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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Mourners wave Hezbollah flags during the funeral ceremony of top Hezbollah chief Haytham Ali Tabatabai and other members killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 24, 2025.

Kuwait arrests 6 over alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate leaders

Kuwait said the individuals were plotting to carry out assassinations against officials, while Qatar and the UAE have also announced the dismantling of networks allegedly tied to Hezbollah and Iran’s IRGC.

A picture taken on Nov. 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Russia evacuates 160 staff from Iran's Bushehr plant: What to know

The Kremlin says it is committed to maintaining energy cooperation with Iran amid strikes near the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Two Typhoon Eurofighter jets of the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) of the German air force (Luftwaffe) take off for training during a media day at the military Laage Air Base, northeastern Germany, on March 11, 2026.

Turkey, UK advance $11B Eurofighter jet deal with training agreement

Britain and Turkey signed a training and support agreement marking “the next phase” of Ankara’s entry into the Eurofighter program, building on a £8 billion jet deal signed last year.

Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

Australia clamps down on Iranian visa holders as war fears rise: What to know

The move could affect over 7,000 Iranians who currently hold visitors visas but who have not yet arrived in Australia.

Latest News

Iran rejects Trump's proposal for ceasefire as US dispatches forces

An Iraqi police officer stands guard as a man walks beneath a billboard bearing a portrait of Iran's slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Baghdad on March 25, 2026. Iraq will submit a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council over strikes in its territory, the office of the prime minister said on March 25, following an attack in the country's west that killed seven security personnel. Iraq has been drawn into the Middle East war triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbour Iran

Analysis

Meet Bagher Zolghadr, a hard-line IRGC veteran now Iran's security chief

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the new secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is pictured in this undated photo.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Iran's first strike on Iraqi Kurdish forces since war began a warning to US allies

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran inspects the damage sustained at the Azadi Camp following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye, east of Erbil district, on March 3, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Pakistan emerges as mediator but faces limitations in Iran-Trump standoff

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (C) speaks as US President Donald Trump (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) watch during the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit on Oct. 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

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

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels on April 12, 2024.

Turkey: Support for EU on rise as trust of US, China, Russia remains low

A recent survey reveals an increase in favorability for the EU and NATO in Turkey, while perceptions of the United States, China and Russia continue to falter.

A displaced Bangladeshi woman and her child sit inside their makeshift shelter on the seaside promenade in the Biel area of Beirut, Oct. 17, 2024.

Feature

Migrant domestic workers abandoned in Lebanon as Israel's war expands

Tens of thousands of workers are thought to be surviving in makeshift shelters and on the streets, deserted by their employers during the Israeli escalation.

Nicole Di Ilio

By Nicole Di Ilio

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stands in front of a Eurofighter Tycoon combat aircraft as he speaks during a visit to the Bavarian plant of European aircraft maker Airbus in Manching, southern Germany, January 19, 2024.

Analysis

Can Turkey-Germany summit produce breakthrough on Eurofighter sale?

Eurofighters for Turkey are expected to top Olaf Scholz's meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. A senior Turkish defense industry official told Al-Monitor that local production of some of the parts might be an option.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Relief and loss: Palestinians in Gaza split over killing of Yahya Sinwar

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has provoked conflicting reactions among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (center right) met with Hamas political leaders, including Shura Council head Mohammad Darwish (center left), in Istanbul on Oct. 18, 2024.

Turkey’s Fidan meets Hamas political leaders in Istanbul after Sinwar's killing

The meeting came a day after the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the militant group's leader, was confirmed and coincided with the top Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Turkey.

NIR ELIAS/AFP via Getty Images

With Sinwar dead, US pushes Israel’s Netanyahu to take off-ramp

Israel’s killing of Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, has renewed hope for a cease-fire deal that would free the remaining hostages.

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee Autumn Dinner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 15, 2024.

‘Too little, too late’: Biden’s latest threat to Israel faces skepticism

The Biden administration has set a monthlong deadline for Israel to either increase aid to the Gaza Strip or face a possible weapons cutoff. Those on the ground say there is no time to waste.

Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement speaks during a gathering in Gaza City, April 30, 2022.

Who was Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' elusive leader killed by Israel in Gaza?

Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza and head of the group's political bureau, is one of several high-ranking Hamas officials to be killed by Israel in the ongoing war.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with his Egyptian counterpart (not pictured) in Cairo, on Oct. 17, 2024.

Iran FM Araghchi meets Egypt’s Sisi amid diplomatic push: What we know

The Iranian foreign minister held talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during which both agreed on the need to promote relations between the two countries.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Israel confirms killing Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza operation

Sinwar, 61, was killed Wednesday in fighting with Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza. After the killing of Ismail Haniyeh this past July in Iran, Sinwar assumed the leadership of both the political and military wings of Hamas.

Afghan refugees walk with their belongings after deporting back from Iran at the Islam Qala border between Afghanistan and Iran, in the western Herat province on May 30, 2024.

Taliban minister endorses return of Afghan migrants from Iran

Afghan migrants in Iran have faced violence and hostility recently, according to reports, and the Islamic Republic has vowed to deport them by the end of the year.