Week in Review - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Week in Review

Residents look for survivors at a damaged site after what activists said was an air strike from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Takeek Al-Bab area of Aleppo, December 15, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX16JRO

Rise of Islamic Front a disaster for Syria

Week in Review

US, region pivot to confront terrorist threat in Syria

Week in Review

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after a ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva November 24, 2013. Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough agreement early on Sunday to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in a first step towards resolving a dangerous decade-old standoff. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTX15QM8

Iran deal recasts regional politics

Week in Review

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd R) hugs French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after a ceremony at the United Nations in Geneva November 24, 2013. Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough agreement early on Sunday to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in a first step towards resolving a dangerous decade-old standoff. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX15QNB

The deal with Iran, and what comes next

Week in Review

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. Kerry said on Sunday that world powers had come closer during negotiations with Iran in Geneva to a deal on reining in its nuclear programme and that "with good work" the goal could be reached. REUTERS/Jason Reed (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX157AB

Time to close deal with Iran

Week in Review

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton listens as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) speaks during a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. Zarif and Ashton said on Sunday they hoped Iran and six world powers would reach an agreement when they gather again in 10 days, adding that the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme was something all delegations can build on. REUTERS/Jason Reed (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - R

Iran nuclear deal key to political solution in Syria

Week in Review

A general view of Dubai's cityscape September 25, 2013. A stampede by competing apartment buyers in Dubai this week may have obscured signs that Dubai's latest real estate boom is more restrained than the last one, which pushed the government close to default. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: REAL ESTATE BUSINESS CITYSCAPE) - RTX145A9

The Al-Monitor Debate on Gulf Cities

Week in Review

U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi (R), is welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari after arriving at Baghdad International Airport October 21, 2013. International envoy for Syria Brahimi was in Baghdad on Monday to discuss dates for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Syria. Brahimi said no date had yet been set for the long-delayed conference. International efforts to end the 2-1/2 year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people have stuttered. But a deal last month for Syria to get r

Syria’s Race Against Time

Week in Review

A U.N. vehicle returns to a hotel where experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are staying, in Damascus October 11, 2013. The global chemical weapons watchdog charged with overseeing destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile during a civil war won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a relatively small organisation with a modest budget, dispatched its experts after a sarin gas attack killed more t

Is Saudi Arabia Holding Up The Geneva II Conference on Syria?

Week in Review

Iran's President Hassan Rohani (C) walks next to delegate members after speaking in a High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament during the 68th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX140O5

The Iranian Trend And Geneva Nuclear Talks

Week in Review

A view shows damaged buildings in Aleppo's Karm al-Jabal district October 6, 2013. REUTERS/Nour Kelze (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3FNSO

Syrian Islamist Forces Gain in Aleppo

Week in Review

Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Syrian Opposition Coalition Chairman Ahmed Assi al-Jarba during the United Nations General Assembly at the Waldorf Astoria in New York September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Joshua Lott (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13YF3

UN Resolution Opens New Chapter in Syria Conflict

Week in Review