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

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Politics & Security

OLE BERG-RUSTEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s NATO pipeline bid fuels rivalry with Greece: What to know

Ankara says the project would be faster and cheaper than alternatives, but rival routes could sharpen competition with Greece over eastern flank logistics.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Quake hits Turkey’s Malatya, reviving fear in 2023 disaster zone

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has struck Turkey’s southeast, an area devastated by the February 2023 twin quakes.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets with the head of the Hikmah Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, in Baghdad on May 19, 2026.

Iraqi PM Zaidi holds talks as cabinet deadlock leaves nine posts unfilled

Political disputes caused parliament to fail to agree on a number of ministerial nominees, including those of defense and the interior.

Latest News

Senate advances resolution to limit Trump's Iran war powers

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2026 in Washington, DC.

UAE, France renew defense pact after Rafale jets controversy

A rafale fighter jet prepares for take off on the deck of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle during the NATO military exercise Neptune Strike 26-2, off the coast of the Greek island of Crete, on April 27, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Iran tightens wartime crackdown across Kurdish, Baluch ethnic regions

Baluch Iranian youths cross a street in Zahedan, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan, on Dec. 18, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Vance says transfer of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia 'not currently our plan'

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 19, 2026, in Washington, DC.

Jared Szuba

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

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Can Erdogan run for third term in Turkey's upcoming election?

The opposition declares Erdogan’s candidacy “unconstitutional” while the Turkish president says his path to run for a third term is "clear."

People demonstrate outside the Iranian embassy in Ukraine on October 17, 2022 in Kyiv, after the city was hit by swarms of kamikaze drones sold by Iran to Russia, leaving at least three dead. (Photo by SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran summons Ukraine's top diplomat after Isfahan drone strike

Iran's summoning relates to a Ukrainian presidential adviser's tweet that implicitly welcomes the suspected Israeli attack over the weekend.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Strikes near Iraqi border mark widening regional battle against Iran

Strikes widely attributed to Israel have hit an Iranian convoy near the Iraqi border after it crossed out of the country.

Palestinians celebrate in Gaza City on January 27, 2023, following a shooting attack by gunman outside an east Jerusalem synagogue. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

In Gaza, Palestinian indifference to Blinken's visit to Israel, West Bank

The armed factions in the Gaza Strip are not paying much attention to the visit of the US secretary of state to the region, and vowed continued retaliation against the Israeli military operations in the West Bank.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

US warns Americans in Turkey of 'imminent terrorist' attacks

The US Embassy in Ankara updated its previous security alert warning its nationals against potential "retaliatory attacks" in response to Quran-burning protests in Europe.

Blinken and Shoukry in Cairo

Blinken seeks detainee progress, but releases are Egypt’s ‘prerogative’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Al-Monitor he raised the cases of individual political prisoners during his two-day visit to Cairo, which included a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

A man walks past an electoral billboard for the Tunisian national election scheduled for January 29, in Tunisia's capital Tunis, on January 25, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia's elections at 11% turnout, further shakes Kais Saeid's credibility

Tunisian voters headed back to the polls to elect a new parliament after an unsuccessful first roundup, confirming predominant indifference to politics and concerns over their economic and social situation amid a soaring cost-of-living crisis.

Turkish anti riot police officers patrol around the Sultan Ahmet Mosque during snowfall, Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2017.

Why are foreign mobsters, drug gangs attracted to Turkey?

A wave of foreign mobster violence in Turkey has raised alarm that the country has become a safe haven for criminal kingpins from the region and beyond.

The family of Eli and Natali Mizrahi who died, react at the scene of a mass shooting which happened last night near a synagogue in the neighbourhood of Neve Yaakov on January 28, 2023 in Jerusalem, Israel. Eight people have been shot dead near a synagogue in North Jerusalem, with at least three others injured. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

With second attack in Jerusalem, Israel's Netanyahu is under siege

Only 14 hours after the mass shooting in Jerusalem, which killed seven Israelis, another attack struck as Netanyahu's far-right government looks for a heavy response.

Vehicles of forces loyal to Libya's Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah are parked along the waterfront (with the "That El Emad Towers" complex seen in the background) in the capital Tripoli on May 17, 2022 hours after forces of the rival Tobruk-based government withdrew following heavy fighting between opposing militias. (Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE and Qatar manage shifting policies, fluid alliances in Libya

Israel protest

Netanyahu more worried about Israel's protests than Palestinians

The Israeli prime minister will receive US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as violence escalates, normalization stalls, and the economy tanks in anticipation of right-wing reforms.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Escalating violence clouds Blinken visit to Israel, West Bank

Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first visit to Israel since the election of a new right-wing government comes as the region braces for more unrest following a deadly raid in the West Bank and a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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