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May 15, 2026

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Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Khaled Hablas

Lebanon authorities release Salafist cleric Khaled Hablas: What to know

Hablas was imprisoned for his role in the deadly 2014 clashes with the military and Hezbollah and his release follows Syria lobbying for the return of militants detained in Lebanon.

Pictured in this undated image is the Al-Thawra oil field in Raqqa governorate, as rehabilitation works continue to restore production capacity.

Syria restores Raqqa oil field in former ISIS stronghold: What to know

Before Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, national oil production stood at between 400,000 and 500,00 barrels per day before falling to under 100,000 bpd during the conflict.

Latest News

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

EU restores economic pact to pursue fuller trade ties with Syria

Kaja Kallas

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Syria arrests Amjad Youssef, Tadamoun massacre perpetrator: What to know

A young man stands in the entrance of tunnels that were used by the ISIS and the Assad's regime for fighting. Tadamon, Syria, February 7, 2025. (Photo by Raghed Waked / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs, arrives to deliver a news conference after meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the government palace in Beirut May 18, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX1DGJ6

Khamenei adviser visits Beirut

During a visit to Beirut, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, expressed his country’s appreciation to the achievements of Hezbollah in the Qalamoun area, while stressing that Iran will not interfere in internal Lebanese issues.

A Syrian refugee family is seen in front of their house in Ankara November 21, 2014. Syrian refugees across the Middle East, some in exile for a fourth winter, face freezing temperatures, hunger and increasing hostility from locals as governments struggle to cope with the humanitarian crisis. Lebanon and Jordan are tightening their borders to stem the flow of those trying to escape whilst in Turkey, widely praised for hosting around half Syria's estimated 3.2 million refugees, the influx threatens to upset

Attacks on Syrians in Turkey increasing

Increasing numbers of Turks are angered over the social and economic consequence of Turkey hosting some 2 million Syrian refugees.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad speaks during a news conference in Beirut March 4, 2011. Raad spoke out against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was established in 2007 to prosecute, under Lebanese law, criminal acts relating to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Lebanon. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTR2JFBJ

Senior Hezbollah official speaks out

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc in Lebanon discusses the war in Syria and the party’s role there, the Saudi war against Yemen and the presidential stalemate in Lebanon.

U.S. and Jordanian soldiers participate in Exercise Eager Lion at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, south of Amman May 18, 2015. Around 10,000 participants from 18 countries will take part in Eager Lion. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX1DI9O

Defense spending bill provides boost to Jordan

House Defense appropriators released a FY 2016 bill that seeks to help Jordan fight the Islamic State.

Syrian refugees wait with their luggage and belongings outside a hotel in Beirut to be transported by buses to Beirut international airport for resettlement in Germany April 15, 2014. About 300 Syrian refugees departed early morning from Beirut to Germany on a private chartered flight where they will be offered resettlement, UNHCR, which has been assisting the refugees in Lebanon, said. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTR3LBDE

Are European nations discriminating against Syrian refugees?

During a meeting between Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Bassil mentioned that some European countries are selecting Syrian refugees to move from Lebanon to Europe based on educational and religious standards.

Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters rest on the back of a pick-up truck with an installed weapon in Khashaat, in the Qalamoun region after they advanced in the area May 15, 2015. Lebanon's Hezbollah and Syria's army made big advances against insurgents in mountains north of Damascus on Wednesday, Hezbollah and Syrian state media said, shoring up President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the border zone. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX1D54Z

Hezbollah courts media outlets

Hezbollah gave the media a tour of parts of western Syria after seizing territory previously held by Jabhat al-Nusra.

A Lebanese Army vehicle drives down a mountain next to Ras-Baalbek, a Christian village on the outskirts of Arsal, August 30, 2014. Lebanese Christian fighters from three Christian villages that surround Arsal have been training for about three years and guarding their villages for the past year fearing a violent spillover from nearby Arsal, which is controlled by Islamic militias, according to the fighters. Picture taken August 30, 2014. REUTERS/Alia Haju (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) -

Nasrallah warns of impending Arsal battle

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah outlines some factors that seem to announce an upcoming clash in Arsal between Hezbollah fighters and IS and Jabhat al-Nusra militants.

U.S. President Barack Obama looks back toward Oman Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said (L) and the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2nd L) while hosting the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Camp David in Maryland May 14, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTX1D0ZQ

Obama, GCC leaders forge consensus on Iran

Summit statement concludes that a “comprehensive, verifiable” nuclear deal “is in the security interests” of all parties; Kerry emphasizes need for US-Russia cooperation on Syria.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 18: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey testifies before the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing on "The President's Proposed Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against ISIL and the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. President Obama has requested authorization for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria against ISIS from Congress. (Photo by Allison Shelley/

Congress sends mixed messages on toppling Assad

The House passed a defense bill with contradictory guidance for assistance to the Syrian rebels.

A working tunnel, which is used to smuggle people from Egypt to Gaza, is seen in the Egyptian border city of Rafah, May 13, 2013. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTXZLC7

Egyptian law could imprison refugees, asylum seekers

Egypt is in close coordination with Europe and is moving in the direction to clamp down on irregular migrants and human smugglers who would be criminalized for the first time in Egyptian law should the said migration law be implemented.

A general view shows a besieged hospital, the last remaining Syrian army foothold in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, in the province of Idlib May 3, 2015. Syrian troops backed by heavy air strikes have edged closer to a hospital in northwestern Syria where dozens of Syrian soldiers and loyalist fighters have been holed up for the past two weeks, the army said on Sunday. The town was overrun last month by insurgents, including al Qaeda's wing in Syria, Nusra Front. Picture taken May 3, 2015. REUTERS/Ammar Abd

Iran’s new strategy in Syria

Iran and its allies, such as Hezbollah, seem to be getting more involved in the Syrian civil war.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends the opening of the Geneva-2 peace conference in Montreux January 22, 2014. Syria's government and opposition, meeting face to face for the first time at a U.N. peace conference, angrily spelled out their hostility on Wednesday as world powers also restated contrasting views on the future of President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17PGV

The Turkey-Saudi axis against Damascus

Will the US support the gains of Islamist opposition in Syria?