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

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Politics & Security

US President Donald Trump (C) attends a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) multilateral meeting alongside alongside (L/R) Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, 2026.

Trump tells Middle East leaders US-Iran talks have ‘momentum’

Trump hosted top officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council states, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq on the sidelines of UN General Assembly.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian disembarks from his plane

Analysis

As Trump confirms US-Iran meeting, can Pezeshkian find at UN path to a deal?

In New York, Pezeshkian will be seeking leverage, not reconciliation, as Iran scrambles to balance military defiance, economic crises and tentative mediation against the costs of prolonging the conflict.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Cypriot Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas, Egyptian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ashraf Salem Zaher, and Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias meet in Cairo, Sept. 22, 2026.

Egypt hosts Greece, Cyprus defense ministers: What to know

Egypt is looking to increase security and energy cooperation with both countries as part of a focus on the eastern Mediterranean.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Turkey’s $18B Ponzi-like scandal likened to Madoff as arrests mount

Turkey detained 14 more people Tuesday as authorities widened a probe into one of the country's largest investment-fund scandals.

Latest News

Turkey, US sign $2M grant deal for small nuclear reactors: What to know

construction of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant

Iran seizes assets of 394 people accused of spying for 'hostile enemy'

Iranians walk past a wall decorated with the image of assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the national flag, in central of Tehran on Sept. 14, 2026.

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

A member of the Republican March Band poses for a photo at the ceremony for the inaugural production of energy at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

With world attention on Ukraine, Nile dam conflict escalates

Egypt and Sudan have condemned Ethiopia's decision to partially start electricity production via the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Syrian national army

Family ties fuel Islamic State to rebel pipeline in northern Syria

The stories of fighters who turned from the Islamic State to Syria's rebel opposition forces show the how kinship ties, regionalism, and material concerns often trump ideology in the Syrian war.

Khamenei

Iran's supreme leader blames US for Russia war on Ukraine

Iran's supreme leader said the United States was the "root cause" of the Ukraine war as he refrained from condemning Russia for the invasion.

Presentation of "Strengthened Parliamentary System" signing ceremony in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2022.

Turkey's opposition unites in advance of 2023 elections

The jury’s out on whether a pledge by Turkey’s six opposition parties to bring back the parliamentary system is an agreement on the lowest common denominator or a historical pact that would unseat Erdogan.

A man rides a motorcycle past cement blocks bearing flags of Ukraine (C L) and the Syrian opposition with inscriptions, one in Cyrillic (L) which reads "Slava Ukraini" ("glory to Ukraine"), a Ukrainian national salute, and another in Arabic which reads "glory to free Syria", near the Syrian rebel-held city of al-Bab in the northern Aleppo governorate, on Feb. 28, 2022.

White Helmets chief reflects on Syria’s lessons for Ukraine

Raed al-Saleh, who leads the volunteer rescue group in Syria, offered advice to Ukrainians seeking to document Russia's potential war crimes in real time.

Russian navy's submarine Rostov-on-Don sails with a naval ensign of the Russian Federation through the Bosporus on the way to the Black Sea past the city of Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 13, 2022.

Turkey's Black Sea warning may impact Syria more than Ukraine

Chelsea owner Russian-born Jewish oligarch Roman Abramovich looks on from the stands during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, London, England, April 16, 2016.

Analysis

Israel torn over ties with Russian oligarchs

Formulating its policy on the Ukraine crisis, Israel must take into account its coordination with Russia in Syria, its special relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, its super important alliance with the United States and its large Russian-Ukraine-born population.

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

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (L) gives a statement while accompanied by Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League state, Kuwait City, Kuwait, Jan. 30, 2022.

Egypt-Kuwait talks address bilateral ties, Arab summit, challenges

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently visited Kuwait where he met with the emir and crown prince to discuss the upcoming Arab League summit in Algeria, as Egypt regains its pivotal regional role.

Bedouins

Bedouins skirt Israeli law against polygamy

Arab residents of the Negev in southern Israel are bypassing the Israeli law that prohibits polygamy through a practice known as a “cohabitation marriage” that is registered outside the Sharia courts.

Nasiriyah protest

Iraqi officer arrested for 2019 killing of protesters

An interior ministry officer accused of serious human rights abuses during the war against the Islamic State has been arrested after documents emerged allegedly showing his direct involvement in the 2019 killing of protesters.

Turkish-backed policemen man a checkpoint in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin on March 31, 2018.

Infighting between Islamist, Turkish-backed armed groups continues in north Syria

Infighting between Turkish-backed factions in north Syria continues despite pleas by civilians, with most recently dozens of members of the civilian police resigning in response to a shootout with the military police that left two of its members wounded.

A Palestinian laborer stacks tomato crates at a farm in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, March 12, 2015.

Israeli agricultural Sabbath offers Gazan farmers hope

Although Israel imposed economic restrictions on agricultural exports from the Gaza Strip in 2007, Shmita offers Gazan farmers an opportunity to export vegetables to Israel, as the Israeli land is left to rest.