Middle East
The Israeli settlements lie
There are few phrases in international affairs repeated with greater confidence or subjected to less scrutiny than ‘illegal Israeli settlements’.…
Oil at $100 a barrel is a disaster for Trump
When Donald Trump’s political obituary comes to be written, none of his colorful phrases over the years will seem quite…
Portrait of the week: Belfast burns, Sullivan resigns and the Iran ceasefire cracks
Home A horrible video circulated on social media of a man on the ground in a Belfast street being stabbed…
The rise of the Orienfluencers
The term “Orientalism” has always implied some kind of caricature of the eastern world. It was originally coined as a…
If Trump hates the Wall Street Journal so much, why is its editorial board dictating Iran policy?
For the better part of a decade, Donald Trump has been an avid, if irascible, reader of the Wall Street…
Trump’s fantasy of victory
Among the many gifts the Watergate scandal gave us was Nixon’s White House press secretary declaring: “This is the operative…
Britain must recognise Somaliland
Somalia has been a byword for failed statehood and violence for so long that the calm of Somaliland, its neighbour…
‘We’re into 1973 territory now’: How bad could the energy price crisis get?
The energy price surge caused by war in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through Westminster. It has pushed up…
Portrait of the week: More migrants cross, government borrowing rises and Trump warns Iran
Home Iran fired two missiles at the British-American military base at Diego Garcia, 2,400 miles away, one being intercepted by…
Will Trump strike a ‘final blow’ on Iran?
Will America’s ground invasion of Iran begin in the early hours of tomorrow? Everybody knows, by now, that Trump likes…
Why Iran will hasten MAGA’s demise
Readers may disagree with the cover line of this issue. Pronouncing “the end of Trumpism” feels somewhat similar to declaring…
MAHA, stay in your lane
MAHA is not a foreign policy doctrine, nor should it become one. Nevertheless this week the movement experienced a split…
I love Dubai. Get over it
I am in Dubai where we are doing our best to keep calm and carry on. Granted, the sudden instruction…
Why I’m a proud Zionist
The bomb shelter reserved for ‘volunteers’ at Kibbutz Dafna near the town of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel was definitely…
Is this Starmer’s finest hour?
A friend met Mary Wilson on the Isles of Scilly, where she and her husband, Harold, had a home. She…
Israel wants to destroy Hezbollah once and for all
At around 2:30 a.m. on March 2, Israel bombed Beirut’s mostly Shia southern suburbs in response to a Hezbollah rocket…
Will Turkey intervene in Iran?
Even as Iran lashes out with missile and drone strikes against its wealthy Arab rivals in the Gulf, three neighbours…
Will Trump ‘totally obliterate’ Iran’s nuclear programme – again?
Donald Trump spent much of the second half of last year boasting about the total and utter success of his…
Iran’s cheerleaders are on borrowed time
Predictions ageing poorly is an occupational hazard for journalists and commentators. But few have gone as sour as those made…
Iran’s useful idiots: British complicity in Tehran’s terror
It is still unclear what will happen next in Iran. I fervently hope the current protests will cause the tyrants…
Unrest is spreading across Iran
“If they shut down the internet, you know it’s serious,” said a well-informed observer of Iran to me yesterday morning.…
Come friendly bombs and fall on Iran
It is heartening to see the lefties out marching in defence of mullahs and their enlightened rule of Iran. The…
We should welcome regime change in Iran
On the first night of what Donald Trump has called the ‘12-day war’ between Israel and Iran, someone spray-painted a…
Israel’s attack on Iran has been planned for years
It was clear at the time that what happened on 7 October 2023 would change the Middle East. What was…
