Interviews

Exclusive conversations with AL-MONITOR.

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.

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

Masrour Barzani

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

Interview

Syrian rebel commander: 150 US troops at al-Tanf base

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Lt. Col. Muhannad al-Talla, the commander of Maghawir al-Thawra, speaks of the role of the US-led coalition at al-Tanf military base, which is close to the border between Jordan, Syria and Iraq.

Muhannad al-Talla

Muhannad al-Talla

Commander of Maghawir al-Thawra

Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Beirut's suburbs, Lebanon August 3, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTSKVYY

Interview

Hezbollah’s No. 2: US strike on Syria mere ‘muscle flexing'

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah in Lebanon, spoke about the US military strikes on a Syrian air base and Israel and its potential moves in the region among other things.

Naim Qassem

Naim Qassem

Deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah

Interview

PKK leader: International mediation needed on Kurdish issue

In an exclusive interview, Al-Monitor met Cemil Bayik, one of the main leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party, in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains to talk about the current dispute between the Kurds and Turkey and its impact on Iraq.

Cemil Bayik

Cemil Bayik

Founder of the PKK

Former Mosul governor Atheel al-Nujaifi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region October 4, 2016. Picture taken October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily - RTSQTUJ

Interview

Will Mosul witness a political battle post-IS?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former governor of Ninevah province Atheel al-Nujaifi discussed post-Islamic State Ninevah, the motives behind the arrest warrants against him and the need for international assistance in the aftermath of the battle of Mosul.

Atheel al-Nujaifi

Former governor of Iraq's Ninevah province

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