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September 28, 2026

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Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Securing western Anbar is emerging as a key test of Iraq’s ability to curb armed factions, attract foreign investment and unlock the province’s vast energy potential.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Syria Air

Exclusive

How Syrian Air is braving regional turbulence to rise from the ashes

In an interview with Al-Monitor, CEO Anwar Akkad lays out his ambitious plans to expand the carrier’s fleet, destinations and role in reconnecting Syria to the world.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

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

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Syria’s Shibani visits Latakia airport to review Russia deal progress: What to know

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani visits Latakia airport on Sept. 18, 2026.

Lebanon charges 5 in alleged Hezbollah operation to train Assad loyalists

Hibatullah Barakat / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Culture

Syrian singer Assala returns to Damascus stage after 15-year exile

Assala Nasri (C) attends the 2025 Joy Awards at The Venue, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 18, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Congress questions Biden's decision to bomb Syria

Some Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are questioning the justification for the US airstrike against Iran-affiliated targets in eastern Syria.

Renu, eldest sister of Shamima Begum holds her sister's photo whilst being interviewed by the media at New Scotland Yard, Central London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday February 22, 2015. See PA story . Photo credit should read: Laura Lean/PA Wire

Islamic State recruit Shamima Begum can’t return to UK, court rules

Begum, whose British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds in 2019, is challenging the revocation from a displacement camp in Syria.

Is Russia extorting SDF in northeast Syria?

Russia is trying to extort the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria by threatening to retreat from its locations and leave the SDF at the mercy of the threats of the Turkish army and its allies, if the SDF does not respond to Russia’s demands and interests.

Syrian fighters attend a mock battle in anticipation of an attack by the regime on Idlib province and the surrounding countryside, during a graduation of new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) members at a camp in the countryside of the northern Idlib province on August 14, 2018. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo credit should read OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army talks security with HTS in Idlib

Sources in the Syrian opposition have revealed contacts between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and some of the Turkish-allied Free Syrian Army factions on security of the areas under the control of the FSA.

US President Joe Biden signs an executive order on securing critical supply chains, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, February 24, 2021. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden approves airstrike on Iran-backed militias in Syria following Iraq attacks

Officials suggested the late-night precision bombing was designed to minimize casualties while avoiding backlash from the Iraqi government.

This picture taken from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on February 4, 2021, shows the border fence with the Syrian governorate of Quneitra. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

The Israel-Russia-Syria deal: Cost, beneficiaries and future deals

As Israel and Syria conclude a deal on the return of an Israeli woman from Syria, questions arise regarding the cost and what the future of such transactions with Russian mediation should be.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham intensifies campaign against al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham presses on with its campaign to weaken Hurras al-Din.

This picture taken on November 26, 2020 shows Syrian students from the "Aleppo University in Liberated Areas", controlled by the pro-Turkey opposition, attending a tutorial at a laboratory facility in Marea in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, while mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - The university had its first batch of 32 doctors to ever graduate after its founding in 2014, headquartered in Azaz for the past three years. Humanitarian workers fear any

Syrian opposition gears up for coronavirus vaccine drive

The Syrian opposition's self-styled interim government is seeking to bring the coronavirus vaccine to a specific category of the population of northwestern Syria.

Sedra Alshehabi stands with a placard with the picture of her father Ali and a text reading 'First step but my father and 130000 are still in jail' after the verdict in the trail of Syrian defendant Eyad al-Gharib, accused of crimes against humanity in the first trial of its kind to emerge from the Syrian conflict on February 24, 2021 in Koblenz, western Germany. - Eyad al-Gharib, 44, former Syrian intelligence service agent was sentenced to four and a half years in jail for complicity in crimes against hum

German court convicts ex-Syrian regime officer in historic case

Eyad al-Gharib, a former low-ranking officer in Syria's intelligence services, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

A Kurdish girl reads a book at a library in Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeast Syria on January 11, 2017.
For years, Syria's Kurds were banned from using their language in official settings and prevented from learning it in schools or publishing magazines or books in the tongue.
/ AFP / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities in northeast Syria struggle to impose Kurdish curriculum

The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has been sanctioning private schools and institutes in its areas of control in northeast Syria and arresting teachers for not following the Kurdish curriculum in their educational systems.

Rise of Turkish lira is not felt by citizens in Syria’s Idlib

Civilians in the areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in northwest Syria are reeling under exorbitant prices of goods and the lack of a strict supply control, while the Turkish lira, which is in circulation in those areas, rises against the US dollar.

Syrian opposition preparing for possible regime expansion on al-Bab fronts

There are fears of a new military operation near al-Bab in Aleppo countryside, after the Syrian regime forces and their allied militias positioned there received fresh military reinforcements.