.Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.- ‘Immediate de-escalation’ -Israel’s strikes have prompted mass evacuations and food and fuel shortages in Iran.”There are shortages of rice, bread, sugar and tea,” a 40-year-old Iranian driver told AFP at the Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh, seeking anonymity for fear of reprisals.”People are shocked and distraught, they don’t know what they should do,” said a car dealer in the Iranian city of Bukan who also asked not to be identified by his real name.There was also a “near-total national internet blackout” in Iran on Wednesday, a London-based watchdog said, with Iran’s Fars news agency confirming heavier internet restrictions after initial curbs imposed last week.The military campaign has sparked calls for a return to diplomacy, with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday urging an “immediate de-escalation” and efforts to avoid “further internationalisation of the conflict.”Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a deal to guarantee both Israel’s security and Iran’s desire for a civilian nuclear programme was possible.”I believe it would be good for all of us together to look for ways to stop the fighting and seek ways for the participants in the conflict to find an agreement,” he told foreign journalists at a televised event.He said Iran had not asked Russia for military help.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country remains committed to diplomacy, noting Iran “has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it”.But there were lingering questions about how the conflict could evolve, with Trump telling reporters that a change in Iran’s government “could happen”, a day after he had boasted that Washington could assassinate Khamenei, but would not, “at least not for now”.burs-sah/lb

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was still deciding whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran, claiming Tehran now wants talks at the White House but may have waited too long.Trump held his second Situation Room meeting in two days with his national security team as he left the world guessing about his potential order of military action.”I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters at the unveiling of one of two giant new flagpoles at the White House.”I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”He added that “the next week is going to be very big” when it comes to determining Iran’s fate.The White House said Trump would be briefed in the Situation Room again on Thursday, a holiday in the United States.Trump’s comments came after the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected his demands for an unconditional surrender and warned the United States of “irreparable damage” if it intervenes.A day after saying Khamenei was an “easy target”, Trump told AFP in the Oval Office that a change of leadership in Tehran “could happen.”But Republican Trump, who faces opposition from the isolationist wing of his support base to joining any more foreign wars, insisted that he had not yet made up his mind on whether to take US action.”I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final (decision),” Trump said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change. Especially with war.”The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had told aides on Tuesday he had approved attack plans for Iran but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear program. “All options are on the table,” a White House official told AFP when asked about the report.Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Thursday in Washington with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the State Department said, for talks expected to focus on Iran.- ‘Very late’ -Trump appeared to be in no hurry to reach what would be one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency — spending more than an hour dealing with the installation of his new flagpoles. He said Iran was reaching out to try to strike a deal on its nuclear program to end the conflict with US ally Israel.”They want to come to the White House, I may do that,” Trump said. He added however that it was “very late to be talking… There’s a big difference between now and a week ago.”Iran denied it had offered to send officials to Washington.”No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations posted on X.Trump had favored a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear program, seeking a deal to replace the agreement he tore up in his first term in 2018.But since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched strikes on Iran six days ago Trump has moved in behind the key US ally and is now weighing whether to use American military power against Tehran too.Trump said Wednesday that Iran was “weeks” away from being able to make a nuclear bomb.He noted that the United States is the only country with “bunker buster” bombs capable of taking out Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.” The US president said he had told Netanyahu to “keep going” with Israel’s offensive against Iran, adding that they were speaking every day.Trump however rebuffed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying Russia should end its own war in Ukraine first.”He actually offered to help mediate, I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? You can worry about this later,'” Trump said. 

