AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

An Iranian missile system is displayed in Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

Trump says US will hold off on fresh Iran attack in hope of quick deal

An Egyptian man looks at the Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" as its passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia on April 1, 2008. The vessel has a capacity of 210,100 cu.m making it one of the largest LNG carriers constructed to date. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How strike on Damietta port exposes Egypt's energy infrastructure risks

The unclaimed attack on the port of Damietta could draw Egypt further into the US-Iran conflict as experts point to growing threats to critical infrastructure in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Samuel Wendel

Yazar: Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Sudan's de facto leader and armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan greets supporters in Port Sudan, Dec. 29, 2024.

Analysis

Amid realignment with Egypt, Turkey steps up support for Sudan’s Burhan

Turkey has been intensifying engagement with the Sudanese army leader as Red Sea security concerns grow and to protect its interests in the broader Africa region.

Barin Kayaoglu

Yazar: Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Explainer

Guterres visit to Cyprus revives frozen diplomacy amid regional tension

The first visit to Cyprus by a UN chief in more than 16 years aimed at testing waters for resumption of UN-led talks amid growing urgency to address the island’s division.

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

An attempt by Iraqi government forces to seize weapons belonging to an Iranian-backed faction encountered resistance, raising questions about Prime Minister Ali Zaidi’s pledge to disarm militias by Sept. 30.

Mustafa Salim

Yazar: Mustafa Salim

Latest News

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Culture

Saqqara’s next chapter: How Egypt is modernizing its oldest necropolis

Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, gives a press conference in the Saqqara necropolis, where archaeologists unearthed two human and animal embalming workshops as well as two tombs, south of Cairo, on May 27, 2023.

Analysis

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

Week in Review

Yazar: Week in Review

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

Yazar: Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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Palestinians inspect the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a medicine warehouse, according to medics, next to tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, August 1, 2026, displaced Palestinians sheltering in the nearby tents had been pre-warned by the Israeli military to evacuate. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli strikes kill 18 in Gaza, minister says no deal to halt attacks

Reuters

Relatives and friends wait at the border crossing for the return of people who crossed into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta,

Moroccans gather at Ceuta border, desperate for news of loved ones

Agence France-Presse

US President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with obliteration of its major power plants and civilizational ruin, but ultimately dialed back those threats

Trump's on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own words

Agence France-Presse

Ships sail near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates on July 13, 2026

OPEC+ boosts September production by 188,000 barrels/day

Agence France-Presse

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Middle East Minute

Hamas says Israel must withdraw, cease attacks after Trump declares Gaza disarmament deal

Adam Lucente

31 July, 8:51 AM ET

3:38

Middle East Minute

Middle East Minute

Egypt targeted for first time, Pakistan insists US-Iran talks alive

Adam Lucente

30 July, 8:46 AM ET

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Iraqi militias say at least 20 killed after US-Saudi strikes

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29 July, 8:59 AM ET

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Interviews

Exclusive conversations with AL-MONITOR.

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Interview

Eski İsrailli istihbaratçı: ABD kara gücü kullanmazsa İran'da rejim değişikliği zor

Retired Israeli General and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Amos Yadlin

Amos Yadlin

Former head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate

Interview

Suriyeli Kürt yetkili: Şam ile savaş herkese kaybettirir

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Interview

Türkiye’ye kaçan Libya Merkez Bankası Başkanı hükümeti ‘darbe’ ile suçluyor

Police officers stand guard outside Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on Aug. 27, 2024.

Sadiq al-Kabir

Sadiq al-Kabir

Governor of the Central Bank of Libya

Interview

Eski istihbarat şefi: İsrail'in hedefi İran'ı zayıflatmak, rejimi hemen devirmek değil

Retired Israeli general and executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

İran-Ukrayna gerilimi neden yükseliyor?

A man stands near a boat moored along a beach on the Caspian Sea coast in Sorkhrud in Iran's northern Mazandaran province on March 24, 2026, where many families have relocated due to the ongoing war with the US and Israel. Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic republic's supreme leader and sparking a war that has since spread across the Middle East. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Savaş sonrası diplomaside Pezeşkiyan’ın işi neden zor?

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian listens during a joint press conference alongside Armenia's Prime Minister in Yerevan on August 19, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Hizbullah kaygısı sürse de İsrail için Lübnan anlaşması ‘tarihi’ önemde görülüyor

Shia Muslim devotees gather for a mourning ritual near the shrine of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah who was killed in a 2024 Israeli-airstrike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 26, 2026 at the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)

Yazar: Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Analysis

Netanyahu-Trump görüşmesi ve Katz’ın hassas bilgi ifşası

Yazar: Ben Caspit

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Inside US-Israel fault lines on Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

July 29, 2026

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Deciphering the US-Iran deal: What comes next?

June 23, 2026

1:02:22

How the Iran war is reshaping energy markets

May 20, 2026

1:00:30

Iran War at One Month: Outlook and Implications

April 1, 2026

1:04

Are the US and Iran closer to war or a deal?

February 24, 2026

0:59

After years abroad, Iraq’s Christians weigh returning home

February 10, 2026

3:39

Syria's Sharaa in Washington

November 6, 2025

1:00

The Future of Energy and Power in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

May 23, 2025

1:38

Plestia Alaqad on Gaza and South Lebanon

April 1, 2025

5:00

Vision Golfe 2024 - Mastering Mega events in the GCC from a Sports Perspective

June 4, 2024

34:36

The Syria Strategy Project: Panel one

March 18, 2024

3:42:49

US confrontation with Iran’s proxies: Live Q&A with Jared Szuba and Elizabeth Hagedorn

February 2, 2024

38:25

Our Journalists

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Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Barın Kayaoğlu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security