Author Archives: jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 12/3 On Sunday, a series of drone and missile attacks were launched at military and oil industry related facilities in Saudi Arabia.  Among the sites targeted was the oil storage yard at Ras Tanoura, which is the site … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 26/2 Largely ignored by the global media, the fighting in Yemen between the Saudi-supported government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Iran-supported Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement, is currently at its most intense since 2018. The Houthis (named … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 12/2 A joint military exercise involving the Turkish and Pakistani special forces commenced this week in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.  The exercise, dubbed ‘Ataturk XI-2021, is to focus on counter terror operations.  It is the … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 15/1 US designation of Houthis in Yemen forms part of efforts to cement hardline strategy toward Iran In a statement issued  Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his office was set to inform Congress of … Continue reading →

Jewish Chronicle, 15/1/21 I met Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside the oil town of Baiji, in Sunni central Iraq, five years before he was killed by an American drone. The war against ISIS was at its height, and the Iranian military mastermind … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 1/1/21 A high ranking Iraqi delegation arrived in Iran this week, carrying a message from Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to the Iranian regime.  The delegation, according to a report in Sharq al Aawsat newspaper, was headed by … Continue reading →

Newsweek, 22/12 The facts of the case remain in dispute. A variety of versions have emerged. But all the various accounts agree that the Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a brigadier general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, considered by … Continue reading →

Australian, 29/12 A drama series recently broadcast on national TV in  Israel, entitled in English ‘Valley of Tears,’  set in the dramatic first days of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, has led to renewed public discussion on those difficult … Continue reading →

Jerusalem Post, 19/12 Mystery surrounds capture of Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, Iranian journalist and oppositionist, was hanged at Evin prison on December 12. He had been found guilty of ‘corruption on earth,’ a catch-all term used by Iran’s regime … Continue reading →

A couple of final thoughts on the Kan series  שעת נעילה  or ‘Valley of Tears,’ which concluded this week.  Firstly, I will admit to a certain parochial pride at seeing the bit of the army that is ‘my’ bit portrayed … Continue reading →