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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is welcomed to the Saadabad Palace in Tehran by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, July 23, 2026.

Analysis

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

Week in Review

By Week in Review

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran war puts Turkey’s inflation fight, lira under fresh pressure

A prolonged Iran war is leaving Turkey's economy management caught between maintaining painful monetary tightening and cutting rates before the economy is ready.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

moke rises from a high-rise building following a drone attack in Kuwait City on March 8, 2026.

Analysis

Can Kuwait secure a Saudi-style defense pact with Pakistan?

Kuwait and other GCC states are looking to Pakistan, among other countries, for alternate security arrangements and multilayered deterrence.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

US halts strikes on Iran, sees opening for talks: What to know

A four-day lull in Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz was seen as an opportunity to resume diplomatic talks and dial down the war, Al-Monitor’s source said.

Jared Szuba

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

Latest News

Analysis

What Iran's warning to Britain reveals about broader escalation strategy

Muntions near a B1 Bomber are seen at RAF Fairford on July 24, 2026, in Fairford, England.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

What challenges await Erdogan’s new rival and Turkey’s new opposition party?

Ozgur Ozel

Halil Karaveli

By Halil Karaveli

Analysis

Saudi nuclear deal adds new wrinkle if Iran talks resume

US President Donald Trump (L) and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia pause for photographs along the West Wing Colonnade at the White House on Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Iran signs 25 deals at SCO meeting: What to know

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

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

Iranian security forces intensify raids on girls' schools

Parents outraged by latest actions to suppress protests, as students heckle government official.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Orthodox schism shakes Turkish Riviera

A major rift in Orthodox Christianity compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven a wedge into a growing Orthodox community on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

Peoples' Democratic Party's Zuleyha Gulum holds a banner "Truths cannot be obscured."

Turkey ramps up pressure on Kurdish journalists with mass detentions

The detentions are part of a campaign against journalists working for outlets that report on rights abuses, particularly in the Kurdish-majority southeast.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Two-state solution shrinks as campaigning wraps up in Israel

Even Prime Minister Yair Lapid, commended internationally for supporting the two-state solution at the UN, has stopped championing the issue on the campaign trail.

Afghan women hold placards as they take part in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul on Sept. 29, 2022.

As Iran protests enter sixth week, women take to Afghanistan's streets

Some of the largest protests led by women started after a Sept. 30 suicide attack on an educational center in Kabul in which 53 Hazara girls were killed.

Israeli security forces deploy in the Deir Sharaf area, near the Israeli settlement of Shavei Shomron, west of Nablus, following a reported attack, West Bank, Oct. 11, 2022.

Israel destroys Lion’s Den explosive factory in Nablus

A week before the Nov. 1 elections, Israel Defense Forces raided an explosive factory of the Palestinian Lion’s Den terrorist group and killed one of its founders.

This picture taken on March 24, 2019, shows a discarded Islamic State flag.

Syrian man sentenced in Turkey for burning two alive under Islamic State

A Turkish court has sentenced a Syrian man for ordering the burning executions of two Turkish nationals in 2016, but many aspects of the grisly murder remain in the dark.

IRGC members seen patrolling Zahedan in an image uploaded to Twitter on Oct. 24, 2022.

Iran maintains silence on 'massacre' in Sunni-majority city

Iranian authorities were accused of covering up the killing of over 90 Balouch minority civilians in what activists are mourning as "the bloody Friday."

A worker carries a bale of wheat during the harvest in the village of Bamha near al-Ayyat in Egypt's Giza province.

Egypt to plant wheat in Congo amid water shortage

Egypt plans to cultivate 20,000 hectares of land in Mossendjo city in the Republic of Congo with strategic crops such as wheat.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley holds a photo of a victim of the 2013 Syrian Ghouta chemical attack.

US blacklists Syrian military officials over 2013 chemical attack

Three Syrian military officers were designated for their alleged participation in the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Ghouta.

Hannibal Hanschke/Getty Images

Ukraine's Zelenskyy calls on Israel to act against Russia-Iran alliance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Israel to take action against the emerging Russia-Iran alliance and supply his country with missile defense systems.

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran, reportedly shows a motorcycle on fire in Tehran, on Oct. 8, 2022.

Iran protests continue in universities

Protests in Iran have continued to spread to universities, presenting a new challenge to the Islamic Republic.