Dragging two suitcases and wearing a rucksack, Homa looked exhausted after crossing the Turkish border following a long trip from Tehran where she’d been on holiday when the Israel-Iran war began. The 40-year-old Iranian who works in Canada as a business analyst was stranded when Iran closed its airspace after Israel launched a massive pre-dawn bombing campaign on Friday and the Islamic republic struck back, in their most intense confrontation in history. Homa, who didn’t give her surname, quickly looked for an alternative way out, eventually finding a bus to Iran’s northwestern border with Turkey, a journey of 850 kilometres (530 miles).After enduring four days of conflict, she left Tehran at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, reaching the Kapikoy border crossing into the eastern Turkish province of Van on Wednesday afternoon. Many people were leaving Tehran, like her own family who drove to Shahriar, a town some 30 kilometres to the west on a journey that took “hours, because of the heavy traffic,” she said. “They’re not safe, I am worried about them”. So far, Iran says at least 224 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks targeting Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure, while Israel says at least 24 have died in Tehran’s retaliation. Despite her long journey, Homa still has some way to go before getting back to her family in Toronto. “Right now, I’m going to Erzurum, then to Istanbul, then to Dubai and then to Toronto,” she said before starting the next five-hour leg from the border to Erzurum on her long road home. – ‘Impossible to sleep’ -“I couldn’t sleep for five nights in a row” because of the sound of incoming missiles, told AFP, saying the bombardment in the east of the city had forced to her to relocate to the north. And communication was difficult. “The internet is awful. I couldn’t even get the VPN working. Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram are all being filtered and WiFi is on-and-off,” she said. Kapikoy, which lies 100 kilometres east of the lakeside Turkish city of Van, is the main point for crossings between Turkey and Iran.So far there doesn’t appear to be a huge influx of Iranians crossing the border since the bombing began, and Turkish officials haven’t given numbers.On Wednesday afternoon, AFP correspondents saw a steady trickle of Iranians arriving, with similar numbers crossing back into Iran — several hundred at the most.A Turkish customs official told AFP that “there’s nothing unusual compared to last year. Despite the war, the arrivals are quite stable,” given that Van has always been a popular destination for Iranian tourists. Even so, flights between Van and Istanbul have been solidly booked up in both directions for days, as have long-distance coaches. Turkish bus drivers say the numbers have been higher over the past week.”We used to have three to four buses between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am but right now we have 30,” driver Ismail Metin told AFP, saying many head to Istanbul some 1,500 kilometres away. -‘Iranians not fleeing’-Many Iranians are also trying to get home — among them Ramin Rad, 37, who works in the tile business. He was in Van for work when the bombing started, and was hoping to get back to Urmia, the largest city in Iran’s Western Azerbaijan province. “My family is safe,” he said, confident that the war would not destabilise the regime and expressing anger at Israel. “How dare you change Allah’s regime? Godwilling, Muslims will win,” he said.Mirzanezhad Valehzagherd, a 49-year-old who works in tourism, often travels between Istanbul, where he lives, and Tehran, but was forced to go by land because there were no flights. “My family lives in Tehran,” he told AFP, saying the situation there was “not bad” because Israel was targeting “military” sites. “People are not fleeing Tehran,” he insisted, his words echoed by a woman in a straw hat who was going the other way. “We live in northern Cyprus and because there’s no flights, we had to get a bus to the border from Tehran,” said 45-year-old Seher who works in finance. “It’s safe over there. There’s no problem.” 

Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Wednesday, the sixth day of strikes in their most intense confrontation in history, fuelling fears of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East.Here are the latest developments:- New missile salvo -Israel’s army on Wednesday said it had detected new missiles launched from Iran, adding that its defensive systems were operating to intercept the threat.The announcement came after Iran issued an evacuation warning for residents of the Israeli city of Haifa, with state TV subsequently reporting launches of Fattah hypersonic missiles.The Israeli military later said it was “flying over surface-to-surface missile launch and storage sites… (and) striking those attempting to reactivate sites that have already been hit”.Israel’s air defence systems appear to have been largely successful in intercepting the daily barrages of Iranian missiles and drones.An Israeli military official, who asked not to be named, said that Iran had fired around 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones since Friday. About 20 missiles had struck civilian areas in Israel, the official added.- Near-total internet blackout -Iran was in a “near-total national internet blackout”, London-based watchdog NetBlocks wrote on X.Iran announced last week that it was placing temporary restrictions on the internet, with the communication ministry saying Wednesday that heavier limits were being imposed due to Israel’s “abuse of the country’s communication network for military purposes”.Iranian media later reported that Israel briefly hacked the state television broadcast, airing footage of women’s protests and urging people to take to the streets. Numerous sites and apps have remained at least partially inaccessible.State television appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, charging that the messaging app gathers users’ location and personal data and “communicates them to the Zionist enemy”.A WhatsApp spokesperson hit back against the claims, expressing concern the “false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked”.- Trump on strikes, talks -President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was considering whether the United States would join Israel’s strikes, and said that Iran had reached out to seek negotiations on ending the conflict.”I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump told reporters. “I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”Trump said Iran had even suggested sending officials to the White House for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in a bid to end Israel’s air assault.Asked if it was too late for negotiations, he said: “Nothing is too late.”In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump a “great friend” of Israel, and thanked him “for the support of the United States in defending Israel’s skies”.- Khamenei warns US -Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech read on state television: “This nation will never surrender.”He added: “America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage.”Trump had said on Tuesday that the United States knows where Khamenei is located but will not kill him “for now”.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday his country was committed to “diplomacy” but was acting in “self-defence” against Israel’s assault.- Israel says hit security HQ -AFP journalists reported hearing blasts across Tehran throughout the day on Wednesday, with smoke billowing over parts of the city.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in the afternoon that air force jets had “destroyed the internal security headquarters of the Iranian regime — the main arm of repression of the Iranian dictator”.French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles, his office said.- ‘Painful losses’ -Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries, with US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announcing plans on Wednesday to get Americans out by air and sea.Israel’s attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas.Residential areas in Israel have also been hit.Netanyahu acknowledged suffering “painful losses” on Wednesday, but added: “The home front is solid, the people are strong.”The prime minister’s office said Monday that at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded since Iran’s retaliatory strikes began Friday.Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.- Putin eyes ‘solution’ -Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a deal to end the fighting between Israel and Iran was possible.He also claimed Israel’s strikes on Iran had led to a “consolidation” of support in Iranian society around its leaders.”We see that today in Iran there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” Putin told foreign journalists, including AFP, in a televised event.”This is a delicate issue, and of course we need to be very careful here, but in my opinion, a solution can be found,” he added, referring to a possible deal that was in the interests of both Israel and Iran.He had previously proposed to act as a mediator in the conflict, prompting both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron to question his suitability given Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Wall Street stocks treaded water Wednesday after the Federal Reserve met expectations and kept interest rates steady while oil prices nudged higher following a volatile session amid ongoing clashes between Iran and Israel.The Fed held interest rates unchanged for a fourth consecutive meeting, as Chair Jerome Powell said more time was needed to monitor the …

US stocks flat as Fed keeps rates steady, oil prices gyrate Read More »

The United States has thousands of troops deployed on bases across the Middle East, a region in which Washington’s forces have carried out repeated military operations in recent decades.Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel in the fight.US involvement in the conflict would likely result in attacks by Tehran on American troops in the region, who were already targeted by Iran-aligned forces in the course of the Israel-Hamas war.Below, AFP examines countries with major concentrations of US forces in the Middle East, which falls under the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM).- Bahrain -The tiny Gulf kingdom hosts an installation known as Naval Support Activity Bahrain, where the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and US Naval Forces Central Command headquarters are based.Bahrain’s deep-water port can accommodate the largest US military vessels, such as aircraft carriers, and the US Navy has used the base in the country since 1948, when the facility was operated by Britain’s Royal Navy.Several US ships have their home port in Bahrain, including four anti-mine vessels and two logistical support ships. The US Coast Guard also has vessels in the country, including six fast response cutters.- Iraq -The United States has troops at various installations in Iraq, including Al-Asad and Arbil air bases. The Iraqi government is a close ally of Iran, but also a strategic partner of Tehran’s arch-foe the United States.There are some 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group. Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition’s forces from the country.US forces in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by pro-Iran militants following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, but responded with heavy strikes on Tehran-linked targets, and the attacks largely subsided.- Kuwait -Kuwait has several US bases, including Camp Arifjan, the location of the forward headquarters for the US Army component of CENTCOM. The US Army also has stocks of prepositioned materiel in the country.Ali al-Salem Air Base hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, the “primary airlift hub and gateway for delivering combat power to joint and coalition forces” in the region. Additionally, the United States has drones including MQ-9 Reapers in Kuwait.- Qatar -Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar includes the forward components of CENTCOM, as well as of its air forces and special operation forces in the region. It also hosts rotating combat aircraft, as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which includes “airlift, aerial refueling intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and aeromedical evacuation assets.”- Syria -The United States has for years maintained troop presences at a series of installations in Syria as part of international efforts against the Islamic State group, which rose out of the country’s civil war to overrun large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.The Pentagon announced in April that it would roughly halve the number of its forces in the country to less than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a “consolidation” of US troops in the country.- United Arab Emirates -Al Dahfra Air Base in the UAE hosts the US 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, a force that is composed of 10 squadrons of aircraft and also includes drones such as MQ-9 Reapers.Combat aircraft have rotated through Al Dhafra, which also hosts the Gulf Air Warfare Center for air and missile defense training.