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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a statement at the Ritz Hotel as he meets Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, on Jan. 30, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

US-Iran talks uncertain as Tehran pushes to sideline regional countries

Iran is also pushing to move the negotiations to Oman and to exclude its missile program from the talks.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi, speaks during an interview with AFP in Tripoli on Feb. 26, 2011.

Saif Islam Gadhafi, son of late Libyan ruler, killed in gunfight: What to know

Gadhafi was a key figure in his father Moammar Gadhafi's regime, and faced legal prosecution for his alleged roles in crimes against Libyans.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during a press conference on May 11, 2011, at the green zone area in Baghdad, Iraq.

Iraq’s Maliki rejects Trump criticism, vows to stay in PM race

Maliki refused to withdraw from the race, despite mounting pressure from the US, and expressed a desire for good relations with Iraq’s neighbors and Washington.

Commuters drive along a bridge near a building bearing a landmark anti-US mural in Tehran, on June 22, 2025.

Bracing for backlash, Iran sends mixed signals on US talks

Iran's public messaging remains fragmented, with cautious openness from the presidency, rigid red lines from security officials and outright rejection from hard-liners, who see negotiations as futile.

Latest News

US says Sudan warring parties back withdrawal plan as donors pledge $700M in aid

US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs Massad Fares Boulos attends the Sudan Humanitarian Fund event at the Institute of Peace in Washington, on Feb. 3, 2026.

Witkoff meets Netanyahu as Israel warns against potential Iran deal

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff arrives for a press conference with the US president and Israel's prime minister in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2025.

Iran seeks nuclear-only US talks, to drop Turkey as host: Source

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

US F-35 downs Iran drone as IRGC boats target tanker near Hormuz

This handout photo made available by the Iranian Army Office on March 12, 2025 shows navy vessels taking part in a joint Iranian-Russian-Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman.

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

A demonstrator from the "Pink Front" group lights a flare.

Analysis

Chaos at Israel's parliament as Netanyahu pushes judicial overhaul

Ahead of the Knesset vote on the clause canceling the power of the Supreme Court to abolish unreasonable decisions or appointments, demonstrators are gathering outside and inside Israel's parliament.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats cruise past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

US confirms Iran’s IRGC seized tanker smuggling fuel in Gulf

The seizure by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came just a day the US Navy thwarted attempts by Iran's navy to seize two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2022.

Russia asks Turkey for 'clarification' over Ukraine's Azov prisoner release

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also implicitly criticizes Turkey’s sale of Bayraktar drones to Ukraine.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Turkey greenlights Sweden's NATO membership ahead of critical summit

Turkey’s president has suggested that Ankara’s stalled membership talks with the European Union be revived in exchange for greenlighting Sweden’s NATO accession to the ahead of a key summit in Vilnius.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (C) and Manchester City's Emirati owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan (R) attend the UEFA Champions League final football match between Inter Milan and Manchester City at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, on June 10, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's Erdogan revs up diplomacy with focus on Syria, Gulf funds

After the president's reelection, Turkish diplomacy has found a new impetus in cementing ties with the Arab world, driven in part by Ankara’s hopes of attracting Gulf funds to prop up its ailing economy.

ALEX HALADA/AFP via Getty Images

Iran boasts to OPEC of growing crude sales despite sanctions

Iran's top energy official told oil-exporting nations that the Islamic Republic is in good shape bypassing sanctions to sell its lifeline product as he advertised an attractive investment market in his country.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) meets with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi in Tehran on March 4, 2023.

Analysis

Iran’s new nuclear normal gets boost from oil exports

Also: The Islamic Republic cracks down on the hijab "conspiracy" while suffering brain drain; researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov abducted by Iraqi militia.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani.

UN experts urge Saudi Arabia to release two women detained over tweets

In a report, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemned the use of a vague counterterrorism law against rights activists in the kingdom.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's Erdogan ups pressure on US, Sweden ahead of NATO summit

Turning up the heat before his critical meeting with the Swedish premier on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his country’s stiff demands from Stockholm.

Israeli settlers march toward the outpost of Eviatar, near the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus, West Bank, April 10, 2023.

Analysis

Israeli security chiefs helpless as government ignores settler violence

Heads of the security agencies fear that without a clear backing of the government to fight Jewish nationalist attacks, settler violence against Palestinian villages would only increase.

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

Elizabeth Tsurkov

Elizabeth Tsurkov’s sister says she took 'precautions' in Iraq before abduction

Emma Tsurkov said she immediately contacted Israeli authorities after not hearing back from her sister in March, and she confirmed that the Russian government is involved in the negotiations to free the Israeli-Russian researcher.

MADRID, SPAIN - JUNE 30: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President holds his press conference at the NATO Summit on June 30, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. During the summit in Madrid, on June 30 NATO leaders will make the historic decision whether to increase the number of high-readiness troops above 300,000 to face the Russian threat. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Turkey's Erdogan to meet Sweden's PM for last-ditch talks on NATO bid

With five days to go to NATO’s Vilnius summit, the NATO secretary-general says he will bring together the leaders of Turkey and Sweden to break the deadlock on Sweden’s NATO membership bid. 