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Politics & Security

Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, Iran

Third Sunni cleric killed in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province: What to know

Iran says it is stepping up its crackdown on armed groups in the impoverished province as Sunni clerics have been reported killed there and in the predominantly Kurdish northwest.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

CENTCOM chief meets Saudi Arabia's MBS amid Houthi gains in Yemen

The low-profile meeting between the Pentagon's commander in the Middle East and Saudi crown prince comes as Yemen's Houthis seized the high ground overlooking a vital economic waterway.

People swim next to the Russian-flagged cargo ship OMSKIY-107, which was attacked off the Black Sea coast and eventually ran aground off the shore of the Sile district, Istanbul, Sept. 3, 2026.

Why Turkey has few options to protect Black Sea shipping

The Russia-Ukraine drone war is hitting Turkish commercial interests, exposing the limits of Ankara’s ability to protect shipping while remaining outside the conflict.

Erik Marmor

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Facing the popular Gadi Eisenkot, the Together party of former premiers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is sinking in Israeli opinion polls.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

What does Houthi advance mean for Yemen’s southern separatists?

Yemeni separatists

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Analysis

Houthi gains in Yemen are testing Saudi Arabia’s security strategy

boats and a container ship near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Iran, misreading Trump’s resolve, escalates conflict in Yemen ahead of US midterms

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, arrive with their weapons to rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon, in Sanaa on April 8, 2026, following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

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

Protesters raise yellow flags showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) -- currently prison in Turkey, and the red-star flag of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK - Eniya Rizgariya Netewa Kurdistan), during a demonstration calling for his release and condemning recent Turkish strikes on Kurdish areas, in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 6, 2022.

Turkey’s overtures to Assad all about crushing Syrian Kurds’ autonomy

Turkey’s security establishment remains immutably opposed to the consolidation of any form of Kurdish autonomy in Syria that would mirror Kurdish gains in neighboring Iraq.

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Yael Lempert looks on during the Negev Forum's first Steering Committee meeting in the town of in Zallaq, south of the Bahraini capital of Manama on June 27, 2022. -(Photo by MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden names US ambassadors to Jordan, Oman

The US president has nominated Yael Lempert as US ambassador to Jordan, Ana Escrogima as US ambassador to Oman and named Dorothy Shea, currently the US ambassador to Lebanon, for deputy US representative to the United Nations

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's new Minister of National Security and leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, greets supporters during a visit to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market on Dec. 30, 2022.

Ben-Gvir’s visit to Jerusalem holy site draws US rebuke

The Biden administration expressed concern over Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint site revered by both Muslims and Jews.

The flags of (front to back) France and Lebanon fly near the damaged grain silos at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on July 14, 2021, almost a year after the August 4 massive explosion that killed more than 200 people and injured scores of others. (Photo by PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

French defense chief in Lebanon, pledges more support to military

Sebastien Lecornu's visit came two weeks following the killing of an Irish UNIFIL soldier as his convoy came under attack. A suspect is now in custody

Lt. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, Feb. 8, 2022.

Analysis

US top Middle East commander tests new model of deterring Iran

As the Pentagon shifts focus to China and Russia, CENTCOM’s chief is banking on experimentation with unmanned surveillance and artificial intelligence to offset a smaller US footprint in the Middle East.

Jared Szuba

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

An Iranian carries the portraits of slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (L) during a ceremony in the capital Tehran, on January 3, 2023, to commemorate the third anniversary of their killing by a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran pursues 94 US citizens over Soleimani killing

Tehran has announced it is pursuing dozens of people it accuses of involvement in the 2020 assassination of its Quds Force leader.

Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) paramilitaries supporters raise pictures depicting their late slain commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and the slain top commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani with whom he was killed in a US air strike, as they gather in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Karbala on September 16, 2022. (Photo by MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images)

UK relations with Iran take nosedive ahead of IRGC designation

The designation will put the IRGC in a similar legal category as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the eyes of the UK government, outlawing membership in, financial dealings with and encouraging support for the paramilitary organization.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli far-right minister risks regional flareup with Temple Mount visit

Despite international warnings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed for National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to ascend the Temple Mount.

This picture taken from the Mount of Olives shows a view of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock, Old City, Jerusalem, Jan. 2, 2023.

UAE, Saudi, others condemn Israeli minister’s visit to Jerusalem holy site

Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif could hurt the new far-right Israeli government's relations with Arab states and Turkey.

A member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (L) and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad's International Airport on January 2, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq's pro-Iran militias plan mass demonstrations on anniversary of Soleimani's killing

The PMU had set up a monument of Qassim Soleimani and Abo Mahdi Mohandas on Baghdad's airport boulevard this year, something that the former Iraqi government had blocked

Members of Muslim Uyghur minority present pictures of their relatives detained in China during a press conference in Istanbul, on May 10, 2022. (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey airs rare public criticism of China's treatment of Uyghurs

Turkey is openly criticizing China's treatment of the Uyghur minority as more tension emerges between Huawei and its Turkish partner telecom operator Turkcell.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Israel claims 'Palestinian hypocrisy' in new UN resolution allowing ICJ opinion

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Eli Cohen claimed on Monday that the UN resolution to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the West Bank only makes resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict harder.