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

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Politics & Security

Marco Longari / AFP via Getty Images

France denies Israeli settler leader entry: What to know

The head of Israel's Samaria Regional Council settler organization claims that France turned him back at the Paris airport.

Anwar AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon detains Hezbollah members as PM pledges end to impunity

Concerns about internal strife are growing amid tensions between Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu attend a signing ceremony with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Nov. 24, 2021. ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s banking watchdog chief submits resignation amid fund scandal

Turkey’s government is facing growing criticism over regulators’ failure to prevent a fund scandal involving more than $20 billion.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

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.

Latest News

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

Ahmed al-Alwani in an undated photo

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

Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles

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

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

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

ANDY BUCHANAN / 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

Ukrainian servicemen patrol in the settlement of Troitske in the Lugansk region near the front line with Russia-backed separatists on Feb. 22, 2022, a day after Russia recognised east Ukraine's separatist republics and ordered the Russian army to send troops there as "peacekeepers".

Ukraine crisis exposes Turkey’s limits

The Ukraine crisis has exposed Ankara’s limits on foreign policy, yet Turkey’s President Erdogan can still score points from rapprochement with the UAE and Israel.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s quota plan for refugees alarms rights activists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is advocating quotas for foreigners to prevent ghettos and clashes, but activists worry relocations would cut vulnerable refugees' access to work and services.

Liberman

As minister resigns, Israel’s government more fragile than ever

The resignation of Minister Eli Avidar reflects the fragility of the Bennett-Lapid coalition, composed of a narrow majority of 61 Knesset members.

A picture shows the Supreme Judicial Council building in Iraq's Baghdad on Dec. 27, 2021.

Iraqi judges in crosshairs of drug dealers with powerful connections

Iraq has seen systematic assassinations of judges since 2003, most of whom were handling investigations into drugs and corruption cases involving influential figures and parties.

A picture shows a snow-covered displacement camp for Yazidis in the area of Dawudya, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Dahuk, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jan. 25, 2022.

Yazidis react to killing of Islamic State leader

The death of Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who committed war crimes against the Yazidi community in Sinjar and supervised the Sinjar genocide in which thousands of Yazidis were killed, sparked varied reactions among Yazidis.

MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images

US Navy turns to sea drones in MidEast

The US Navy is turning to unmanned tech to help regional states monitor the waters of the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdoulahian speaks at a press conference in Tehran on February 23, 2022

Iran says nuclear talks at 'critical' stage

Agence France-Presse

By Agence France-Presse

GERD ceremony

Egypt reacts as Ethiopia switches on first Nile dam turbine

Cairo continues to call on Addis Ababa to end its unilateral measures when it comes to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Bennett Lapid

Analysis

Israel slams possible Iran nuclear deal without criticizing US

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warns of the emerging Vienna agreement on Iran, but observers say Israel has little or no leverage to change it.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

AFP via Getty Images

US defense contractor to set up surveillance center in UAE

The Tawazun Economic Council signed a term sheet with L3Harris Technologies at a drone and robotics fair in Abu Dhabi.

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Raisi says Iran's gas production strong despite US sanctions

Iran's president declared that US sanctions have failed to put a brake on his country's lucrative natural gas production.

Sudan's top Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks as he attends the conclusion of a military exercise in the Maaqil area, northern Nile River State, Sudan, Dec. 8, 2021.

Sudan moves ahead with Israel ties

Tel Aviv continues to exchange visits with the contested authorities in Khartoum and deepen their security cooperation, in line with the coup generals’ allies in the Gulf and Egypt.