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Syria

October 14, 2026

Damascus 12:24 am

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Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

A view of the Great Umayyad Mosque during the reopening ceremony, Oct. 8, 2026.

Culture

Syria reopens Aleppo's 1,300-year-old Great Umayyad Mosque after 13 years

Syrian authorities are working to restore cultural landmarks and ancient sites that had been damaged or destroyed during the civil war.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Analysis

Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa

Syria insists it will not send troops to fight the Houthis alongside Saudi Arabia, but its economic dependence on Riyadh could complicate Damascus’ resistance to the idea.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria’s Sharaa in Riyadh as Saudi airports come under Houthi attacks: What to know

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

A view of a traffic roundabout in central Latakia, Syria on June 12, 2025. The city's road network converges near the coast, forming one of the busiest urban intersections in the province. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria denies meeting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Turkey: What to know

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

Syrian mothers in refugee camp brace for winter

More than 200 Syrian babies are born in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan every month, and with winter on its way and a shortage of baby food, families are worried.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (obscured) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (4th R) arrive at a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. Zarif and Ashton said on Sunday they hoped Iran and six world powers would reach an agreement when they gather again in 10 days, adding that the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme was something all delegations can build on. REUTERS/Jason Reed (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS)

Iran and the two Genevas

There is widespread understanding that a nuclear deal on Iran will facilitate progress on Syria.

A boy gestures at the camera with blood on his fingers after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Myassar neighbourhood of Aleppo September 19, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX13R1I

Syrian civil society pushes for role at Geneva II

Any peace process on Syria should not remain the exclusive domain of armed belligerents responsible for destroying the country, argue Syrian civil society activists.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, September 13, 2013. Rouhani said on Friday that he wanted a swift resolution to a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Western states fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (KYRGYZSTAN - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, E

Russia's Iran policy in transition

Russia is likely to benefit from an agreement between the P5+1 and Iran.

EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY CONTENT THE VIDEO FROM WHICH THIS STILL IMAGE WAS TAKEN.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks from an unknown location, in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media website June 8, 2011. Osama bin Laden's longtime lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, said the United States faces rebellion throughout the Muslim world after killing the al Qaeda leader, according to a 28-minute YouTube recording posted on Wednesday. In what a

Internal disagreements could lead to al-Qaeda split

Recent disagreements between al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi could lead to major splits within the organization.

A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and a Syrian flag are seen from a hole in Aleppo's Salaheddine neighbourhood November 7, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15431

Islamic militia expels criminal gangs from Aleppo

The al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams has won the praise of Aleppans after expelling criminal gangs that have looted and ravaged the city.

Jordanian hospitals manage care for wounded Syrians

Almost every hospital in Jordan has a ward where Syrians can receive free health care after being severely wounded in Syria.

President of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Al-Jarba (L), looks on during a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi (not pictured) in Cairo, November 2, 2013. Arab League Foreign Ministers will meet in Cairo in an emergency session to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria on Sunday. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14XDS

Syrian opposition split over peace conference

The National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces is meeting in Istanbul to consider participating in the Geneva II peace conference.

Syrians refugees try to enter a truck which will transport them back to their homeland at the Al-Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX1258L

US official on Syria: 'half the population is suffering'

US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne Richard discusses the Syrian humanitarian crisis with Al-Monitor.

Orthodox Christian worshippers gather before the start of a procession outside Jerusalem's Old City September 5, 2013. About two hundred Orthodox Christians took part in an annual procession in which an icon of the Virgin Mary is carried from a church at the foot of the Mount of Olives believed by Christians to mark the tomb of the Virgin Mary back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX137SV

'Culture of fear' for region's minorities

Conferences recently dedicated to the plight of Middle East Christians need to be understood in broader context.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13Y4X

Obama goes big in the Middle East

The US-Russia agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons, a possible nuclear deal with Iran, and Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are all signs that the Obama administration may be charting a new course in the region.

A member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapon as he sits at a checkpoint near the city of Ras al-Ain November 5, 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, tightening their grip on an area where the

Syrian Kurdish leader: Turkey may end proxy war

In an interview, Saleh Muslim, co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), says that Turkey is ceasing its proxy war against the PYD by ending its support for jihadist groups in Syria.