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Politics & Security

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Iran's IRGC holds anti-helicopter drills in Tehran: What to know

Iran said it downed two US helicopters last month as American forces use the aircraft for strikes in the Gulf.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shake hands before a meeting at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.

Turkey, Armenia to launch direct trade in normalization push: What to know

The move removes a decades-old reexport mechanism routed largely through Georgia as Ankara and Yerevan step up normalization efforts.

Latest News

In first, Lebanon files formal UN complaint against Iran: What to know

FADEL Itani / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Ahead of Trump-Xi summit, Iran looks to China as guarantor — but with reservations

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Lebanon authorities release Salafist cleric Khaled Hablas: What to know

Khaled Hablas

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

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

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Iran hijab

One year into unrest, Iranian women still defying hijab laws

On the first anniversary of nationwide unrest, a growing number of women continue to defy the mandatory hijab laws despite the Islamic Republic's brutal response.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference in Nicosia on September 3, 2023. (Photo by Iakovos Hatzistavrou / POOL / AFP) (Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel-Saudi normalization stuck as Netanyahu struggles to boost Palestinian Authority

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that to obtain normalization with Saudi Arabia, he must bypass his hard-line coalition partners and offer the Palestinians significant benefits.

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

Mohamed Shalesh/Getty Images

Aid pours into flood-stricken Libya as death toll tops 11,000

More than 11,300 have been confirmed killed in Libya’s port city of Derna after flash floods swept through the city on Sunday.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat cruises past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

Iran's IRGC claims to seize 2 oil tankers in Gulf

Iran claims to have captured two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf carrying smuggled fuel and arrested their crews.

Women hold up signs depicting Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, Irbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, September 24, 2022.

US, partners impose new Iran sanctions to mark Amini anniversary

The US in conjunction with Australia, Canada, and the UK issued a new round of sanctions against Iranian-state entities, officials and individuals in connection with Tehran's crackdown on protesters.

Iranian refugees and Iranians living in Greece wave a Kurdish flag while singing the Iranian protest song of Shervin Hajipour during a demonstration to commemorate 40 days from the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini while in police custody in Iran, in central Athens on Oct. 29, 2022.

A year since Mahsa Amini’s killing, Iran’s Kurds brace for renewed crackdown

The Kurdish twist to Iran's grassroots civic uprising cutting across ethnic, sectarian and gender lines served the regime well in its crackdown.

Biden Sisi

US to send more military aid to Egypt despite rights concerns

The Biden administration said it was in the US national security interest to release some of the funds that Congress had conditioned on Egypt making human rights progress.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk

Analysis

Netanyahu to meet Musk, Erdogan, Zelenskyy, Biden — but no White House visit

The Israeli prime minister and the US president will most likely come face to face on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Captagon

Dubai's $1 billion Captagon bust ranks as one of world’s biggest

Sales of the highly addictive stimulant continue to fund the Syrian government, despite regional efforts to break up smuggling rings.

United Arab Emirates

ABDEL GHANI BASHIR/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia executes two soldiers convicted of 'treason'

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

People marked the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amin, on September 13, 2023, London, England.

Timeline of Iran's Mahsa Amini protests and crackdown, one year on

One year after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini and the ensuing protests, Iranian authorities continue to repress all dissent, arresting and executing protesters, activists and minorities to sow fear among the population.

Amini

A year on, Mahsa Amini's death exposes divides in Iran establishment

The death of Mahsa Amini almost a year ago has had profound and enduring effects on Iranian politics and society, reconfiguring political alliances and a renewing debate over the future direction of the Islamic Republic.