Protests have been spreading in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini. The young woman was arrested by morality police officers for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely. The woman died in custody. Iranians are alleging that she was killed by the police, which the government has been trying to cover up. Citizens have taken to the streets in protest.

Mark Frerichs had been held hostage in Kabul by the Taliban since his abduction in 2020, and after many months he was released in exchange for one of the Afghans who had been imprisoned by the US on drug trafficking charges.

As the likelihood of a new nuclear deal treaty with the Islamic Republic of Iran looms closer, the European Union is anticipating the entry of Iranian energy into global markets. The initial Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement negotiated in 2015 fell apart when the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018, causing Iran to walk back on agreed points.

The announcement of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s departure from Iraqi political life has ignited major protests in the country’s capital, Baghdad. Violent clashes have broken out in the streets, resulting in many injuries and deaths. Iraqi security forces are doing everything they can to contain the protests, but the cleric’s words about leaving politics have caused a major upheaval in Iraqi society.

Read the most important events in the Middle East and North Africa region from 17 to 26 August 2022.

In 2018, the then US president, Donald Trump, made a decision to withdraw from conducting talks regarding the signing of a nuclear agreement with Iran and decided to impose numerous sanctions aimed at employing the Iranian government to function in such a way as to force them to stop developing their nuclear potential.

Read the most important events in the Middle East and North Africa region in the first half of August 2022.

A year ago, in August, the Taliban took over the government in Afghanistan. Since then, a lot has changed for the state and its inhabitants.

The US Department of Justice informed the US public about the Iranian government’s plan to assassinate John Bolton, a former White House national security adviser. The American politician exposed himself to the rulers in Tehran with his critical comment on a member of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

On July 18, 2022, Musa Al-Hajj, Archbishop of Lebanese Maronites, was detained on his way back home and arrested after crossing the Lebanese-Israeli border. Officials in Lebanon accuse the archbishop of breaking the law, contributing to the normalization of relations with Israel. On July 24, 2022, the decision of the Lebanese authorities was met with protests from Christian believers.

The 25th of July 2022, celebrates the national emblematic day of Tunisia’s Republic. This Monday the 25th of July 2022, is once again marked as a critical date and possibly as a turning point, almost a decade after the introduction of Tunisia’s renewed Constitution back in 2014. Voting polls on a constitutional referendum closed at around 23:00 CET on the same day. The result of which will determine whether Tunisia will adopt a new Constitution by the hand of president Kais Saied.