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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

One of the first three US-made F-35 aircraft in Polish Air Force colors taxis along the runway at the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, central Poland, while fire-fighting vehicles perform a water salute on May 22, 2026.

Trump hints at F-35 breakthrough with Turkey ahead of NATO summit

The administration is moving ahead with planned jet engine sales to Ankara ahead of next month’s NATO summit despite congressionally mandated sanctions on Turkey's defense industry.

Responders arrive to a demolished building at San Bernardino after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Israel, Turkey, Iran offer aid as Venezuela’s 2 quakes kill at least 188

Iran, Turkey and Israel were among the first countries to offer assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela despite their varying diplomatic relationships with Caracas.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Explainer

Bombed sites, missing uranium: How Trump’s Iran deal hinges on inspector access

Iran's long record of obstructing the UN's nuclear watchdog raises questions about how much access it would grant in a future deal.

Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (R) arrives at the Burgenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne on June 21, 2026.

Iran rejects Trump's claim frozen funds will buy US soybeans: What to know

Trump said Wednesday that the US would release “some” Iranian frozen funds and would use them to purchase corn, wheat and soybeans from American farmers.

Latest News

Lebanon cancels national high school exams due to war: What to know

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s IRGC warns against using 'highly dangerous' Hormuz route: What to know

Hamed Malekpour / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

CENTCOM commander heads to Israel, Gulf as Lebanon talks stall

Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Navy Adm. Brad Cooper testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2026, in Washington.

Jared Szuba

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

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

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Israel advances in south Lebanon as army withdraws, Quds leader killed

Israel said it killed Reza Khazaei, chief of staff of Hezbollah’s Lebanese Corps within Iran’s elite Quds Force, in a naval strike.

Staff from Qatar Airways help assist people with questions at their empty check-in area at London Heathrow Airport in west London on March 1, 2026, as flights are severely disrupted following the US and Israel's strikes on Iran.

State Department urges Americans in Middle East to leave immediately

The latest travel advisory applies to nearly the entire region and comes as the US Embassy in Jordan evacuated all personnel due to an unspecified threat.

A man rides a motorbike past a billboard of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran on March 2, 2026.

Analysis

As Iran weighs Khamenei’s successor, some question future of role

Iran faces uncertainty as the process of choosing Khamenei’s successor unfolds, with some experts saying that wartime conditions and the lack of a clear heir could prompt debate over whether the supreme leader’s office should continue in its traditional form.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

With Gulf partners under fire from Iran, will Europe step up its defense?

France and the United Kingdom are prepared to help defend Gulf countries against Iranian attacks, but experts say they are unlikely to extend the same support to Israel.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a member of Iran’s interim leadership council.

Meet Alireza Arafi, a Khamenei confidant on Iran’s Leadership Council

Long viewed as a potential successor to Khamenei, he has risen through the ranks largely through appointments by the late leader.

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Exclusive

Israel anticipates anti-regime protests in Iran, unlikely to invade Lebanon

Israeli diplomats and military officials are concerned that the surge in oil prices will prompt the US leader to end operations against Iran before regime change is reached.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

F-15s

Three US F-15s shot down in Kuwait 'friendly fire' incident

All crew members ejected, but a fourth American soldier died from injuries sustained in a separate incident Iranian attack over the weekend, US officials said.

Jared Szuba

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

Lebanon PM

In first, Lebanon government bans Hezbollah’s military activities

Lebanon’s government announced a decision to ban Hezbollah’s military and security activities after the Iranian-backed group launched a series of rockets toward Israel, triggering intense Israeli airstrikes in the country.

In this photo released by the official website of the Supreme Leader's Office on Thursday, June 26, 2025, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appears among his supporters for the first time since the Iran-Israel war, in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, architect of regional expansion, declared dead

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during US and Israeli strikes after serving for 36 years as the Islamic Republic’s second supreme leader.

A plume of smoke rises over Tehran after a reported explosion on February 28, 2026, after Israel said it carried out a "preemptive strike" on Iran as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and phone alerts warned of an "extremely serious" threat. (Photo by Ehsan / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

US officials blame strikes on Iran's 'stall tactics' in nuclear talks

"They were not serious about doing a deal," a senior Trump administration official said.

A smoke plume rises over Abu Dhabi from the site of an Iranian missile strike on February 28, 2026. Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf on February 28, killing at least one, in retaliation for a US and Israeli attack that threatened to spark a wider conflict. One civilian died in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, after being struck by falling debris, according to the ministry of defence. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

Iran pounds Gulf, regional states after US-Israel strikes: What to know

Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as Israel, Jordan and Iraq, have all been targeted by Iranian missiles.

Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

US strikes Iran military targets as Trump calls for overthrow of regime

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said the operation could last several days, depending on Iran's retaliation.