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June 10, 2026

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A long convoys of Iraqi diesel-laden tanker trucks line up along the highway Tartus-Baniyas highway as they wait to unload their cargo at the Baniyas port refinery on the Mediterranean Sea, on April 15, 2026.

Syria says Iraqi oil shipments surge as Damascus courts foreign energy investment

Speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Washington on Tuesday, Syrian Petroleum Company CEO Yousef Qiblawy said Iraq's overland oil exports through Syria have expanded rapidly in recent months.

An old locomotive sits outside the Hejaz rail station in old Damascus on February 23, 2010. The Hejaz railway ran from Damascucs to Medina in Saudi Arabia and was part of the Ottoman railway network. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Saudi Arabia, Turkey advance plans to revive historic Hejaz Railway

Turkish and Saudi officials signed agreements as part of a Turkish push to revive the Hejaz Railway linking Turkey to the Gulf through Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

Iran suspended flights across all airports after Israeli strikes hit the country.

Latest News

Explainer

How Iran war created unexpected economic beneficiaries

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Egypt rejects Syrian ambassador as ties strain under Sharaa

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) chats with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as they arrive for a family photo after a working session of the European Council and regional partners as part of an informal meeting in Nicosia on April 24, 2026.

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

Members of the Lebanese army security inspect the explosion site east of Baalbeck city in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, December 17, 2013. An explosives-laden car blew up on Tuesday in a remote region of the Bekaa Valley controlled by Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement, killing the driver and wounding at least two people who were pursuing the vehicle, security sources said. REUTERS/Ahmad Shalha (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16LYD

Terrorism continues to shake Lebanon’s security

The Salafist jihadist current has been on the rise in Lebanon as a result of the Syrian conflict.

A Kurdish female fighter from Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) checks her weapon near Ras al-Ain, in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militant group said on Monday,

Syrian Kurds jockey for seat at Geneva talks

As long as the Assad regime and the opposition fail to come to an agreement, Syria’s Kurds will continue to consolidate their gains.

Faithful Christians pray at the monument of our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa village, north of Beirut, August 18, 2012, marking the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting Lebanon from September 14 to 16. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR36YAB

Fate of Maaloula nuns hangs over gathering of region's Christians

A conference in Harissa, north of Beirut, will discuss the dangers faced by the region’s Christians, especially as a result of the Syrian war.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (C) visits Syrian refugees at the Quru Gusik refugee camp in Arbil, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, August 19, 2013. An estimated 29,000 Syrian refugees have entered northern Iraq since Thursday in one of the largest crossings in Syria's two-year-old conflict and the influx is continuing, the United Nations said on Monday. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX12R1S

Syrian Kurds welcome agreement on Geneva II

An agreement between the Kurdistan Workers Party and Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani is an attempt to form a unified front heading into Geneva II.

Residents look for survivors at a damaged site after what activists said was an air strike from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Takeek Al-Bab area of Aleppo, December 15, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX16JRO

Rise of Islamic Front a disaster for Syria

The ascendance of the Islamic Front threatens a political transition in Syria; Lebanon paralyzed by Syria conflict; Farea al-Muslimi named FP Leading Global Thinker.

Free Syrian Army fighters walk with their weapons in the Umayyad mosque of Old Aleppo, December 15, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION) - RTX16JWX

US, Turkey to rethink Syria policies

For starters, the United States and Turkey need to change their approaches to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

A woman stands beside the coffin of a Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) soldier who died fighting the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra in Qamishli November 14, 2013. Picture taken November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Massoud Mohammed (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15H58

Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq seeks to prevent the spillover of the war inside its borders.

Hezbollah contemplates next move

Israel’s president extends a hand to Iran, putting the ball in Hezbollah and Tehran's court.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian Christian Leader Michel Aoun speaks during an interview with Reuters in his house near Beirut. Lebanon's anti-Syrian Christian Leader Michel Aoun speaks during an interview with Reuters in his house near Beirut May 11,2005. Former general Michel Aoun, a leading opponent of Syria influence, said on Wednesday he was willing to join forces with allies of Damascus,including Hizbollah, to contest elections starting this month. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi - RTRAU5B

Michel Aoun: Lebanon 'paralyzed' by Syria war

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Gen. Michel Aoun, leader of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement, blames Saudi Arabia for the deadlock in Lebanese politics.

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wave flags and a picture depicting (L-R) Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Syria's late President Hafez al-Assad, father of current President Bashar al-Assad at a protest against a film made in the U.S. that mocks the Prophet Mohammad, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil September 22, 2012. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR38A9D

Nasrallah, Assad ties stronger than ever

Hassan Nasrallah's defense of Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian conflict sheds light on the nature of his relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Smoke rises into the sky from what activists said was Free Syrian Army fighters destroying a tank that belonged to forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Qaboun area, eastern Ghouta, September 15, 2013. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX13MHE

Suicide bombings on the rise among Shiites

While suicide attacks were once the preserve of Sunni extremist groups, there have been reports of recent attacks in Syria carried out by Shiite militants fighting alongside the Assad regime.

A man holding groceries walks in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, December 3, 2013. The Lebanese government has told the army to take over security in the restive coastal city of Tripoli for six months, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday.Ten people were killed in weekend clashes between Tripoli's Alawite minority, which supports Syria's Alawite President Bashar al-Assad, and majority Sunni Muslims who back his foes. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX162

Lebanon’s Tripoli microcosm for Syria conflict

While Lebanon has struggled to remain neutral and uninvolved in Syria’s conflict, Tripoli has come to mirror the volatile dynamics of its larger neighbor.