The Middle East has long sat at the crossroads of conflicting national interests.
CCTV’s Roee Ruttenberg takes a look at some of the players now involved in the Syrian conflict.
More details:
- Moscow is backing Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and opposes anyone who threatens his rule. That includes some American-backed Syrian rebels, which Washington suspects may have been the real target of this week’s Russian strikes.
- This week, Saudi officials again rejected an outcome that could see Assad stay on and said they’ll boost supplies to his enemies if a deal is not reached soon. Riyadh has also been conducting air strikes against ISIL alongside the US, Jordan, and Gulf allies Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain.