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

Workers collect onions during the harvest on a farm, in the Polatli district of Ankara on Aug. 6, 2019.

Turkey’s farmers call for urgent support as food alarm grows

Turkey’s agricultural producers are grappling with exorbitant cost increases that threaten further blows to the country’s food production amid an already galloping inflation.

Navy Persian Gulf

US Navy adds new task force to patrol Red Sea

Task Force 153 will patrol the Red Sea and waters around Yemen, as Iran shows no sign of relinquishing support for the Houthis.

Netanyahu

Analysis

The Takeaway: Netanyahu faces uphill battle to bring down Israeli coalition government

Bennett seeks to deescalate Jerusalem confrontations; Hamas tries to reign in Islamic Jihad; Erdogan shakes up Turkey-Tunisia ties; Ukraine war creates food crisis in Egypt; Egypt misses out on Moon Knight; and more.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Andrew Parasiliti

By Elizabeth Hagedorn , Andrew Parasiliti

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (r) welcomes Israel's President Isaac Herzog (L).

Turkey continues regional initiative with meetings with Israel, Egypt

Turkey’s foreign minister says he will gather with his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, possibly with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar accompanying him to Israel.

Flags of Iraq and Iran.

Iran's new Iraq ambassador affiliated with Quds Force

Iran appointed the country’s fourth ambassador to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and similar to his predecessors he is part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Bennett

Israel's governing coalition increasingly unstable

After legislator Idit Silman left the coalition, and following the recent wave of terror attacks, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is fighting to keep his government together.

A convoy transporting humanitarian aid crosses into Syria from Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing on Jan. 18, 2022.

Possible closure of Turkey-Syria crossing alarms aid groups

Fears are mounting about a looming humanitarian catastrophe amid concerns that Russia will close the last border crossing through which UN and NGO aid passes to reach millions of needy in north Syria.

Sudan's military leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) is greeted.

Russia, Wagner Group expand ties with Sudan

Sudan's military leaders have expanded ties with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

An Iranian woman walks past a mural showing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the capital Tehran on March 9, 2022.

Iran's supreme leader says stalled nuclear talks going well

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the country’s nuclear negotiators, saying Tehran is in a strong position.

Khamenei

As dialogue falters, Khamenei says 'no possibility' of Saudi victory in Yemen

The comments on Twitter by the supreme leader follow the suspension of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Iraqi members of the Sadrist bloc (of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr) gather inside the Iraqi parliament in the capital, Baghdad.

Iraq's political deadlock: three scenarios

Iraq's new parliament has failed to form a government and the political scene is stuck in a difficult deadlock, indicating that the crisis is likely to continue for a long time.

Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) arrives with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan’s statements shake Tunisian-Turkish ties

Diplomatic and economic relations between Tunisia and Turkey are at stake in the wake of statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following President Kais Saied’s decision to dissolve parliament.