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Syria

May 7, 2026

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Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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)

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

Amjad Youssef appeared on video, allegedly killing dozens of civilians in 2013; he is the latest member of the Assad regime to be captured by the new Syrian government.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City.

Analysis

'Is it worth it?' Syria's Sharaa faces backlash over Missy Elliott performance

Backlash erupts after dancers perform to Missy Elliott’s “Work It,” exposing the tightrope between Sharaa’s outreach to the West and pressure from his Islamist base.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives ahead of a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in central London on March 31, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa makes fourth visit to Saudi Arabia, first since Iran war: What to know

The visit comes in light of the deepening economic relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia post-Assad.

Latest News

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

EU to restore Syria cooperation pact ahead of May talks: What to know

Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP via Getty Images

Sharaa distances Syria from Iran war, says Israel talks ongoing: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkish Presient Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey April 17, 2026.

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Kurdish refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani wait to fill their bottles around a clean water source at a refugee camp in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province, February 1, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4NRTZ

Kurdish refugees reject government-run camp in Turkey

Kurdish refugees from Kobani are shunning the well-funded and staffed AFAD Suruc camp to stay in nearby municipal-run camps with fewer facilities.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY KAMAL TAHA
A woman looks at dresses in a covered stall in the northern Jordanian Zaatari refugee camp, now home to 160,000 Syrians, equal in size to what would be Jordan's fifth-largest city, on May 18, 2013. With no end in sight to Syria's conflict, some refugees in Jordan are offering their daughters for early marriage in the hope of securing them protection as they face growing economic pressure. AFP PHOTO/KHALIL MAZRAAWI (Photo credit should read KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Gett

Financial burden, risk of violence pressure Syrian girls to marry

Syrian refugee girls in Jordan are being forced to get married at a young age, either to escape sexual violence that is widely spread in refugee camps or to ease the financial troubles of their families.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.

Workers and members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent unload boxes of humanitarian and medical aid in the rebel-controlled area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr October 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4BWB4

Syrian AIDS patients suffer in silence

The Ministry of Health is withholding information about the situation of Syria's AIDS patients, many of whom are trapped in war-torn areas without access to services.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.

Retired U.S. General John Allen, special envoy for building the coalition against Islamic State, speaks to the media during a news conference at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LEKU

Obama administration: US 'will protect' Syrian rebel forces

John Allen, US special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, suggests a deeper US military commitment in Syria; Turkey’s "precious loneliness"; Egypt closes 27,000 places of worship to counter militancy and extremism; Al-Monitor’s series on Women in the Middle East continues.

A Lebanese Army soldier inspects a weapon donated by the U.S. government to the Lebanese army during a ceremony at Beirut international airport August 29, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR44884

Why did Lebanon's security initiative fail?

Lebanon's former director-general of General Security told Al-Monitor that his initiative to free the abducted Lebanese soldiers and to drive the Islamic State from Lebanon was welcomed by Syria but rejected by the United States and Lebanon.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) (L), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (R), speaks at a news conference after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 3, 2015. The White House has said President Barack Obama would veto the Iran Nuclear Review Act, which was introduced by Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the panel, to require Obama to

Senate seeks to unblock path for war on Islamic State

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will address the week of March 9.

Turkish army soldiers take position on the road to the Mursitpinar crossing gate near the Syrian border on February 22, 2015 in Suruc, Sanliurfa province, during an operation to relieve the garrison guarding the Suleyman Shah mausoleum in northern Syria. The operation was jointly conducted by the intelligence organisation and the Turkish army, a few days after reports suggested that the tomb was besieged by jihadists belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP PHOTO/ILYAS AKENGIN (Photo credit sho

300 days at the Tomb of Suleiman Shah

Speaking with Al-Monitor, Turkish special forces officers share their experiences, observations and insights into Islamic State activities near the Tomb of Suleiman Shah and the origins of the Turkish government's decision to evacuate its soldiers.

A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul in this May 28, 2013 file photo.

Osman Orsal: I was covering protests in Istanbul which began as a demonstration against government plans to demolish a small park in central Taksim square but evolved into one the biggest anti-government protests in over a decade.

I was standing between the protesters and the police as the police b

Amberin Zaman on why she writes

Al-Monitor columnist Amberin Zaman shares her thoughts on journalism.

Meet Estayqazat, Syria’s online feminist movement

Estayqazat, a Syrian feminist movement, seeks to empower women to accept and freely talk about their sexuality, which is a taboo subject in Syria's patriarchal society.

Retired U.S. General John Allen, special envoy for building the coalition against Islamic State, speaks to the media during a news conference at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad January 14, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LELC

US still considering no-fly zone for Syria

Two top US officials differ about the prospects for identifying, training and equipping a new moderate Syrian force to oppose the group that calls itself the Islamic State.