Week in Review - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Week in Review

Putin

Analysis

Putin puts Trump ahead of Iran in bid to mediate war

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse, New York, on Oct. 9, 2026.

Window for diplomacy with Iran may be closing as Trump again threatens Pickaxe Mountain

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

US President Donald Trump speaks at the "Golden Age of American Innovation Summit" at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Oct. 8, 2026.

Trump offers Iran path to nuclear deal while keeping up military pressure

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, arrive with their weapons to rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon, in Sanaa on April 8, 2026, following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

Iran, misreading Trump’s resolve, escalates conflict in Yemen ahead of US midterms

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport on Aug. 2, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey.

Trump’s strategy on Iran may be paying off

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

Analysis

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

Week in Review

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is welcomed to the Saadabad Palace in Tehran by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, July 23, 2026.

Analysis

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

Week in Review

Ali Al-Zaidi

Analysis

US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM

Week in Review

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 26, 2024.

Interview

Iraq's Sudani: US troop withdrawal does not mean end of security relationship

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu, regional leaders hedge on possible Trump win in November

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti