Politics & Security - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Politics & Security

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah on March 14, 2026. Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf's petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran's Kharg Island. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /

UAE's Barakah nuclear plant fully operational after first such strike in Gulf

Emirati officials have vowed that the country’s energy ambitions will not be impacted by the strike, which was the first on a nuclear facility in the Gulf since the war began, adding that they have the right to respond to the attack.

United Arab Emirates

AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Majority of attacks on Saudi Arabia carried out by pro-Iran militias in Iraq

Since Feb. 28, most attacks on the kingdom have originated in Iraq and been attributed to Iran-backed Shiite militias, according to regional officials and Iraqi sources.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

A tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, northwestern Cuba, on March 31, 2026.

Breaking | Last Updated: May 18, 2026, 2:55 pm

US extends Russian oil sanctions waiver as Iran war squeezes supply

The waiver temporarily lifts sanctions on Russian oil for 30 days.

Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Israel accredits Somaliland's first ambassador: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

Latest News

Iran confiscates assets of 129 alleged ‘traitors’ in West Azerbaijan province

Amid FARAHI / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Turkey sees opportunity in Hormuz crisis to boost Middle Corridor

Ships navigate the Bosphorus Strait on May 02, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran, forcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and together with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, global shipping routes have been severely impacted. Soaring shipping costs, lengthening delivery times and less efficient routes have seen increased pressure on energy markets and supply chains worldwide. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Pushed out of Sahel, Macron turns to Egypt and Africa's anglophone countries

French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto during a reception at the State House ahead of the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi on May 10, 2026.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist , Rosaleen Carroll

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

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) speaks during a press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in Athens on January 2, 2020 following the signing ceremony of an agreement for the EastMed pipeline project designed to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe in Athens on January 2, 2020. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Mossad says it foiled Iranian-Pakistani attack on Israelis in Greece

Israel’s spy agency assisted its Greek counterpart in dismantling a Pakistani terror cell, affiliated with Iran, that was planning attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) sits with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Biden, visiting Israel as part of U.S.-led efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, on Tuesday condemned Israel's plans for 1,600 new homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to Jerusalem. (Photo by Baz Ratner-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden rebukes Netanyahu, says no invite to the White House in 'near term'

In an open crisis with the Israeli government over the judicial overhaul, President Joe Biden nixes inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anytime soon to the White House.

Demonstrators lift national flags during a protest near Baghdad's Green Zone on February 27, 2023.

Iraqis continue to protest controversial electoral law amendment

An amendment was passed by the Iraqi parliament that critics say will benefit larger political parties at the expense of independents that emerged following the 2019 Tishreen protests.

Ghiora Lehler, a 79-year-old veteran Israeli paratrooper, waves a national flag during a rally against the government's judicial reform bill.

Analysis

Winners, losers emerge after Israel’s Netanyahu suspends judicial overhaul

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox parties and even the IDF are on the side of the losers now that the judicial overhaul has been postponed.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A reveller flashes the V-sign in front of a bonfire during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Newroz (or Nowruz) celebrations marking the Persian New Year in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on March 21, 2023.

'Police beating' of 14-year-old Kurd highlights claims of impunity in Turkey

Kurdish teenager allegedly assaulted and humiliated by officers in Diyarbakir.

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army's official website on September 11, 2020, shows an Iranian Simorgh drone carrying a weapon during the second day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. - The Iranian navy began on September 10 a three-day exercise in the Sea of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, deploying an array of warships, drones and missiles. One of the exercise's objectives is to devise "tactical offensive and defensive strategies

Iran adheres to ambiguity over attack on US base in Syria

Iranian officials continue to neither confirm nor deny responsibility for a recent deadly attack on US forces in Syria that has been blamed on Tehran-backed proxies.

KABIL BOUSENA/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats warn Saied's crackdown risks US-Tunisia relationship

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a group of 20 Democratic lawmakers expressed concern over a wave of politically motivated arrests in Tunisia.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

20 pilgrims dead in bus crash en route to Saudi Arabia’s Mecca

Almost every pilgrimage season witnesses deadly accidents in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 22, 2019. (Photo by HOW HWEE YOUNG / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read HOW HWEE YOUNG/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi crown prince calls China’s Xi following Iran, energy deals

The call marked the first time the two leaders spoke since the Saudi-Iran rapprochement deal brokered by China.

Seized drugs, including Captagon, are displayed for the media in the town of Marea, in the northern Aleppo countryside, on May 24, 2022, following clashes among different Turkey-backed factions in Syria. - A decade of appalling civil war has left Syria fragmented and in ruins but one thing crosses every frontline: the drug fenethylline, commercially known as captagon. The stimulant -- once notorious for its association with Islamic State fighters -- has spawned an illegal $10-billion industry that not only

Breaking | Last Updated: May 23, 2023, 2:50 pm

New US sanctions target Syria's Captagon trade linked to Assad

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on six individuals in Syria and Lebanon, including two cousins of President Bashar al-Assad, who are linked to the Syrian regime's Captagon production and export.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s ruling alliance welcomes Islamist parties with misogynist agendas

The New Welfare Party and Huda-Par back the People’s Alliance led by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.

rotesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Netanyahu backs down, pauses judicial overhaul in face of protests

Faced with tens of thousands of demonstrators across Israel enraged over his decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he is suspending the judicial reform plan.