Aron Lund

@aronlund

I write mostly about Syria and the Middle East. In English for The Century Foundation and The New Humanitarian. På svenska: Expressen, UNT, Eskilstuna-Kuriren.

aron@aronlund.com
tcf.org/experts/aron-l…
Joined December 2011
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  1. Pinned Tweet
    Jan 8

    Moving America Closer to War? A brand new TCF Roundtable on the U.S.-Iranian crisis and what it means for Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, etc. Contributions by , , , , , , , and me.

    2 replies 7 retweets 13 likes
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  2. Retweeted
    57 minutes ago

    My latest about Fidan& Al Mamlouk meeting in Moscow, the first high profile contact btw Ankara & Damascus since late 2011 via

    1 reply 7 retweets 12 likes
  3. 24 minutes ago

    Killing Soleimani “has fundamentally changed the game and opens up the space for de-escalation,” since it was “a sucker punch which has scrambled [Iran's] understanding of how the Americans might react,” argues , in an article by .

    1 retweet 1 like
  4. 32 minutes ago

    Oh, Screw It, by .

    1 reply 2 likes
  5. 33 minutes ago

    Financial meltdown accelerates: Assad bans use of foreign currencies, tightens measures against spreading "false news" that hurt the Syrian pound. • En summary: • Ar, decree 3/2020: • Ar, decree 4/2020:

    2 retweets
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  6. Retweeted
    Jan 13

    Visiting Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase today was a stark reminder of just how close Iran’s ballistic missile attack came to killing US personnel. Intended or no, that could have caused a dizzying escalation and brought Iran & US closer to brink of war:

    24 replies 150 retweets 267 likes
  7. Jan 13

    By the way, there is an English version of the SANA text, it's just that it failed to mention the name of Fidan.

    7 retweets 11 likes
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  8. Jan 13

    . gets a senior Turkish official to confirm SANA's Fidan-Mamlouk report (). Worth keeping in mind both sides have reason to spin the content of the talks. On the other hand, some of that spin could sound very similar.

    2 replies 8 retweets 9 likes
  9. Jan 13

    SDF commander interviewed by , reiterates refusal to bend to Syrian government demands.

    7 retweets 14 likes
  10. Jan 13

    Nikolaos van Dam on Syria, Assad, the Opposition, Refugees, Kurds, Terrorism, and the Future of the Middle East – .

    1 retweet 1 like
  11. Jan 13

    SANA reports that Ali Mamlouk, Syria's national security director, met with Turkish MIT chief Hakan Fidan in Moscow, in a trilateral meeting that also included "a number of Russian officials."

    2 replies 27 retweets 22 likes
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  12. Jan 12

    Qatari emir will meet Rohani in Tehran today, says Aljazeera.

    عاجل | أمير دولة يصل اليوم إلى للقاء الرئيس الإيراني حسن روحاني
    2 retweets 2 likes
  13. Jan 12

    Bizarre story: Danish guy travels repeatedly to IS in Syria, gets caught in Spain in 2018. Both he and sources in Danish intelligence now tell reporters he infiltrated IS on their behalf – but they were too slow to tell Spain, so now he's stuck in jail.

    6 replies 74 retweets 108 likes
  14. Jan 11

    Läsvärt om hur amerikansk skifferolja pressar världsmarknadspriserna med oro i OPEC som följd, av .

  15. Jan 11

    CNN's , Brice Laine, and : Iran's missile strike managed to pinpoint American sections of a mostly Iraqi base, but U.S. troops were safe since Iran had told Iraq, which told the United States.

    2 replies 7 retweets 6 likes
  16. Jan 11

    The Algerian and Tunisian view of the situation in Libya seems to be that there should be less of a situation in Libya.

    1 retweet
  17. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    . discusses how Iran views the loss of the Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani:

    1 reply 15 retweets 16 likes
  18. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    Rykande färskt ute nu! Om Qassem Soleimani som dödades i en amerikansk drönarattack. Vem var han? Och vad spelade han för roll i regionen?

    1 reply 14 retweets 13 likes
  19. Jan 11

    • SDF: I can't find a formal statement, but TEV-DEM's seems unhappy and says the United Nations is a biased organization.

    3 retweets 3 likes
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  20. Jan 11

    Syrian reactions to UN cross-border aid resolution: • Government: This is illegal and we hate it, we should control all aid. • National Council: Applauds extension, also wants Tell Abyad, seems untroubled by aid cut to SDF areas.

