Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

military projectile are embedded in the ground

Yemen’s Houthis claim new attack on Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia: What to know

The strike follows a deadly Houthi attack on a ship in the Red Sea as the renewed conflict take its toll on shipping.

A man inspects the damage at the site of a strike in Bartalla, in the northern Iraq's Nineveh province, after US-Saudi attacks on militias, July 29, 2026.

Iraq intel and security officials visit Saudi Arabia after drone attacks

Iraqi authorities are cracking down on drone attacks after US and Saudi airstrikes targeted Iran-backed militias in the country.

Ebrahim HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Sudan’s RSF attacks Khartoum, seizes border town: What to know

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have escalated attacks after suffering setbacks more than three years into the civil war.

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Who benefits from Lebanon’s amnesty law and why it is controversial

The law, initially intended to ease prison overcrowding, could see the release of Islamists accused of killing soldiers and allow Lebanese exiled to Israel return to the country.

Latest News

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Qaani

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

lia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

As Lebanon-Israel talks drag on, can Beirut break Iran linkage?

Manon Roca / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Beatrice Farhat

By Beatrice Farhat

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Displaced families set up tents along Beirut's waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10, 2026, after fleeing recent Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced Shiites are facing growing resentment from host communities in areas outside of Hezbollah’s control in Lebanon amid uncertainty over their return to southern Lebanon, where Israeli attacks and advances signal a potential ground invasion.

France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) wearing sunglasses shakes hands with Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam prior to their meeting at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on January 23, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Narrow opening: Can Lebanon’s push for talks shift Israel’s war calculus?

Although Israel, for the moment, refuses to halt military operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah as rocket and missile strikes continue, sources say Israel is nevertheless leaving the door open to negotiations.

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

Rabbi Daniel Walker and King Charles III view floral tributes during a visit to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Oct. 20, 2025, in Manchester, England.

UK, Netherlands probe Iran links to plots targeting Jewish sites: What to know

British authorities said two men had spied on the Jewish community in London for Iran, and synagogues were recently targeted in Belgium and the Netherlands.

US soldiers participate in the annual military exercises known as "Eager Lion" near Maan, some 200 kilometers south of the capital Amman on May 17, 2017.

Iran takes aim at Jordan over role in US strikes: What to know

Iran's threats against Jordan come as King Abdullah visits the Gulf, and Jordan continues to host thousands of US troops.

An Iranian security force officer stands guard next to a huge billboard of Iran's newly nominated supreme leader Ayatollah Mojataba Khamenei (pointing) during Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, a commemoration in support of the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in Tehran on March 13, 2026. On February 28, Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo bottom L) and triggering a war that spread across the M

Analysis

Israel sees long road to Iran regime change as IRGC tightens grip

While the large number of Iranian leaders killed is clearly destabilizing the regime, its toppling could still take a long time, Israeli officials told Al-Monitor.

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

A flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah flutters above the rubble of a building that was hit in January by an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Qannarit, on Feb. 16, 2026.

Kuwait arrests 16 over alleged Hezbollah links, including 14 nationals

Lebanon pledged its full cooperation with Kuwait after the arrests and praised the Gulf state's actions.

An Israeli self-propelled howitzer artillery gun fires rounds toward southern Lebanon from a position in the upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border on March 15, 2026.

Is Israel planning a buffer zone in Lebanon or will it go beyond Litani?

A primary Israeli concern, per reports, is that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force commando units could infiltrate the border to attack northern Israeli communities.

A banner depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader and son of slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is displayed on Enghelab (Revolution) Square, Tehran, as people gather for the funerals of commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the army and others killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran, March 11, 2026.

Analysis

Israel, Gulf fear Trump may lose interest in war as Iran weighs nuclear breakout

If the current war ends with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps emboldened, many worry that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, will increase efforts to pursue a nuclear weapon to deter future attacks, similar to North Korea.

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

A security forces member with a picture of Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, watches over demonstrators as they gather for a rally in support of the new supreme leader at Enghelab Square on March 9, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

As Trump shrugs off possible Iran attacks at home, experts see increased risk

The war has fueled concerns that Iran’s operatives, or those acting in its name, could target the United States.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel's war goal to weaken Iran, not immediate regime change

Israeli leaders are aware that Washington will decide when the war ends whether or not Israel has achieved its war aims, Yadlin told Al-Monitor.

A man looks at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 12, 2026.

Lebanon summons Iran envoy over Hezbollah-IRGC attacks: What to know

The move comes after Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets toward Israel, just as Iran fired a barrage of missiles, triggering a violent Israeli escalation in Lebanon.

Sipan Hemo

Top Kurdish critic of Damascus named Syria's deputy defense minister

The move cements a US-brokered truce and signals Damascus’ intent to integrate the Kurdish-led northeast into the national government, even as thorny security and political questions remain.