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Politics & Security

Iran FM meets Putin and Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

Iran FM meets Putin, Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi headed to Russia following visits to Pakistan and Oman over the weekend as talks with Washington are at a standstill.

The US Capitol building is shown on April 20, 2026, in Washington.

Analysis

Turning point on Israel? Democrats’ Senate vote signals shift driven by Iran, Gaza wars

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he wants to wean Israel off Washington's $3.8 billion in annual military funding within the decade. At least one Democratic contender for 2028 agrees.

Jared Szuba

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

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

With talks between Israel and Lebanon being held in Washington, Paris still insists that it must be involved to balance possible American bias and to protect Beirut’s interests.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Feature

Gazans show cautious hope ahead of first local elections in 20 years

An elections employee tapes a poster with instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia pursues quiet diplomacy as Trump pushes Israel normalization

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L) disembarks from an airplane upon his arrival at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Jan. 23, 2025.

Syria arrests Amjad Youssef, Tadamoun massacre perpetrator: What to know

A young man stands in the entrance of tunnels that were used by the ISIS and the Assad's regime for fighting. Tadamon, Syria, February 7, 2025. (Photo by Raghed Waked / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani attends the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership" in Sweimeh by the Dead Sea shore in central-west Jordan on Dec. 20, 2022.

Iraqi prime minister sees tensions spike with political allies

Differences are growing between Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani and his political ally in parliament, the Coordination Framework.

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.

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Yael Lempert looks on during the Negev Forum's first Steering Committee meeting in the town of in Zallaq, south of the Bahraini capital of Manama on June 27, 2022. -(Photo by MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden names US ambassadors to Jordan, Oman

The US president has nominated Yael Lempert as US ambassador to Jordan, Ana Escrogima as US ambassador to Oman and named Dorothy Shea, currently the US ambassador to Lebanon, for deputy US representative to the United Nations

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's new Minister of National Security and leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, greets supporters during a visit to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market on Dec. 30, 2022.

Ben-Gvir’s visit to Jerusalem holy site draws US rebuke

The Biden administration expressed concern over Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint site revered by both Muslims and Jews.

The flags of (front to back) France and Lebanon fly near the damaged grain silos at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on July 14, 2021, almost a year after the August 4 massive explosion that killed more than 200 people and injured scores of others. (Photo by PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

French defense chief in Lebanon, pledges more support to military

Sebastien Lecornu's visit came two weeks following the killing of an Irish UNIFIL soldier as his convoy came under attack. A suspect is now in custody

Lt. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Washington, Feb. 8, 2022.

Analysis

US top Middle East commander tests new model of deterring Iran

As the Pentagon shifts focus to China and Russia, CENTCOM’s chief is banking on experimentation with unmanned surveillance and artificial intelligence to offset a smaller US footprint in the Middle East.

Jared Szuba

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

An Iranian carries the portraits of slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (L) during a ceremony in the capital Tehran, on January 3, 2023, to commemorate the third anniversary of their killing by a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran pursues 94 US citizens over Soleimani killing

Tehran has announced it is pursuing dozens of people it accuses of involvement in the 2020 assassination of its Quds Force leader.

Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) paramilitaries supporters raise pictures depicting their late slain commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and the slain top commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani with whom he was killed in a US air strike, as they gather in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Karbala on September 16, 2022. (Photo by MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images)

UK relations with Iran take nosedive ahead of IRGC designation

The designation will put the IRGC in a similar legal category as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the eyes of the UK government, outlawing membership in, financial dealings with and encouraging support for the paramilitary organization.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli far-right minister risks regional flareup with Temple Mount visit

Despite international warnings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed for National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to ascend the Temple Mount.

This picture taken from the Mount of Olives shows a view of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock, Old City, Jerusalem, Jan. 2, 2023.

UAE, Saudi, others condemn Israeli minister’s visit to Jerusalem holy site

Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif could hurt the new far-right Israeli government's relations with Arab states and Turkey.

A member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi stands guard in front of a banner depicting slain Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (L) and Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad's International Airport on January 2, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq's pro-Iran militias plan mass demonstrations on anniversary of Soleimani's killing

The PMU had set up a monument of Qassim Soleimani and Abo Mahdi Mohandas on Baghdad's airport boulevard this year, something that the former Iraqi government had blocked