    1 reply 3 retweets 4 likes
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  21. Jan 11

    Assad approves two new oil refineries owned by the Qaterjis. Energy sector privatization but also part of a shakeup of elite money networks, reflected in sporadic hit pieces in the state-run and loyalist press.

    1 retweet
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  22. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    On Friday evening, a divided Security Council renewed Syria cross-border aid delivery plan. Full details here:

    15 retweets 24 likes
  23. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people. Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake.

    6,038 replies 9,500 retweets 21,597 likes
  24. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    Sultan Qaboos of Oman dies aged 79

    15 replies 47 retweets 99 likes
  25. Jan 10

    Odd vote, where USA, UK, Russia, and China abstained and everyone else voted in favor. Result: Northeast Syria loses UN cross-border aid, which makes SDF more dependent on Assad; surviving Turkey crossings will be voted on again in July. :

    5 replies 31 retweets 16 likes
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  26. Jan 10

    The latest Belgian-German draft was adopted with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes against, and 4 abstentions. The Turkish crossings (Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salameh) will remain for another six months, but the Iraq (Yaroubiyeh) and Jordan (Ramtha) crossings are gone. As Russia wanted.

    2 replies 16 retweets 11 likes
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  27. Jan 10

    Well, now they're all in there again, glaring at each other in a not very hope-inspiring way. The session starts right now.

    1 reply 2 likes
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  28. Jan 10

    The Security Council have now moved into closed-door consultations on cross-border aid operation, which will expire at midnight if they don’t renew it.
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    1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
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  29. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    Inside the US operation to kill Qassem Soleimani: Armed with a tip from informants at the airport in Damascus, the CIA knew exactly when a jet carrying the Iranian general took off en route to Baghdad. - /

    18 replies 52 retweets 69 likes
  30. Jan 10

    Well, apparently they're still negotiating: neither side wants a total end to the cross-border arrangement, and there's now a new draft proposal that is being discussed behind close doors. So I guess that's positive news.

    1 reply 1 retweet 5 likes
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  31. Retweeted
    Jan 10

    If a resolution fails to be adopted today, the has indicated that the mandate will expire at 11:59 EST. 4 million people in need are supported by cross-border operations in Syria – 2.7 million in the northwest, and 1.3 million in the northeast, according to .

    will vote on competing Syria draft resolutions this afternoon at 3pm authorising cross-border and cross-line humanitarian access in Syria.
    3 retweets
  32. Jan 10

    To follow the Security Council debate, it's live here: For background, see, for example: , 2020: • Me, 2019: • Me, 2018: • , 2017:

    1 reply 4 retweets 4 likes
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  33. Jan 10

    There is of course also an off chance that Putin tried to persuade Assad, or twist his arm, during that visit to Damascus, so that Syrian authorities will permit the UN to send some aid convoys across frontlines or borders. But judging by past behavior, don't get your hopes up.

    1 reply 3 likes
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  34. Jan 10

    All WFP aid to this area stops tonight unless a favorable resolution comes out of a Security Council meeting set to start in 10 minutes. As of now, neither side seems willing to compromise. Expecting the worst, WFP pre-placed food rations in the area, but they won't last forever.

    1 reply 2 retweets 2 likes
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  35. Jan 10

    A new United Nations report on its operations in northwestern Syria says it has provided emergency food assistance to 124,600 newly displaced people since December 17.

    1 reply 3 likes
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  36. Jan 10

    Here's 's regional situation report for the Syrian crisis, No. 87, current for November.

    1 retweet 1 like
  37. Retweeted
    Jan 9

    “Every day we receive more disturbing reports of families caught up in the violence, seeking refuge and access to essential services in overcrowded camps and urban areas.” Read more on the current crisis in Northwest Syria:

    1 reply 24 retweets 26 likes
  38. Jan 10

    The United States keeps picking fights it can't control, because the Washington hive mind is institutionally incapable of reconciling the U.S. public's post-Bush turn against foreign wars with its own irrepressible interventionism. :

    5 retweets 11 likes
  39. Jan 10

    On the Syrian cross-border aid decision, by . The Security Council is set to convene in just over an hour.

    1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
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  40. Retweeted
    Jan 9

    Will 's death change 's relationship with the ? Unlikely, but it should at least make Tehran reconsider the visibility of its presence in the region, read my take in

    2 replies 18 retweets 17 likes
  41. Jan 10

    Lebanon’s financial crisis hits Syrian refugees hard – as if they needed any more trouble. Excellent new article by on some of the region's most vulnerable people.

    2 retweets 3 likes