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September 25, 2026

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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

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

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

Syria is seeking to ensure that the August deal to turn Russian facilities in the country into joint training centers is implemented.

Hibatullah Barakat / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon charges 5 in alleged Hezbollah operation to train Assad loyalists

A Lebanese military court has charged the five, including an Assad-era Syrian officer and Hezbollah members, with running a cross-border security network planning attacks in Syria’s coastal region.

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.

Latest News

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.

Syria’s Sharaa talks economic ties with UAE leader: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, Sept. 15, 2026.

Fuel price protests in Syria continue for second day: What to know

Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images

UN watchdog formally ends probe into Assad-era nuclear sites

Two women stand before graffiti on the cemetery wall for victims of the chemical massacre, on Aug. 21, 2025 in Zamalka, Syria.

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

Soldiers walk past a parked car as Syrian government forces make their way to the city of Hasakeh in northeastern Syria on Jan. 20, 2026.

Syria’s Kurds accept sweetened ceasefire deal as US envoy Barrack declares SDF obsolete

The ceasefire follows intense clashes and a rapid Syrian military advance in the Kurdish-held northeast, amid concerns over ISIS prisoners.

US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, Nov. 10, 2025.

Trump demands end to clashes with Kurds in call with Syria's Sharaa

US President Donald Trump called Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and secured a pledge from the leader to not enter al-Hasakeh as Syrian forces clashed with the Kurdish-led SDF.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - JANUARY 18: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa signs a ceasefire agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on January 18, 2026 in Damascus, Syria. According to Syrian state media, the deal includes a handover of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa governates into government control, and the full integration of SDF fighters into state institutions. It follows the government's recent push towards the key city of Raqqa, after SDF fighters withdrew from Aleppo amid deadly clashes over the

Erdogan welcomes Syria-SDF agreement, urges full implementation

Turkey has welcomed the agreement as key to domestic peace efforts with the outlawed Kurdish militants.

Syrian government troops stand guard next to a burning tyre along a street of Tabqa, in Raqa province, on the southwestern banks of the Euphrates on Jan. 18, 2026.

Bowing to US pressure, Syrian military advances, Kurdish-led SDF agrees to Sharaa's terms

Syrian government forces rapidly retook Raqqa and key eastern territories from the US-backed SDF, prompting a ceasefire agreement that effectively restores Damascus’ control over much of Syria’s oil-rich northeast.

LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa declares Kurdish a national language, recognizes Nowruz

Syria's interim president surprised the country's Kurdish citizens with a decree enshrining their culture and language as an "inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity."

US special envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack attends a flag-raising ceremony at the US ambassador's residence in Damascus on May 29, 2025.

Exclusive

US envoy Barrack to meet Kurdish SDF chief Kobane in bid to avoid Syria escalation

The US special envoy to Syria is expected to meet SDF leader Mazlum Kobane in Erbil amid mounting tensions that threaten to unravel a fragile agreement between the Kurdish-led administration and Damascus.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

From Egypt to Lebanon: What’s at stake for regional states on Trump’s visa ban list?

The State Department claimed that citizens from the affected countries are more likely to use social welfare services at a high rate.

Members of the Kurdish forces hold a portrait of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler which reads "Shame on the killers of innocents in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood" during a protest by Syrian Kurds against violence they say was committed by Syrian government forces during recent clashes in Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods, in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Jan. 13, 2026.

Syria declares 'closed military zone' east of Aleppo as Kurds protest

The Syrian government accused the Kurdish-led SDF of mobilizing in the area, reflecting ongoing turmoil following a ceasefire.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. — Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa heads to Davos, ending years of global isolation

The World Economic Forum begins on January 19 and ends on January 23, hosting a cohort of around 400 political leaders.

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

The deal reached in Paris under US mediation reflects a rare step toward managing tensions but stops short of halting Israeli military strikes or producing a broader security pact.

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Bakr ALKASEM / AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Closed-door breakdown in Syria-Kurdish talks foreshadowed Aleppo clashes

The collapse of US-brokered Syria-Kurdish talks preceded the Aleppo violence as Ankara continued to press Damascus on the Syrian Democratic Forces' future.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture