Claude Salhani

Claude Salhani is a regular columnist for The Arab Weekly.

Author Articles

Iraqi Shia pilgrims carry a mock coffin or their shoulders to mark the anniversary of the death of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, defy a curfew imposed by the authorities to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus COVID-19, in Iraq’s southern city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar province, on March 21. (AFP)
Religion should help contain the virus not spread it
April 02, 2020
Israeli policemen order people to leave the street and go back to their homes, near the Dome of the Rock mosque, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, on March 27. (AFP)
Israeli-Palestinian paradoxes under the shadow of the virus
March 28, 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara, March 18. (AFP)
Is Erdogan out to undo the Treaty of Lausanne?
March 21, 2020
A Syrian refugee woman holds a bag of gloves, due to coronavirus spread, in al-Wazzani area in southern Lebanon, March 14, 2020. (Reuters)
Syria’s nightmare is far from over
March 16, 2020
Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak in the departure terminal at the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, March 5. (AP)
Disconnected politicians across the region are ll-equipped to deal with the virus crisis
March 14, 2020
A student wears a protective face mask, following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, as she chants slogans during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq March 5. (Reuters)
Coronavirus sweeps through the Middle East, fails to stop killing
March 06, 2020
US President Donald Trump speaks to the news media during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, US March 2, 2020. (Reuters)
Trump's Twitter diplomacy is no substitute for real diplomacy
March 02, 2020
War proclivities. Turkey’s President Recip Tayyip Erdogan is depicted on a tank in a carnival float in Cologne, February 18. (Reuters)
Erdogan’s bullying at home and abroad
February 19, 2020
System failure. Failed launch of a satellite from Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran. (AP)
Iran's whole system is failing, not just its satellite programme
February 11, 2020
Hard sell. A fighter loyal to the internationally recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) walks south of Tripoli. (AFP)
Turkey's PR guns-for-hire cannot help Sarraj in Washington
February 06, 2020
A Turkish police officer stands guard outside Istanbul's courthouse on March 26, 2019. (AFP)
A Turkish script that could have been written in Hollywood but wasn't
January 30, 2020
Inexcusable. Ukrainian soldiers carry a coffin containing the remains of one of the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 plane disaster at the Boryspil International Airport, outside Kiev, Ukraine, January 19, 2020. (Reuters)
Iranian myths exposed as Ukrainian plane shot down
January 23, 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next to a Turkish soldier wearing an Ottoman uniform in Istanbul, last July. (AFP)
One more twist in Erdogan’s imperial mindset
January 18, 2020
In this file photo taken on September 12, 2019, a Turkish military convoy heads towards an observation point near the town of Maar Hitat in Syria's northern Idlib province. (AFP)
One more twist in Erdogan’s imperial mindset
January 16, 2020
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows the Islamic republic's President Hassan Rouhani chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on January 15. (AFP)
Iran's mullahs taking advantage of unexpected sacrificial lamb
January 15, 2020
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a televised interview in Istanbul, January 5. (Turkish Presidential Press Service via AP)
Erdogan opens a Pandora's box
January 07, 2020
Peaceful yet defiant. Anti-government protesters chant slogans as they hold clenched fists with an Arabic word that reads “Lebanon” during the New Year’s celebrations in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, January 1. (AP)
Why the Lebanese revolution may yet work
January 04, 2020
An anti-government protester leads a chant as activists gather outside of the state-run electricity company in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019. (AP)
Not the season to be merry in Tehran
December 21, 2019
The Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem is pictured on November 26, 2019. (AFP)
New US Policy on West Bank Settlements buries two-state solution
December 15, 2019
One step forward, two steps back. US President Donald Trump (L) and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leave the stage to head to the plenary session at the NATO summit at the Grove hotel in Watford, north-east of London, December 4. (AFP)
Erdogan’s gunboat politics is dangerous
December 14, 2019