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

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Politics & Security

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Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Samir Ousman Alsheikh was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud.

Yemenis gather during a rally to show their support for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the coastal port city of Aden, on December 14, 2025. (Saleh Al-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Yemen separatists urge US not to let Saudi Arabia ‘call the shots’

As Houthi fighters steamroll Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the country's southern separatists say an independent South Yemen is the best check on the group’s expansion.

A US Air Force F-35 fifth-generation jet fighter takes off during the NATO's Ramsteign Flag 2025 exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base on April 8, 2025.

Trump administration approves $24B sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

Trump first announced the planned sale in November 2025, ahead of hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House.

A pedestrian passes by the Treasury Building in Washington, DC on Jan. 18, 2023.

US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over Hormuz payments

The US government says the exchange was used to channel payments from an Iranian maritime-insurance scheme to the regime.

Latest News

Turkey's Erdogan to run for 'final' third term in 2028, adviser says

Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

China presses Iran, US to reopen Hormuz as disruptions threaten oil supply

AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

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

GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images

Iran condemns Albania for severing relations

Albania accused Iran of conducting a cyberattack against its government. The eastern European country hosts an Iranian dissident group, which has harmed bilateral relations.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian authorities seize Captagon disguised as pottery

The Syrian government has also been accused of facilitating the Captagon trade.

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army official website on September 11, 2020, shows an Iranian navy warship during the second day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

Cameras missing from US Navy drones briefly seized by Iran, Pentagon says

It remains unclear whether Iran's navy took the cameras or whether they became dislodged when hauled onto the deck of the frigate IRIN Jamaran in the Red Sea last week.

A picture shows traffic back to normal outside the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad.

Iraq reels in wake of political violence

Tension remains high in Iraq as leaders try to reassure the international community after dozens were killed.

People wave Turkish flags in an immigrant-heavy district.

Public outcry as EU increasingly rejects Turkish visas

The Turkish public’s outcry over the growing number of EU visa rejections has prompted the Turkish government to threaten the EU with countermeasures, but the matter will unlikely be resolved until underlying structural problems are addressed.

Hadar Muchtar.

TikTok celebrity Hadar Muchtar shakes up Israeli election campaign

Unknown to most Israeli voters until just a few weeks ago, social media star Hadar Muchtar becomes a political figure to reckon with.

An exhibition calling for an end to executions in Iran on Trafalgar Square on October 10, 2020, in London, England.

Iran revokes death penalties handed to three protesters

The executions were reduced to jail terms in a controversial case that had drawn a furious public backlash.

Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi with UN Envoy Gilad Erdan at a briefing in the north of Israel, Nov. 16, 2021.

Gantz appoints new IDF chief

New IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi is not a man hiding his opinions, even when the political echelon expects other positions to be voiced.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Far-right Turkish leader likens Syrian refugees to garbage, vows expulsion

Ultranationalist Meral Aksener's plans include “isolating” migrants in “concentration camps” and forcing them to return to their countries of origin against their will under a formal policy of refoulement.

(From L-R) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (3rd-L) and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) attend a meeting with members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency Sefik Dzaferovic (3rd-R), Milorad Dodik (2nd-L) and Zeljko Komsic (2nd R) and Bosnian Security Minister Selmo Cikotic (R) in Sarajevo on Sept. 6, 2022.

Erdogan travels to Balkans as tensions rise between former Yugoslav states

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s trip to Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia comes as ethnic rivalries bristle 30 years after the war.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Israel ramps up security talks with US to stave off Iran deal

After visits by both Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and national security adviser Eyal Hulata, Mossad Chief David Barnea is now in Washington to discuss the Iranian file.

Baquer Namazi

Baquer Namazi, American held by Iran, requires life-saving surgery

The Namazi family urged Iran to grant furlough to Siamak Namazi so that he can be by his ailing father’s side as he undergoes emergency surgery.