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September 27, 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

Demonstrators raise Syrian opposition flags and placards as they rally against a potential rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian regime, al-Bab, on the border with Turkey, in Syria's northern Aleppo province, Dec. 30, 2022.

Syrian opposition-controlled areas protest Ankara-Damascus rapprochement

Syrians are speaking out against a potential Turkish-Syrian rapprochement, with opposition-held areas holding vigils and protests across Aleppo and Idlib governorates.

Protesters raise yellow flags showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) -- currently prison in Turkey, and the red-star flag of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK - Eniya Rizgariya Netewa Kurdistan), during a demonstration calling for his release and condemning recent Turkish strikes on Kurdish areas, in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 6, 2022.

Turkey’s overtures to Assad all about crushing Syrian Kurds’ autonomy

Turkey’s security establishment remains immutably opposed to the consolidation of any form of Kurdish autonomy in Syria that would mirror Kurdish gains in neighboring Iraq.

Travelers head to an entrance of Damascus International Airport, Damascus, Syria, Feb. 19, 2020.

Israeli strikes on Syria put Damascus airport briefly out of service, kill two

The Syrian government said on Monday that a string of Israeli strikes hit Damascus International Airport putting its service to a halt for nearly seven hours.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart in Ankara on Dec. 22, 2022.

Turkish, Syrian FMs could meet soon as diplomatic thaw gains steam

The top Turkish diplomat said Saturday that he could meet with his Syrian counterpart in mid-January.

Syria Idlib

Turkey, Syrian government may cooperate on the ground

Turkey is considering cooperating with the Syrian government in rebel-held Syrian territories after the first high-level talks between Turkey and the Syrian government in Moscow this week.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

2022 in review: Turkey wraps up year of regional resets but more whiplash ahead

As 2022 forced the Turkish government to reverse course with regional powers, this election year is expected to usher in even more change in Turkey’s foreign policy.

Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar holds a joint press conference with the UN Secretary-General at the Joint Coordination Center established in Istanbul for the safe shipment of grain products from the Black Sea region in Istanbul on Aug. 20, 2022.

Turkish, Syrian defense chiefs hold landmark meeting in Russia

The defense ministers' meeting in Moscow was the first official engagement between Damascus and Ankara in more than a decade.

A displaced Syrian child carries a jug of water.

Water crisis worsens in Syria's Idlib as support dries up

The "Goal" organization, which has been active in Syria since 2012, has stopped pumping water in villages and towns as support for it ends

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022. (Photo by ALEXANDR DEMYANCHUK/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's Erdogan seeking a meeting with Assad and Putin

In a reversal, Erdogan wants Russia to set-up a three-way meeting with Bashar Al-Assad, ten years after Ankara calling for his removal from power

A Turkey-backed Syrian fighter sits at a position on the outskirts of the town of Marea.

US, Russia stall Turkey's ground operation, but Kurdish gains under threat

The Russian and US policies of appeasing Turkey have averted a new Turkish ground operation in Syria for now, but they both lay the ground for a gradual undoing of Kurdish gains in the north.

A man walks past the World Bank building in Washington on April 21, 2022.

World Bank says debt increasing in Middle East countries

Egypt, Iran and Turkey’s debt rose significantly last year.

A man walks past a French-language daily newspaper stand displaying the final issue of Algerian French-language daily newspaper "Liberté" in Algeria's capital Algiers on April 14, 2022. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)

In press freedom index, Middle Eastern countries go from bad to worse

Press freedom and journalist safety remain “very bad” in the majority of the Middle East and North Africa nations, Reporters Without Borders' 2022 index shows.