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

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Politics & Security

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Explainer

Iran war pushes up coal use, complicating Turkey’s COP31 pledge

Turkey is asking world leaders at COP31 to back a global push to use more electricity, even as the Iran war has driven up natural gas prices and pushed some power producers back to coal.

Ahmed al-Alwani in an undated photo

Ex-Iraqi MP Ahmed Alwani found dead in Lebanon: What to know

Ahmed al-Alwani was a prominent leader of anti-government protests by Iraqi Sunnis in 2013, and was released from prison last year.

Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles

Iran unveils new underground 'missile city': What to know

Iran has moved much of its missile stockpile underground as the threat of a new war looms.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey bars MP’s wife from travel after his fund scandal criticism: What to know

Opposition politicians and rights advocates described Yonca Verdioglu Sik’s brief detention as an attempt to intimidate her husband, opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, over his criticism of the government.

Latest News

GCC to build military command center in Kuwait as region simmers: What to know

ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images

Hegseth strikes defiant tone, calls House impeachment process 'farce'

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Jared Szuba

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

Explainer

From Oct. 7 inquiry to blocking Netanyahu: Eisenkot's bloc maps out Knesset agenda

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) casts his ballot, next to his wife Sara

Slotkin, Van Hollen emerge as potential challengers to Schumer’s Senate leadership

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 23: U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) speaks at a press conference on China AI export controls at the U.S. Capitol on September 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. Slotkin, joined by fellow Senate Democrats, urged Senate Republican's and the Trump administration to enact stronger export controls on AI technology and computer chips to China. The Democrats also call for a vote on bipartisan export control legislation, including the AI OVERWATCH Act, the MATCH Act, and the Chip Security Act. (

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

Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of the late former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, greets people attending the funeral of her father in Tehran, on Jan. 10, 2017.

Iranian Reformist faces backlash from hard-liners for criticizing IRGC

Outspoken Reformist Faezeh Hashemi has invited furious attacks from hard-liners after suggesting that the United States should keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its terror list.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish, Israeli leaders speak on Al-Aqsa Mosque tensions

Blaming Israeli radicals and security forces for the attacks against the Palestinians, Erdogan expressed concern over the spreading of unrest to Gaza.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour speaks to the press in Khartoum, on March 10, 2018.

Coup generals bring back party of Sudan's ousted dictator

Members of deposed dictator Omar al-Bashir's party have been appointed to high state positions and reinstated throughout the government.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli coalition on verge of collapse as Jerusalem roils

The tensions at Jerusalem’s holy sites is tearing apart what little is left of the Israeli coalition government.

Marine Le Pen (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron.

France’s Le Pen brings Israeli-Palestinian conflict into presidential campaign

Head of French far-right National Rally party and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen explains how she sees future relations between her country and the Middle East, should she be elected.

A fighter from the Free Syrian Army fires an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a vehicle deployed during fighting against the Islamic State near the northern village of Beraan, north of the embattled city of Aleppo, Syria, Oct. 24, 2016.

Factional infighting escalates in northern Syria

Infighting continues among the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions in light of a power and influence struggle, conflict over crossings and smuggling corridors, and the lack of a unified military institution.

SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey launches offensive against PKK targets in northern Iraq

In a critically timed spring offensive, Turkey has hit dozens of targets associated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and killed 19 fighters.

Qasem Soleimani pin

Iran's Foreign Ministry calls avenging Soleimani 'basic' foreign policy principle

As nuclear talks remain stalled, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry doubled down on threats to avenge the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East denounces Sweden as riots break out over Quran burning

A far-right politician had planned to burn a copy of the Quran but called it off as Muslim citizens rioted.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Reeling from Friday’s clashes, Israel braces for more violence in Jerusalem

With Ramadan, Passover and Easter converging, Israeli security agencies are on edge, especially in Jerusalem’s Old City and the Temple Mount compound.

Syrian refugee journalist

Journalists flee northwest Syria as intimidation ramps up

Dozens of journalists have fled northwest Syria, some paying fortunes to reach Europe, to escape the Syrian opposition factions and Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham.

Perthes

Tensions escalate between Sudanese military, UN mission

Sudan's army leaders are seeking to form a new transitional government, bypassing the efforts of the United Nations mission.