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Robert Tollast

Robert Tollast

Military Affairs Reporter
Abu Dhabi
Robert Tollast joined The National as Assistant Foreign Editor in 2020. Prior to this, he worked as a political and security risk analyst with NAMEA Group, focused on the Middle East, and with the Iraq Energy Institute think tank. Since 2011 he has written about Iraq for a variety of publications, including Foreign Affairs and USA Today.
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Articles

Many operations during US Space Command's Global Lightning defences exercise in autumn 2024 were based in the command's joint operations centre in Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Photo: Space Operations Command
What is Donald Trump’s Iron Dome for America?

US President is reviving a decades-old dream of a missile shield, but supporting elements would have global coverage

MENAJanuary 28, 2025
Robert Tollast
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveils the Shahed 149 'Gaza' drone at an undisclosed location in 2021. Photo: X
Iran’s ‘Gaza’ drone bristles with missiles in drills but can it survive in combat?

Long-range aerial attack weapon has been compared to the US Reaper

MENAJanuary 27, 2025
Robert Tollast
Volunteers from the Shia Badr Brigade cheer after an exchange of fire with ISIS fighters on a front line in Anbar province in 2015. Getty Images
Competing armed groups in Iraq’s Anbar spell trouble for Trump’s plans for Iran

Washington has its sights on curbing a force many say answers only to Iran, but one that is deeply embedded in local economies

MENAJanuary 27, 2025
Robert Tollast
Screen capture of the Houthi drone as seen via the sensor of the French helicopter. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES via Navy News
Drones get cheaper and deadlier as armies race for low-cost defences

The US Navy highlights the soaring cost of intercepting affordable drones, which are becoming easier to produce

MENAJanuary 23, 2025
Robert Tollast
The destruction of Gaza.
Special reportAfter the ceasefire, what would it take to rebuild Gaza?

Israel’s war on the devastated strip has left a mammoth challenge of reconstruction ahead

MENAJanuary 16, 2025
Robert Tollast
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Reuters
How Israel’s Momentum Plan sowed the seeds of devastation in Gaza and Lebanon

Six years ago, Israeli military planners gathered to devise a new and destructive way to fight militants

MENAJanuary 15, 2025
Robert Tollast
Rescuers search for survivors after an Israeli air strike in Shmestar, a village in the Bekaa Valley, in November. AFP
Israel resumes air raids on Syria-Lebanon arms routes

Some weapons still reaching Hezbollah despite fall of Bashar Al Assad, security official says

MENAJanuary 13, 2025
Khaled Yacoub Oweis
Iran's army commander Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, left, and Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh during an inauguration ceremony of 1,000 new drones joining the Iranian Army in Tehran, Iran. EPA
Iran adds 1,000 long-range attack drones to fleet

Iran has expanded its capabilities for strikes against ‘distant targets’

MENAJanuary 13, 2025
Robert Tollast
A Yemeni pro-government fighter on the south frontline of Marib. AFP
War against the Houthis and Al Qaeda in Yemen has stark lessons for today's crisis

The UAE sent elite commandos to the mountains of Yemen to fight both terror groups, securing critical parts of the country

MENAJanuary 10, 2025
Robert Tollast
An Iranian air defence system during the 'Aseman Velayat 99' exercise, in an unidentified location in Iran. AFP
Iran plans to shoot down Israel's biggest bombs to defend nuclear sites

Tehran is bracing for an Israeli strike on its nuclear programme after a major air attack in October struck radar systems and a research centre

MENAJanuary 08, 2025
Robert Tollast
A member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces stands on a street in SDF-controlled Hasakah, north-eastern Syria. Reuters
Syrian leader Al Shara meets US-backed Kurdish group amid clashes

Interim government has called on all militias to disarm or join a new national army

MENAJanuary 01, 2025
Robert Tollast
The Khaled Brigade, part of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, holds a military parade in Damascus on December 27. Reuters
Syria's new government giving defence roles to foreign fighters

Interim government has promised the country will not be a base for militant groups

MENADecember 31, 2024
Robert Tollast
Syrians celebrating the fall of the Assad regime in Umayyad Square, Damascus. Reuters
Al Assad’s fall raises key questions over Israel’s Gaza strategy

Experts say using raw military firepower to defeat militants creates far more problems than it solves

MENADecember 19, 2024
Robert Tollast
Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli air strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on December 13. Bloomberg
How Israel shifted stance on civilian deaths in Gaza bombings

Military used to plan strikes to limit civilian deaths but thinking changed quickly after October 7 last year

MENADecember 18, 2024
Robert Tollast
A massive fireball over Tartus after a weapons depot was hit by a suspected Israeli strike. Photo: Danny Makki
Colossal explosion in Syria registers as an earthquake

Massive blast follows attack on suspected arms depot, as Israel targets Assad-era stockpiles

MENADecember 16, 2024
Robert Tollast
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