By Rashad Mammadov Forgotten by most outsiders for the past 22 years, a frozen conflict between two former Soviet states, Azerbaijan and Armenia, flared up unexpectedly last week in the volatile Caucasus. At least 30 military and several civilians lost their lives and...
The United States and Russia have brokered a truce in Syria in hopes of resuming United Nations-backed peace talks on March 9. Today News-Decoder correspondent Rashad Mammadov looks at what Russia hopes to gain in the five-year-old conflict. By Rashad Mammadov Once...
By Rashad Mammadov Once again, diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict have stalled. Only two days after opening in Geneva, talks between the government, rebel forces and both sides’ international backers were suspended last week until...
The execution of a Muslim cleric has inflamed an ancient sectarian rift dividing two Mideast powers — Saudi Arabia and Iran. An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Tehran, 4 January 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) In the Muslim world, the...
By Rashad Mammadov Saudi Arabia has announced it will lead a coalition of 34 Muslim countries with a single, proclaimed goal — to fight radical Islamism. The geography of the new alliance is impressive: it extends across three continents, from the Atlantic Ocean...