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

People inspect the site where a US drone strike killed Maher al-Agal, an Islamic State leader, near the village of Khaltan, near Jindayris, northern Syria, July 12, 2022.

US airstrikes target bunkers used by Iran-linked militias in Syria

US President Joe Biden authorized the strikes in a bid to deter harassment of US troops in Iraq and Syria.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Gazans call for probe into Islamic Jihad missiles that killed civilians

Many Gazans are asking where the Islamic Jihad movement's responsibility lies for the recent fighting.

A supporter of Iraqi Muslim Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raises his portrait.

Sadrist protesters withdraw from Iraq's Judiciary after condemnation

Sadrist protesters stormed the Judiciary this morning, raising concerns over stability in Iraq.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Bamako, Mali, Aug. 23, 2022, meets with Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.

Iran's FM seeks Africa ties to boost sanctions-hit economy

The Islamic Republic renewed the official line that it won't keep its battered economy waiting on the fate of the nuclear deal.

Masoud Barzani

Barzani says former Turkish president wanted federation with Iraq’s Kurds

In his memoir, Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani shares that Turkey's former President Turgut Ozal had once floated the idea of "annexing" Iraqi Kurdistan.

Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images

More silos collapse at Port of Beirut as air quality concerns mount

Other parts of the grain silos have collapsed this summer as the 2020 port explosion continues to plague Lebanon.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of the Knesset for the Joint List and leader of the Balad party, speaks during a press conference to announce the launch of the party's election campaign, Nazareth, Israel, Feb. 20, 2021.

Arab Israeli coalition could split again as election approaches

Estimating that the Arab Joint List no longer represents their ideas and interests, leaders of the Balad factions are considering to run independently on Nov. 1.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, Jerusalem, Aug. 22 2022.

Israel resigned to new Iran nuclear deal over its objections

Israel appears to have resigned itself to the defeat of its prolonged campaign against an agreement.

A plane of the Israeli airline Arkia.

PA deters Palestinians from using Israel's Ramon Airport

The Palestinian Minister of Transport and Communications confirmed the imposition of measures and penalties against travelers through Israel's Ramon Airport.

A picture taken on October 20, 2017, shows Islamic State group writing on a wall.

Islamic State threatens Kurdish workers in northeast Syria

The Islamic State is threatening to kill employees in the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor if they continue to report to their jobs.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi attended a summit today in Egypt’s New Alamein city.

Iraq's prime minister attends Arab summit in Egypt’s New Alamein

Leaders of Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain met today in Egypt's New Alamein city to discuss regional security and cooperation.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey hopes to extend mediation role in Ukraine war after grain deal success

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said the agreement to ship Ukrainian foodstuffs could be a stepping stone toward peace.