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Politics & Security

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani visits Latakia airport on Sept. 18, 2026.

Syria’s Shibani visits Latakia airport to review Russia deal progress: What to know

Syria is seeking to ensure that the August deal to turn Russian facilities in the country into joint training centers is implemented.

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.

Latest News

Interview

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

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)

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

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

Bijan Khajehpour

Analysis

The Takeaway: Iran hoped to close nuclear deal before economic reforms, says expert

Israeli exodus from Turkey over Iranian threat; Turkey takes aim at Syrian towns; Manbij residents brace for Turkish attack; desperation in Yemen’s displacement camps; Egyptian dance music livens up "Moon Knight."

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Andrew Parasiliti

By Elizabeth Hagedorn , Andrew Parasiliti

Iranians gather at the site where a 10-story building collapsed.

After protests over building collapse, Iran vows to take measures against developers

Iranian officials have vowed to take measures after the death toll of a tower collapse reached 34.

A view of the platform of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Could Turkey-Israel rapprochement lead to gas agreement?

The Cyprus conflict stands as a major stumbling block before potential plans to carry Israeli gas to Europe via Turkey.

Israel Africa

Abraham Accords accelerate Israel-Africa rapprochement

Israeli and African diplomats are engaged in expanding bilateral relations and taking them much further then ever before in many fields.

Erdogan

Erdogan announces military operations in Syria's Manbij, Tal Rifaat

The Turkish president said operations in northern Syria will expand "step by step" and that Ankara will keep an eye on “who supports these legitimate steps" and "who hinders them.”

A picture taken from the E1 corridor, a super-sensitive area of the occupied West Bank, shows the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the background on June 30, 2020.

Tensions rise between Israel, Palestinians ahead of Biden visit

While tensions are escalating on the diplomatic level, IDF troops continue Operation Break the Wave to curb spiraling violence in the West Bank and Israel.

BIROL BEBEK/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken says US fighter jet sales to Turkey 'separate' from NATO demands

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he will meet with Turkish, Swedish and Finnish officials to discuss Ankara's demands.

A Turkish Special Forces Police officer is seen standing watch during a press tour at a border outpost in front of a section of the new Iran - Turkey border wall on Sept. 27, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Traffickers use refugees to smuggle drugs from Iran to Turkey

There are growing claims and indications that refugees illegally crossing the Iranian-Turkish border, the route of an exodus from Afghanistan to the West, are forced to smuggle drugs by their traffickers.

Members of the "Martyr Abu Ammar Brigades" (alias of Yasser Arafat), part of Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades faction affiliated with the Fateh movement, stand with small arms during the funeral of Islamic Jihad militant Chas Kamamji in his home village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, on April 14, 2022.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad ramps up capabilities in West Bank

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced the formation of a new Nablus Brigade following the Flag Day marches.

This picture taken on March 26, 2022, shows a view of the exterior of Iraq's Council of Representatives.

Iraq's parliament passes anti-normalization law

Iraq's lawmakers further criminalize relations with Israel.

Iraq crops

Climate crisis worsens desertification in Iraq

The Iraqi authorities are warning of the high rate of desertification in the country amid other environmental and economic problems.

The sign of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is pictured in front of the headquarters, photographed in Vienna on Dec. 17, 2021.

Iran criticizes nuclear watchdog's 'unfair' report

A new IAEA report underlined Tehran's failure to come clean on its undeclared nuclear sites and fears are growing that the assessment may further complicate a revival of the Iran nuclear deal.