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Politics & Security

Zaidi

Iraq’s Zaidi doubles down on militia disarmament, boosting oil exports

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi made the comments amid Hormuz-related export struggles and a nearing deadline for armed groups to disarm.

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

Israeli officials remain skeptical of Turkish and Syrian denials over Ankara’s military ambitions in Syria, warning that a deeper Turkish foothold could threaten Israel’s security and strain its ties with Washington.

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

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi crown prince heads to France as ties deepen: What to expect

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will start a visit to Paris this weekend, his fourth to France since his appointment in 2017.

Latest News

Caught in the middle, Oman shrugs off Trump's latest Iran threat

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Houthis claim new strikes on Saudi Arabia after IRGC warning: What to know

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey signals restraint as war of words with Israel escalates over Syria

Burhaanettin Duran

Syria’s FM pays Pakistan first visit in 19 years amid new regional alignments

Islamabad

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

Smoke billows following an Iranian cross-border attack in the area of Zargwez.

US confirms American citizen killed in Iranian rocket attack in Iraq

Omar Mahmoudzadeh's family confirmed to Al-Monitor that he died in an Iranian strike Thursday in the Iraqi-Kurdish town of Koya.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

US unveils new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sales

The Biden administration on Thursday blacklisted entities in China, Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged involvement in Iran’s petrochemical trade.

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 12, 2022.

Israel’s Lapid ducks calls from PA head Abbas

Reports say that unlike President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Yair Lapid avoided requests for a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Jewish New Year.

Iran protest

The Takeaway: Iran's protesters shift to rooftops in response to crackdown

Iran strikes Kurds in Iraq; Turkish drones complicate Central Asia disputes; cosmetic surgery booms in Syria; Egypt pushes reef protection ahead of COP27; and the politics behind Israel PM backing two-state solution.

Iran shop

Iran says enemies causing ‘sedition’ in the country with protests

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi calls recent protests “sedition," and police arrest a former president's daughter.

ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish families gather to remember children killed by gun violence

Activists say rising gun ownership and poor regulation are posing a growing risk to innocents.

Supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clash with Iraqi security forces in Liberation Square in the centre of Iraq's capital Baghdad on Sept. 28, 2022, during a parliament session in the nearby high-security Green Zone across the Tigris river.

Clashes rock Baghdad's Green Zone as Iraqi parliament re-elects speaker

Iraqi parliament re-elected Mohammed al-Halbusi as parliament speaker amid protests and rockets in the Green Zone.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Weakened by split, Israel's Arab parties must work the field

After years of campaigning on social media and in TV studios, Arab politicians are now rallying for support in Israel.

Smoke billows on the horizon in the village of Altrun Kupri, in the Sherawa region, south of Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan, where a base of the Kurdistan Freedom Party is located, on Sept. 28, 2022.

Tehran strikes Kurdish opponents in Iraq as protests over Mahsa Amini’s death convulse Iran

Iran ramps up its bombing campaign in northern Iraq in what Iraqi Kurds argue is an attempt to divert the world's attention from the killing of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel won’t recognize Russian referendums in occupied Ukraine

Prime Minister Yair Lapid came out publicly and slammed the Russian referendums called a sham by Ukraine and by its allies.

Palestinian protesters clash with Palestinian security forces following the arrest of two members of Hamas, Nablus, West Bank, Sept. 20, 2022.

Palestinian Authority steps up arrests in Nablus under Israeli, US pressure

Clashes broke out between the Palestinian security forces and citizens in Nablus, in the wake of the arrest of a wanted person by Israel, in a move further deepening the popular anger against the Palestinian Authority.

Yemeni scouts participate in an official parade marking the eighth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of Sanaa, Yemen, Sept. 20, 2022.

Yemen's Houthis mark 8th anniversary of Sanaa takeover

In a new display of military power, the Houthis used helicopters for the first time to commemorate the 8th anniversary of their capture of Sanaa.