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Politics & Security

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The Quds Force commander's Baghdad visit is occurring as Iran faced difficult choices in Iraq where the government is moving to bring powerful armed groups under state control after the recent war.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan met with Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Libya, in Tripoli on Aug. 11, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Libya as US-backed unification push gathers pace

The Turkish foreign minister will hold talks in both Tripoli and Benghazi as Ankara seeks to preserve its military, maritime, energy and commercial interests while Washington pushes Libya’s rival camps toward a power-sharing arrangement.

Qaani

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Esmail Qaani, who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, has been heavily involved in Iran’s relations with Iraqi militias.

lia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he rejects US President Donald Trump’s Gaza reconstruction plan, Israel is advancing its implementation.

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

Latest News

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad, brother to death for war crimes

Bashar Al Assad

Interview

Israel's deputy FM, Sharren Haskel, bets on a new right after breaking with Netanyahu

Sharren Haskel speaks at an event marking 60 years of diplomatic ties between Germany and Israel hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, Oct. 16, 2025.

Iran’s Khamenei appoints six military commanders: What to know

image of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei

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

Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

Journalist Wael Dahdouh 'the mountain' inspires Gaza through tragedy

Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza has lost most of his family members and relatives, but is determined to continue covering the Israeli bombardment of the enclave.

A man inspects the destroyed building of Palestinian journalist Adel Zorob, who was killed overnight in an Israeli bombardment, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 19, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.

Day 94 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Jan. 8

The funeral of Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on January 7, 2024

Day 93 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Jan. 7

A ritual of hope: Exploring Istanbul's 'First Day of the Month Church'

On the first day of 2024, hundreds from different faiths, including Muslims, flock to a famous Istanbul church, engaging in ancient rituals that transform New Year's aspirations into realities.

A general view of the International Court of Justice during a public hearing, The Hague, June 6, 2023.

Will South Africa be successful in its Gaza genocide case against Israel?

Israel has selected a British lawyer to represent it against the South African complaint to the International Court of Justice.

An undated image of Hisham Awatarni.

Mother of Palestinian student shot in Vermont: 'Hateful rhetoric’ aided attack

Al-Monitor interviewed Elizabeth Price, whose son, Hisham Awartani, was shot in the northeast US in November amid a rise in hateful actions related to the Gaza war.

Wael and Hamza Al-Dahdouh and

Day 92 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Jan. 6

People disperse near the site where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2024.

How Gaza war is complicating Iran's pledge to revenge deadly bombings

Despite a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State, Iranian officials continued to point fingers at Israel and the US as the main culprits yet kept vague their promise for revenge, as the region remains on edge due to the Gaza war.

How Turkey contained Super Cup crisis with Saudi Arabia

A soccer debacle in Riyadh last week over Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of secular Turkey, has become a public debate over the trajectory of secularism in Turkey.

Iranian mourners gather around coffins wrapped with the Iranian flags during the funeral ceremony of yesterday's explosion on Jan. 5, 2024, in Kerman, Iran.

Analysis

Israel-Hamas war gets personal for Iran

Targeted killings in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria cause Iran to rethink escalatory options.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

Israeli soldiers deploy at kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza, Oct. 11, 2023.

Israeli military causes uproar with plans to investigate its conduct on Oct. 7

News of the Israeli military establishing a committee to investigate itself took security cabinet members by surprise.

People watch the televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah to mark the anniversary of the killing of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, in a Beirut's southern suburb on Jan. 3, 2024.

'Battlefield will speak for itself', Hezbollah chief warns Israel amid retaliation fears

The region is boiling amid a series of developments that have raised fears of the Gaza war spilling into a wider regional conflict.