The Chinese are increasingly angry with Iran. Reuters reports that Chinese officials have asked Iran “to rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing.” That may not sound like much of a threat, but the hidden text is that a lot of the parts for Iranian missiles […]

The post Houthis and Iran are hurting China’s Red Sea trade appeared first on Asia Times.

The International Court of Justice on January 26, 2024, ordered Israel to prevent possible genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. But the court did not call for a ceasefire, as South Africa had requested. The United Nations’ highest court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, also declined to toss out South Africa’s case against Israel alleging genocide. […]

The post International Court of Justice forbids Gaza genocide appeared first on Asia Times.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are pushing Israel to revive an old peace plan that would see Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil states recognize Israel in return for concrete moves toward the creation of a Palestinian state. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other high-ranking American diplomats have in recent weeks visited […]

The post The hopelessness of Biden’s two-state solution appeared first on Asia Times.

From attacks by rebels in the Red Sea to raids in northern Israel and the October 7, 2023, assault by Hamas, Western analysts have pointed a finger of blame toward Iran. Regardless of how involved Tehran is directly in the planning and carrying out of such incidents, the accusations get at a broader truth: In […]

The post Iran’s limited command over Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis appeared first on Asia Times.

The fighting continues between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas militants in and around Gaza. The death tolls continue to rise, but where do the weapons keep coming from? The Israeli government estimates that Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people in Israel. Since then, both sides have fired missiles and rockets, […]

The post Where do Israel and Hamas get their weapons? appeared first on Asia Times.

As the Houthi militant group in Yemen ramps up its attacks on vessels in the Red Sea – ostensibly in response to what it calls Israel’s “genocidal crimes” in Gaza – the US and UK have responded with multiple military strikes in the last week. The US has also re-listed the group as a global […]

The post Why US strikes won’t stop the Houthis appeared first on Asia Times.

We now know more about how the Houthis and their Iranian partners use radar and satellite communications to target commercial vessels and US and UK warships. The US should thus be thinking about jamming Iranian radars that are being used to help the Houthis. The US also needs to work with commercial satellite operators to […]

The post How to stop the Houthi-Iran Red Sea attacks appeared first on Asia Times.

In 1990, fresh from serving over two decades in prison on charges of trying to “overthrow the state,” South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela delivered harsh remarks likening Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the oppression of black South Africans under apartheid rule. “If one has to refer to any of the parties as a terrorist […]

The post The roots of South Africa’s Gaza case against Israel appeared first on Asia Times.

Since mid-November, the Houthis have been launching attacks against shipping in the Red Sea. The US sent a number of AEGIS destroyers to help protect international shipping, performing the dual role of intercepting Houthi drones and missiles and coming to the aid of distressed commercial ships.  The British also sent one of its best ships, the HMS Diamond. However, […]

The post Why Biden finally attacked the Houthis appeared first on Asia Times.

US President Joe Biden’s chief diplomat’s latest effort to persuade Israel to change its war tactics in Gaza and its long-range goals for pacifying the Palestinians has failed. Biden and his advisors have apparently underestimated the rage among the Israeli public over the October 7 assault of southern Israel by terrorists affiliated with Hamas, the […]

The post Biden’s diplomacy going nowhere fast in Gaza appeared first on Asia Times.

Two weeks ago, Sayyed Razi Mousavi was a ghost on the internet. He left no mark on search engines or in coverage of Iran’s military and the Middle East. But in the Syrian capital Damascus, Mousavi’s 30-year presence was an open secret. He had been the right-hand man of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of […]

The post Will Israeli assassinations spark a wider war? appeared first on Asia Times.

After more than 90 days of war in Gaza, in which at least 22,000 Palestinians are reported to have been killed, Israeli officials have shifted their attention to what happens once the fighting has ceased. There has been considerable controversy over proposals from far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. […]

The post Israel’s far-right bellowing to expel Gaza’s Palestinians appeared first on Asia Times.

A parade of high-ranking officials from the United States have visited Israel to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to endorse a post-Gaza war peace plan that’s to Washington’s liking. Netanyahu has indicated repeatedly that discussion of “day after,” post-war planning must await the crushing of Hamas’ government and military capabilities in the Gaza Strip. Last […]

The post Netanyahu thinks he can wait out Biden in Gaza appeared first on Asia Times.

Iran and the Houthis have been tapping into the Automated Tracking System (AIS) to locate and attack ships in the Red Sea and since December 23 ships in the Indian Ocean.  Where AIS lacks information on military ships, Iranian radars do the job of finding them. The entire operation is sophisticated and is managed in […]

The post Iran-Houthis tap AIS tracking tech for high sea attacks appeared first on Asia Times.

And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. – Jeremiah 1:13-14 Strictly […]

The post Israel in the shadow of American decline appeared first on Asia Times.

The US is reportedly considering strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen that have been menacing commercial ships in the Red Sea since the conflict began in Gaza. The Pentagon has a range of options for missile attacks on Houthi positions and has moved the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group into position off the coast […]

The post Red Sea attacks threaten to widen the Gaza war appeared first on Asia Times.

On December 16, the Houthis in Yemen launched a swarm attack of Kamikaze drones, also known as loitering munitions. The USS warship, the USS Carney, shot them all down. The attack reportedly involved 14 drones. CENTCOM (for Central Command which has responsibility for the Middle East) acknowledged the swarm attack but officially would not say if it […]

The post Biden ignores Houthi drone attacks at his peril appeared first on Asia Times.

The United States and Israel are at odds over how the Gaza War should be conducted and what should ultimately define a victory over Hamas, a reflection of the two allies’ and their respective leaders’ divergent short-term needs and longer-term goals. US President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for reelection at what is expected to […]

The post Why Netanyahu is ignoring Biden’s calls and pleas appeared first on Asia Times.

(Update: The Houthis on Wednesday fired two missiles at another tanker. The tanker, the Ardmore Encounter, is a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker traveling north toward the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, satellite tracking shows. The vessel had been coming from Mangalore, India, and had an armed security crew aboard it, according to data transmitted by the […]

The post Houthis attack tanker & French warship in Red Sea appeared first on Asia Times.

After the surprise Hamas terrorist attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, many observers were puzzled about how Israel could have been caught completely off-guard. We were among those puzzled, and proposed three possible reasons: New revelations from recent media coverage have shed additional light on what happened, which mostly confirm […]

The post The roots and depths of Israel’s Hamas intel failure appeared first on Asia Times.