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Bahram / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

From looming war to currency crash: Iran ends 2025 on edge

Amid threats of war and an economy on the verge of collapse, the Islamic Republic is closing the year juggling deterrence needs and internal crises.

A correspondent in Tehran

Por A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Turkish naval forces patrol vessel TCG F 500 and an unidentified submarine (back) sail during a military naval parade on the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Oct. 29, 2023.

Analysis

El sector de defensa de Turquía entra en 2026 con avances navales y vulnerabilidades sin resolver

Un año marcado por guerras regionales, incursiones con drones y grandes exportaciones de armas ha dejado a Turquía enfrentando un dilema familiar: cómo convertir la ambición y los prototipos en disuasión real sin el presupuesto para sostenerlos por completo.

Barin Kayaoglu

Por Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A customer browses books at a bookshop in the Moroccan capital Rabat on August 9, 2018. On the main arteries of old Rabat, dozens of itinerant booksellers offer books in French, Arabic, and sometimes in English, up to ten times cheaper than their originals. Despite being prohibited, the pirated-books market is largely tolerated in cities across the North African kingdom. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

La próxima generación de escritores marroquíes lucha por un lugar en el panorama literario

Una nueva feria del libro en Casablanca destaca el talento emergente del país y los obstáculos que aún definen el fragmentado mundo editorial de Marruecos.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Analysis

La realidad de Gaza pone a prueba las ambiciones de Trump en Oriente Medio para 2025

Durante su primer año, la segunda administración de Trump enfrentó guerras en Gaza y Sudán, forjó nuevos lazos con Siria y lidió con la creciente amenaza nuclear de Irán.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Por Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Supporters of Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah carry the coffins of militants killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. Hundreds of people gathered in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025 to mourn five Hezbollah members killed in recent Israeli attacks, an AFP correspondent said, as Israel warned of intensifying attacks against the Iran-backed group. On November 1, an Israeli strike killed four people in Kfar Rumman, Nabati

Analysis

En 2025, Hezbolá estaba debilitado en el Líbano, pero era poco probable que se desarmara en 2026.

Hezbolá se ha visto sometido a una creciente presión interna y externa para que entregue sus armas pesadas, algo que el grupo se ha negado a hacer, lo que ha suscitado interrogantes sobre sus medidas durante el próximo año.

Beatrice Farhat

Por Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Latest News

Analysis

2025: Por qué los megaacuerdos de defensa del Golfo finalmente se hicieron realidad

Saudi Air Force advanced F-15SA fighter jets perform during a ceremony in Riyadh on Jan. 25, 2017.

Francesco Schiavi

Por Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Analysis

Netanyahu trabaja en las relaciones de Israel con Grecia y Chipre antes de las conversaciones con Trump

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

Mientras se intensifica la rivalidad entre Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Arabia Saudita, el STC de Yemen acusa a Riad de ataques aéreos

A boy looks on as supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags during a rally calling for the revival of the former independent state, in Aden on December 12, 2025. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council last week swept through swathes of Yemen in a near-bloodless takeover they say aimed to expel Islamists and halt smuggling for the benefit of the Iran-backed Houthis. (Photo by Saleh Al-OBEID

Israel se convierte en el primer país en reconocer a Somalilandia, en un gesto de desdén hacia Turquía.

The flag of Somaliland is seen during a campaign rally of the main opposition party Waddani in Hargeisa on November 8, 2024, ahead of the 2024 Somaliland presidential election. The self-declared state of Somaliland is set to host a long-delayed presidential and legislative elections in November 13, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP) (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)

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People from the Alawite sect hold up signs while protesting as they demand federalism and an end to what they say is the killing and violations against Alawites, in Latakia, Syria, December 28, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

Three dead in Alawite protests on Syrian coast, local officials say

Reuters

Displaced Palestinians walk past a large pool of standing water in Gaza City. Heavy winter rains have have made an already precarious life worse for displaced Gazans

'Shivering from cold and fear': winter rains batter displaced Gazans

Agence France-Presse

Iraq has long suffered from sand and dust storms, but in recent years they have become more frequent and intense as the country falls prey to the effects of climate change

Iraqis cover soil with clay to curb sandstorms

Agence France-Presse

Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charities

Reuters

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2025 Middle East business review: Gulf AI and mineral races heat up as startups, Red Sea shipping bounce back

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Interview

Chipre considera unirse a la fuerza en Gaza, pero "no hay suficiente claridad" sobre la misión, dice el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores

Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos speaks to media at a Ministerial Council meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on December 4, 2025 in Vienna, Austria. (GEORG HOCHMUTH/AFP via Getty Images)

Constantinos Kombos

Cypriot Foreign Minister

Interview

UNRWA planea una oficina en Turquía para aumentar la ayuda a Gaza y Siria mientras disminuyen las promesas

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Tamara Alrifai

Interview

¿Podrán las protestas en Israel frenar el segundo intento de Netanyahu de reforma judicial?

Shikma Bressler, an Israeli physicist and one of the leaders of the protest against the government's judicial overhaul.

Interview

Los robots pueden resolver la escasez de mano de obra en la construcción de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, afirma Buildroid AI

Buildroid AI

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

De la guerra inminente al desplome monetario: Irán termina 2025 con nerviosismo

Bahram / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

A correspondent in Tehran

Por A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

2025: Por qué los megaacuerdos de defensa del Golfo finalmente se hicieron realidad

Saudi Air Force advanced F-15SA fighter jets perform during a ceremony in Riyadh on Jan. 25, 2017.

Francesco Schiavi

Por Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Analysis

En 2025, Hezbolá estaba debilitado en el Líbano, pero era poco probable que se desarmara en 2026.

Supporters of Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah carry the coffins of militants killed in recent Israeli attacks during their funeral in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025. Hundreds of people gathered in south Lebanon's Nabatiyeh on November 2, 2025 to mourn five Hezbollah members killed in recent Israeli attacks, an AFP correspondent said, as Israel warned of intensifying attacks against the Iran-backed group. On November 1, an Israeli strike killed four people in Kfar Rumman, Nabati

Beatrice Farhat

Por Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Analysis

El sector de defensa de Turquía entra en 2026 con avances navales y vulnerabilidades sin resolver

Barin Kayaoglu

Por Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkish naval forces patrol vessel TCG F 500 and an unidentified submarine (back) sail during a military naval parade on the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Oct. 29, 2023.

Amberin Zaman, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Danny Makki, Joyce Karam in a virtual discussion on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Washington

Syria's Sharaa in Washington

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Joe Snell

Iraqis prepare to head to the polls

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Amberin Zaman in Damascus

Amberin Zaman Reports from Damascus

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Elizabeth Hagedorn at UNGA in New York

Elizabeth Hagedorn Reporting from UNGA in New York

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