Politics & Security - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

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.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during press conference in Tehran on Nov. 30, 2025.

Analysis

Why Iran regime’s potential collapse spells more risk than benefit for Turkey

Iran’s leadership faces its most serious unrest in years, and rising Kurdish mobilization makes the prospect of regime collapse particularly risky for Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

An Iranian rides his motorcycle near Azadi Square in Tehran, on June 14, 2025.

As Trump eyes possible Iran exit strategy, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey push for restraint

Iran’s airspace has reopened after a brief closure as Trump softens rhetoric on military action, while authorities report a slowdown in anti-regime protests amid a nationwide internet blackout and a harsh crackdown.

Latest News

France to host Lebanon army conference as Hezbollah pushes back on disarmament

Lebanese army troops deploy in the southern Lebanese border town of Aitaroun, following the pullout of Israeli forces, on Feb. 2, 2025.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel’s regime-change goal in Iran remote without US 'boots on the ground'

Retired Israeli General and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Amos Yadlin

Amos Yadlin

Former head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate

US to launch Gaza governance plan amid Hamas disarmament doubts

Men pass by the destroyed Haifa Bakery in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 6, 2025.

In call with Araghchi, Turkey's Fidan urges Iran to negotiate with US

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi holds a joint press conference in Tehran, on Nov. 30, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images

French-made military technology used in Sudan war, Amnesty reports

The report is the latest sign of growing foreign interference in Sudan, where the brutal civil war has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP via Getty Images

BRICS offers Turkey 'partner country' status, Turkish trade minister says

The Turkish trade minister stopped short of clarifying whether Ankara accepted the offer or not.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrives for a meeting of the board of governors at IAEA headquarters on Sept. 11, 2023, in Vienna, Austria.

In first since Trump win, nuclear watchdog chief Grossi arrives in Iran for talks

As Iran braces for another Trump presidency, which last time saw the dissolution of the Iran nuclear deal, the director of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency holds talks in Tehran regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

A man walks in a street covered in mud in a flooded area in Picanya, near Valencia, eastern Spain, on Oct. 30, 2024.

As floods ravage Spain, Morocco utilizes disaster diplomacy, offers help

Relations between Morocco and Spain are warming after years of tensions, and a railway linkage project is gaining momentum.

Turkish Jandarma soldiers guard the entrance to the Silivri Courthouse while awaiting the court's decision during the ongoing trial of journalists from the Cumhuriyet newspaper.

Turkey postpones debate on controversial ‘foreign agent’ law amid public outcry

The move follows criticism from the opposition and civil society over potential threats to free speech and media independence.

Zebulon Simantov reads his old, tattered Hebrew prayer book as he celebrates the Jewish New Year feast of Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 18, 2009, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Three years after fleeing, Afghanistan's last Jew arrives in Israel

Having fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, heading to Istanbul via Pakistan, Afghanistan's last Jew has now arrived in Israel.

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 21: Singer Kelly Rowland (R) is interviewed by co-host Pete Hegseth during "Fox And Friends" at FOX Studios on March 21, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images)

Trump stuns Pentagon by naming Fox News host Pete Hegseth defense chief

The president-elect’s made-for-TV decision to name Fox News host Pete Hegseth is reinforcing broad doubts about the seriousness of Trump's foreign policy.

US investor Steve Witkoff attends the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024.

From golf to the Gulf: Who is Trump’s new Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff?

Trump's long-time friend will face a tough job in trying to quell a regional war that has been raging since Oct. 7, 2023, between Israel, Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. The two leaders had a meeting in the Oval Office before speaking to the media at the news conference. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After Trump win, Turkey hopeful on Syria reconciliation, US withdrawal

Ankara expresses hope for mending ties with Damascus as well as a potential US military exit from northern Syria following Trump’s victory.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-sentences-4-people-to-death-on-charges-of-spying-for-israel/

Iran arrests 7, kills 4 over alleged Israel links in southeast

According to a spokesperson, an elite military unit killed four “terrorists affiliated with the Zionist regime” and arrested seven others in the province that is home to a separatist group.

Secretary-General of Fatah’s Central Committee Jibril Rajoub looks on during an interview in Paris on July 27, 2024.

Interview

Senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub calls for 'Marshall-like plan' to rebuild Gaza

Potential unity with Hamas represents a key dilemma for the Ramallah-based government, which would lose legitimacy with the Western world but gain legitimacy with the Palestinian people.

Jibril Rajoub

Jibril Rajoub

Fatah Central Committee Secretary-General

Olivier Doulier/Getty Images

CIA official arrested for top-secret leak on Israel plans to attack Iran: What we know

Asif W. Rahman was charged in a federal court in Virginia last week with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.