Simon Speakman Cordall

Simon Speakman Cordall is a section editor with The Arab Weekly.

Author Articles

Charm offensive. A Russian soldier gives medical aid to Syrians at the Abu Duhur crossing on the eastern edge of Idlib province, on September 25. (AFP)
Russian soft power places Moscow at the centre of Syria’s chaos
October 16, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, last May. (AP)
Assad likely to survive Syria’s brutal war
October 13, 2018
Missiles are fired from Kermanshah in western Iran to target positions of the Islamic State group in Syria, on October 1. (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps)
Iranian missile strikes spark wariness
October 06, 2018
Freshly dyed Syrian opposition flags are seen hanging out to dry outside shops in the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan, in the north of Idlib province on September 27, 2018. (AFP)
Russia and Turkey’s Idlib deal holds, for now
October 05, 2018
Russian servicemen watch the launch of the S-300 air defence system missile at the Ashuluk military polygon in Russia. (Reuters)
Russia’s missile system to impact conflict in Syria
September 29, 2018
Syrian rebel fighters from the recently-formed "National Liberation Front" rest under an olive tree along the frontline near the village of Abu Dali in the Idlib province countryside on September 1, 2018. (AFP)
Idlib agreement defers rather than defuses province’s threat
September 21, 2018
Children try improvised gas masks in their home in northern Idlib province, on September 12. (AFP)
State actors horse trade over Idlib assault as aid agencies brace for the worst
September 15, 2018
Smoke raises in the Syrian village of Kafr Ain in the southern Idlib province after an air strike on September 7. (AFP)
Exhausted population in Idlib finds itself lost between governments, armies and militants
September 08, 2018
Palestinian school girls walk past sacks of flour outside a UN compound at the Rafah refugee camp, on September 1. (AFP)
Washington ends funding to UN’s Palestinian refugee programme
September 01, 2018
Ticking bomb. An Iraqi fighter looks at an Islamic State flag and ammunition displayed in al-Alam, Saladin province. (Reuters)
ISIS remains as a covert force across Syria and Iraq
August 18, 2018
Spain’s counterterrorism measures lag behind rapidly changing threat
August 18, 2018
A map locating the Syrian town of Masyaf. (AFP)
Scientist’s death highlights Israel’s Syria dilemma
August 11, 2018
Fire follows an explosion at the Syrian side of the Israeli Syrian border as it is seen from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)
Capture of ISIS affiliated group's final redoubt brings Assad closer to victory
August 03, 2018
A general view taken with a drone shows the Clock Tower of the rebel-held Idlib city, Syria June 8, 2017. Picture taken June 8, 2017. (Reuters)
UN holds talks on 'Syrian-owned' constitutional committee
August 02, 2018
Mourners attend a mass funeral of people killed in a series of suicide bombings by Islamic State fighters in Sweida, on July 26. (AP)
ISIS attack in Sweida a bloody reminder that Syria’s horrors are not over
July 28, 2018
Desperate measures. Displaced Syrians climb fences and hold signs during a protest in front of a UN base in the province of Quneitra near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on July 4. (AFP)
Against conflicted alliances, Russia maintains its diplomatic balancing act
July 21, 2018
Spearhead of Iran’s expansionist policy. Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s al-Quds Force. (AFP)
Extremists involved in discussing deal with Qatar
July 21, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP)
Netanyahu presses Iranian withdrawal from Syria in meeting with Putin
July 12, 2018
Face of desperation. An internally displaced elderly woman gestures during a protest in Quneitra near the Golan Heights, on July 4.(Reuters)
Syria’s humanitarian crisis threatens to stretch the region to breaking point
July 07, 2018
Storm clouds. Smoke rises above opposition-held areas of the Daraa province countryside during air strikes by Syrian regime forces, on June 27. (AFP)
Further escalation likely after Iranian involvement in Damascus’s offensive
June 30, 2018