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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Mario Tama/Getty Images

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

This photo shows election campaign posters of (L to R) Israel's Yisrael Beitenu party bearing a portrait of its leader Avigdor Liberman and the Likud party showing its leader and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bnei Brak, Israel, March 14, 2021.

Netanyahu, Liberman locked in conspiracy battle

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, the longstanding nemesis of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, has been accused on social media of a conspiracy to kill a police officer.

Tourists ride camels on the shores of the town of Dahab, southern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, May 12, 2017.

Oil spill darkens Egyptian tourist town

Ahead of the Cop27, an oil spill in Egypt highlights the country’s inability to deal with environmental disasters.

Congress Iran nuclear

Bipartisan lawmakers pressure Biden over Iran nuclear deal

House members opposed to the emerging nuclear deal with Iran are requesting the administration provide them with the full text of any proposed agreement.

Iraqi mourners attend the funeral of two Saraya al-Salam fighters.

Amid increasing tensions between militias, Muqtada al-Sadr calls for reforming the PMU

Rival Shiite armed factions took their fight to Iraq’s key port city as leaders officially called for calm and closed offices.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Erdogan calls Turkey’s teachers 'looters' amid protests, calls for exam boycott

Turkey's president has called protesting teachers "looters," a derogative reminiscent of the 2013 Gezi protests.

MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP via Getty Images

Tehran FM demands 'more robust' US guarantees for nuclear deal

Iranian news outlets are emphasizing the uncertainties facing the nuclear deal as the country's top diplomat said more guarantees were still needed from the United States for the accord's revival.

JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images

Israel holds out little hope of Europe stopping Iran nuclear deal

Israel is worried after French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated today what EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said earlier this week, that a deal with Iran could take place in a matter of days.

Iraq protest

Analysis

The Takeaway: Uneasy calm returns to Iraq but deep divisions remain

Israel’s top figures divided on Iran deal; Turkish pop star arrested; Iranian museum fumigates for bugs; Cairo evicts Nile island residents; and Hamas reacts to Turkish-Israel rapprochement.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Kurdistan oil

US says oil contracts in Iraqi Kurdistan should be ‘respected’

Some companies have pulled out of the autonomous region following pressure from the federal government, which considers the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports unconstitutional.

AFP via Getty Images

Khamenei heaps praise on Iranian administration

After one year in office, Iran’s president has received public support from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni.

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Israel sanctions 20 entities in crackdown on Hamas investment

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued orders sanctioning companies in Sudan, Turkey, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for allegedly helping finance Hamas.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Exiled Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker makes new corruption claims

Presidential advisers are implicated in an alleged bribery ring targeting business figures.