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Politics & Security

Fighters supporting the Aden-based, internationally recognized Yemeni government gather during a vigil along the Red Sea shore in Khokha, in Yemen's western Hodeidah province, on July 20, 2026.

Analysis

How Saudi Arabia seeks to contain Yemen's Houthis without provoking Iran

Riyadh is balancing pressure on the Houthis with efforts to keep Iran from widening the conflict, as attacks threaten Saudi energy exports through the Red Sea.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

El Alamein International Airshow

Turkey’s defense giants court Egypt at Alamein Airshow: What to know

Three leading Turkish defense companies are participating in the El Alamein Airshow as Ankara seeks new sales and closer military-industrial cooperation with Egypt.

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Two women stand before graffiti on the cemetery wall for victims of the chemical massacre, on Aug. 21, 2025 in Zamalka, Syria.

UN watchdog formally ends probe into Assad-era nuclear sites

The vote follows last month's visit by international inspectors to two suspected former nuclear sites in Syria.

Latest News

Iran's IRGC set to declare new ‘sanctions zone’ beyond Hormuz: What to know

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

US strikes Iranian tankers after attempted attack on Navy ship

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. Iran's top negotiator threatened on September 6 of a more forceful response to any further US attacks after Tehran targeted American warships in their latest round of clashes. The exchanges of fire, which began with US raids last week, come amid a deadlock in the six-month war between the two foes. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

What Houthi setbacks in Yemen mean for Iran's regional influence

Forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed government

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022.

Syria’s Kurds struggle to contain backlash after detaining allied Arab militia leader

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province.

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk during joint statements in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 9, 2016. Biden implicitly criticised Palestinian leaders for not condemning attacks against Israelis, as an upsurge in violence marred his visit. / AFP / POOL / DEBBIE HILL (Photo credit should read DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Why are Israel's ex-Shin Bet chiefs urging Biden not to host Netanyahu?

Two former directors of the Israeli Shin Bet — Ami Ayalon and Yuval Diskin — call on President Joe Biden to support the Israeli protest movement against the judicial overhaul by not inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

US President Joe Biden (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) arrive for the family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022.

Analysis

US-Saudi diplomacy gives lifeline to Palestinian leadership, two-state solution

How big is Assad’s Suwayda problem?

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

Iraqis drive past electoral billboards and placards of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Karrada district, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2021.

US welcomes conviction of Iranian, 4 Iraqis for killing American citizen

Stephen Troell, an aid worker in Baghdad, was killed in November when gunmen opened fire on his car.

A policeman watches as people cool off in the water at el-Kettani beach in the Bab el-Oued suburb, Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 15, 2020.

Two Moroccan-French tourists killed by Algerian coastguard

The tourists had strayed into Algerian waters. The incident could further inflame longstanding tensions between Morocco and Algeria.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the inauguration of the new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AMIR COHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Unprecedented breakdown in Israel-US channels as Netanyahu bars ministers from visiting Washington

Under strict orders from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant did not go anywhere near Washington or the Pentagon on his US visit this week. “Such things have never happened,” a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor.

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

MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia hosts Turkey's Fidan, presses for guarantees on grain deal

Turkey and Russia's foreign ministers haggled over a compromise for the revival of the Ukrainian grain deal ahead of the upcoming presidential summit next week.

Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri (R), receives Amos Hochstein, the US special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, Beirut, August 30, 2023.

UNIFIL mandate extended as US envoy visits Lebanon

US envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese officials to follow up on the maritime border agreement with Israel that allowed offshore gas exploration in Lebanese waters and to likely discuss UNIFIL's extension.

An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying "Down with Israel" in Hebrew at a defense exhibition in Isfahan, February 8, 2023.

Iran claims to foil Israeli plot against its missile operations

The announcement follows Iranian officials saying they had dismantled “Zionist-linked” cells across the country and amid an escalating proxy war between Iran and Israel.

Libyan Foreign Affairs Minister Najla Mangoush holds a press conference at the end of the Arab foreign ministers meeting in the capital Tripoli, on Jan. 22, 2023.

Libya’s political crisis runs deeper than Israel debacle

The diplomatic firestorm unfolding in Libya comes as the United States is pushing the North African country to hold long-awaited nationwide elections.

Israeli soldiers stand guard as police check a car damaged in a reported ramming attack at the Bell checkpoint near the settlement of Beit Horon, on the occupied West Bank, east of the central Israeli city of Modiin, November 2, 2022.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise with fresh attacks in Jerusalem, West Bank

With tensions high in Israeli and the West Bank following attacks against Israelis, Hamas is threatening to launch protests on the Israel-Gaza border.

Iran protest

Iran claims to dismantle Israeli-linked ‘Zionist’ cells across the country

The announcement follows another attack on a Shiite shrine in the country, as well as renewed Iranian threats towards Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq.