Map Shows Middle East Alliances: Russia, Iran, Israel, Syria. ... with Russian troops being stationed in Syria since launching an intervention during the country's civil war in 2015.

If you have a mental map of the Middle East, rip it up. The overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by a coalition of Islamist fighters changes everything.

Area: 22,000 sq km. Population: 9.5m. Prime minister: Binyamin Netanyahu.

Redrawing the map: Israel seeks to remake the Middle East to its own design. Following its new attacks on Syria, Israel’s leaders and much of its media tout the creation of a new Middle East.

There are Turkish-backed rebels and Sunni Muslim jihadists in the north, Kurds ruling over much of Syria’s east, and Jordan-backed militants in the south, among others.

The Soviet Union, which wanted to increase its influence in the Middle East, became a major weapons supplier to these countries. In 1958 Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic.

Israel says it bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting "most of the strategic weapons stockpiles" in the country.

Smith’s coverage of the Middle East spans decades (Obama at War, Confronting ISIS, Inside Assad’s Syria, Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia), and in 2021, he became the first Western ...

The country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, which has set the conditions for the blazes to scorch an area the ...

The swift downfall of Bashar al-Assad is reverberating throughout the Middle East. Countries are urgently reassessing how to deal with a nation seeking to rebuild itself after years of civil war.

Map Shows Middle East Alliances: Russia, Iran, Israel, Syria. Published Dec 02, 2024 at 12:40 PM EST. By . ... As rebels in Syria make new advances against government forces, ...