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

Palestine crossing

Despite terror wave, Israel determined to keep Al-Aqsa open for Ramadan

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decided to avoid collective punishment over the latest wave of terrorism, keeping Al-Aqsa Mosque open for Ramadan prayers and keeping the crossing points from Gaza and the West Bank operating as usual.

Turkey student

Turkey’s top court rules compulsory religion courses violate rights

Turkey’s top court ruled that forcing compulsory religious education on minors against their parents’ will violates their rights, but will the government heed it?

Iranians visit the spot in the courtyard of Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad on April 6, 2022.

Iran closes Afghanistan consulates after angry protests

Furious Afghans threw rocks at the Iranian Embassy in Herat after videos went viral of Afghan refugees being mistreated in neighboring Iran.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox not ready to take down Bennett government

Despite the political upset between the coalition and the opposition, the ultra-Orthodox seem in no hurry to topple the current government.

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

Erdogan plays to base with criticism of Tunisia

By slamming the dissolution of Tunisia’s parliament, Erdogan may have emboldened his ideological allies from the Ennahda party, but his criticism might backfire to further isolate political Islam.

Mohamed al-Manfi (L), head of Libya's presidency council, and new interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah (R) arrive.

Egypt steps up efforts to calm Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with head of the Libyan Presidency Council Mohammad Menfi in Cairo to discuss the future of the political process in Tripoli, amid Cairo’s renewed efforts to end the political chaos and divisions in the neighboring country.

Members of the Palestinian Authority's security force deploy near the Jewish pilgrimage site of the Tomb of Joseph on the outskirts of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, early on April 11, 2022.

Israel condemns vandalization of Joseph’s Tomb by Palestinians

The site of Joseph’s Tomb in the environs of the West Bank city of Nablus again at the center of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

US Senator John Kennedy, R-LA, speaks during a full committee markup to vote, on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2022.

Analysis

GOP senators warn Biden against taking Iran's IRGC off terror list

The Republican letter comes as nuclear talks remain at a standstill over Iran's insistence that the United States delist the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Right-wing Israeli supporters hold signs and flags as they protest against the Israeli government on April 6, 2022, in Jerusalem.

Israeli coalition’s left, right wrangle after terror attacks

Faced with a terror wave, the Israeli government, composed of right, center and left, finds its harder and harder to operate in unison.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says deal on prisoner release, foreign funds imminent

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed reports that an Omani delegation will travel to Iran to help finalize a deal concerning the country's frozen funds and certain foreign prisoners.

Gaza military parade

Hamas stops Islamic Jihad from military escalation with Israel in Gaza

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are coordinating policies and activities, stepping up attacks in the West Bank while trying to avoid direct confrontation in Gaza.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses media representatives during a press conference at an European Union (EU) summit at EU Headquarters in Brussels on March 24, 2022.

Erdogan's Saudi visit to mark vital step in Turkey's regional realignment

The Turkish president is expected to travel to the kingdom during Ramadan following the end of the Khashoggi case in Turkey.