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

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Politics & Security

Hibatullah Barakat / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon charges 5 in alleged Hezbollah operation to train Assad loyalists

A Lebanese military court has charged the five, including an Assad-era Syrian officer and Hezbollah members, with running a cross-border security network planning attacks in Syria’s coastal region.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Samir Ousman Alsheikh was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud.

Yemenis gather during a rally to show their support for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the coastal port city of Aden, on December 14, 2025. (Saleh Al-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Yemen separatists urge US not to let Saudi Arabia ‘call the shots’

As Houthi fighters steamroll Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the country's southern separatists say an independent South Yemen is the best check on the group’s expansion.

Latest News

Trump administration approves $24B sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

A US Air Force F-35 fifth-generation jet fighter takes off during the NATO's Ramsteign Flag 2025 exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base on April 8, 2025.

US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over Hormuz payments

A pedestrian passes by the Treasury Building in Washington, DC on Jan. 18, 2023.

Turkey's Erdogan to run for 'final' third term in 2028, adviser says

Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

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

Syrians wave flag of Russia and a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia remains committed to Syria’s Assad despite Ukraine war, Pentagon says

Reports that Moscow has been readying tens of thousands of Syrians to fight in Europe are "disinformation," senior US defense official tells Congress.

Iraq market

Iraqi parliament passes urgent food security bill

The Iraqi judiciary had blocked a previous version of the legislation, which empowers the government to address rising food prices and shortages resulting from the Ukraine war.

Iran's political attache at the permanent mission to the Vienna-based international organizations Khodayar Rouzbahani.

Iran turns off nuclear site cameras in response to IAEA

Iran and the IAEA continue escalatory measures.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R).

Russia expresses 'understanding' for Turkey’s security concerns in north Syria

Receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu maintains that the creation of a safe maritime corridor for Ukrainian grain exports should be accompanied by the easing of sanctions against Russia.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Eroding judicial independence threatens Turkish elections

Opposition groups are increasingly concerned about Turkey's political climate after recent court rulings showed consistent lenience for the president's supporters.

Golan Heights

Israel cuts red tape to expand construction in Golan Heights

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked signed a legal framework to speed development of new villages in the Golan Heights, with a goal of doubling the area's population.

A truck carrying aid packages from the World Food Program drives through the town of Hazano in the rebel-held northern countryside of Idlib province, Syria, May 16, 2022.

Jihadi group in Syria’s Idlib seeks control of NGOs

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to restrict humanitarian organizations operating in its areas of control in northwestern Syria.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian Authority awaits Biden’s visit to region

The Palestinian Authority has refrained from implementing the decision of the PLO to freeze its recognition of Israel ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region.

Kenyan fisherman Enos Awele Ajuoga takes his nets out of Lake Victoria’s water every morning but catches have reduced as unsustainable fishing practices and water pollution by wastewater, agro-pesticides and fertilizers have decimated fish stocks.

Gulf states’ oil wealth ripples throughout rural Sudan

Across Africa, remittances-fueled economic development stands as an unrivaled alternative to the throes of unemployment and political instability.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi arrives to attend a memorial service for the victims of a motorcycle bomb that exploded the day before, in the southern city of Basra on Dec. 8, 2021.

Iraqi prime minister: Iran-Saudi talks have made 'remarkable progress'

In a press conference today, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi provided a report of his two years in the office, highlighting his top achievements and top challenges facing his government

An undated image of the FSO Safer.

US envoy urges funding for Yemen’s ‘ticking time bomb’

Envoy Tim Lenderking called on donor governments and the private sector to help prevent a dilapidated tanker in the Red Sea from spilling its cargo of oil.

An Iranian boy takes a tray of eggs at a grocery store in Tehran on Sept. 30, 2012.

Retirees join Iran protests over economic grievances

The rallies were sparked by unprecedented rising prices across the food sector under President Ebrahim Raisi's economic policies.