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

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Politics & Security

A giant billboard depicts late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (2nd L), and his son Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, with Arabic writing that reads: "Thank you Iran," in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, on June 15, 2026.

Khamenei says Hezbollah's agenda 'strategic mandate' for Iran

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s comments come as Lebanon and Israel move forward with a US-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah in the south, though the Iran-backed group is resisting calls to turn over its weapons.

Trump Netanyahu

On eighth visit, Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to repair ties with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to focus on Iran in his Tuesday meeting with President Donald Trump, while the US leader is more likely to want to discuss Lebanon and Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon on July 14, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.

Zaidi to meet Erdogan as Turkey-Iraq ties take off, Kurds feel sidelined

The Iraqi prime minister's visits to Ankara and Riyadh underscore Baghdad's push to deepen regional ties as Turkey seeks closer cooperation on energy and security.

Latest News

Trump says Iran seeks talks after strikes halted

US President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Iran summons French ambassador after detaining 2 diplomats: What to know

Iranian security forces stand guard in front of the French Embassy in Tehran in this undated image.

Analysis

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

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

Week in Review

By Week in Review

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

Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Wehbe (R) and Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Saar (L) shake hands after signing an agreement, Rabat, Morocco, July 26 , 2022.

Israeli ministers fast-track deepening of ties with Morocco

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Freij and Justice Minister Gideon Saar are only a few of the Israeli ministers and senior officials who have visited Morocco recently.

In this handout photo, a munitions storage area at Baghdad International Airport is seen on May 7, 2003, in Baghdad, Iraq.

Weapons warehouse blasts frighten Iraqis

Concerns over whether weapons held in and near urban areas are being properly stored — and who is holding them — are being raised after several blasts of unclear origins near major Iraqi cities.

A picture taken on Jan. 21, 2019, shows a partial view of the new international Ramon Airport.

Israel allows West Bank Palestinians to fly out of Ramon Airport

Israel will allow Palestinians to travel to Turkey through Ramon Airport on a pilot flight that may expand routes and numbers.

The National Oil Company is seen in the northern town of Ras Lanuf, Libya, June 3, 2020.

Security unrest sparks protests in southern Libya, threatens oil output

The Libyan oil sector is once again threatened amid security and political turmoil, most recently with protests breaking out in the oil-rich southern region, which has been marginalized for years.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

Iran sends EU response on text to revive nuclear deal

An advisor to Iran's negotiating team said the two sides are "closer than we've been before."

Author Salman Rushdie at the Blue Sofa during the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Oct. 12, 2017.

Hard-line Iranian media praises Rushdie attack

Hard-liners in Iranian media have praised the attack on author Salman Rushdie.

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Republicans push Biden to deny Raisi’s visa request

President Ebrahim Raisi’s planned address to the UN General Assembly comes weeks after the Department of Justice charged an Iranian national with plotting to kill former US official John Bolton.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iranian government intensifies crackdown

Iran has arrested three of its most prominent filmmakers.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Drones strike US base in Syria

Coalition forces "successfully engaged" one of the drones targeting al-Tanf and no one was hurt in the incident.

Israel's former army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Defense Minister and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, and Justice Minister and New Hope party chief Gideon Saar pose for pictures during a joint press conference, Ramat Gan, Israel, Aug. 14, 2022.

Former army chief shakes up Israeli political balance

Prime Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu are both worried over the decision of former Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot to join the new party of Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

Infighting in southern Yemen exposes fragility of leadership council

Despite the existence of Yemen’s new leadership in Aden, fierce combat has wreaked havoc in Shabwa province in southern Yemen.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Understanding Iraq's Coordination Framework

The Coordination Framework is an umbrella bloc of Iraqi Shiite parties united mostly by their opposition to the Sadrist movement.