The West

Spotlight on Iran (November 26 – December 10, 2017)

Iran avoided issuing any official reaction to the strikes on the Iranian base in the area of the village of al-Kiswah. Israeli sources reported that the October 2017 visit of the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces to Syria was unsuccessful. In Iraq too, Iran is acting to cement its influence in the era following the collapse of the Islamic State. Iran cast the blame on Saudi Arabia for the collapse of the alliance between the Houthi rebels in Yemen and former Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed last week by the Houthis. Iran condemned the decision made by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and called for a resumption of the armed struggle against Israel .
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (November 30 – December 6, 2017)

On both sides of the Euphrates River in the area between Deir ez-Zor and Albukamal, searches after ISIS operatives who fled to the desert continue. This week, a meeting was held between senior Russian and Kurdish officers in the village of Al-Salihiyah, located midway between Al-Mayadeen and Albukamal. Even after the collapse of the Islamic State, ISIS continues to threaten Western countries and to call on its supporters to carry out attacks against the so-called infidels.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (November 16-22, 2017)

This week marked the end of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, which was declared by ISIS’s leader on June 29, 2014. The Islamic State has collapsed, but ISIS continues to exist as a terrorist and guerrilla organization in Syria, Iraq and abroad. Over the past two months, ISIS’s Khorasan Province (Afghanistan/Pakistan) has carried out four mass-casualty suicide bombing attacks in the capital Kabul.
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The Collapse of the Islamic State: What Comes Next?

On the ground, the Islamic State no longer exists as a functioning territorial entity. It has lost almost all of its territories, including its "capital cities" of Mosul and Raqqa, as well as its core territories along the Euphrates in Iraq and Syria. Apparently, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's vision of an Islamic Caliphate has come to an end, at least for the time being, although ISIS still maintains a presence in Syria and Iraq, and will continue to exist.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (November 9-15, 2017)

In the city of Albukamal, a fierce battle is being waged over the last stronghold of the Islamic State in Syria The Iraqi army, which liberated the city of Al-Qaim and the surrounding villages. Russia, the United States, and Jordan have signed a Memorandum of Principles (November 8, 2017). Moreover, the Memorandum of Principles deals with southwestern Syria and does not mention the removal of foreign forces from Syria.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (November 2 – 8, 2017, 2017)

The conquest of the regions controlled by the Islamic State has reached the last lap. Abu Kamal, ISIS's last stronghold, is currently under combined pressure from the Syrian army, the Shi'ite militias and Hezbollah operatives, and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) advancing on the city from both sides of the Euphrates. The strategically significant events in Syria were overshadowed this week by potentially explosive local events in the northern Golan Heights.
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