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Trucks loaded with goods wait to cross over to Syria

Analysis

How Hormuz crisis is reshaping economic ties between Iraq and Syria

Iraq and Syria are expanding trade and energy cooperation, but security risks, economic challenges and longstanding mistrust raise questions about whether their growing partnership can endure.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

The Israeli leader revealed that he spoke with the Syrian president last year, but stalled talks and Israel's fortification of a security zone on Syrian land underscore his mistrust of Sharaa.

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

An attendee walks past signage displayed inside the venue for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria to rejoin Arab group at IMF, leaving Russian-led constituency

Syria will rejoin the Arab constituency at the International Monetary Fund beginning Nov. 1 and has applied for membership in the EBRD.

Latest News

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Culture

Syria reopens Aleppo's 1,300-year-old Great Umayyad Mosque after 13 years

A view of the Great Umayyad Mosque during the reopening ceremony, Oct. 8, 2026.

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

Is PKK real target of Turkish strikes?

Turkey’s decision to open two fronts, against the Islamic State and the PKK, complicates US cooperation with Kurds in Syria.

A road sign shows the direction to the Armenian Christian town of Kasab in Syria's Latakia region on the Mediterranean coast, March 31, 2014, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Three mortar rounds landed on Turkish soil, fired during fighting between the Islamist rebels in Syria and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for control of the Armenian Christian village of Kasab, Turkey's Dogan News Agency said. Islamist insurgents launched an offensive about ten days ago i

Syrian refugees in Armenia 'stumble from one crisis to another'

Syrians of Armenian origin who fled Aleppo are finding it difficult to cope with their new situation in Armenia.

A Turkish Air Force C-160D Transall transport aircraft takes off from Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, July 26, 2015. Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing on Sunday, the military said, apparently retaliating for Ankara's crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on Islamic State insurgents in Syria. Long a member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Turkey made a dramatic turnaround this week by granting t

Erdogan’s shift on Islamic State linked to Kurdish gains in Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally takes on the Islamic State while attacking PKK bases in northern Iraq; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now the only US ally actively opposing Iran deal; Israel faces pressure to forgo demolition of Palestinian village.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew (L) listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) as they appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington July 23, 2015. U.S. lawmakers skeptical about the nuclear deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration officials to make more information about it public at a Senate hearing on Thursday as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.
REUTERS/Gary Cameron
- RTX1LJNB

Congress gets extra dose of Iran before summer recess

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of July 27.

Westerners who have joined the Iraqi Christian militia Dwekh Nawsha to fight against Islamic State militants, take a photograph together at the office of the Assyrian political party in Dohuk, northern Iraq February 13, 2015. Thousands of foreigners have flocked to Iraq and Syria in the past two years, mostly to join Islamic State, but a handful of idealistic Westerners are enlisting as well, citing frustration their governments are not doing more to combat the ultra-radical Islamists or prevent the sufferi

Iraqi Christian militia draws foreign fighters

Foreign fighters who have joined Dwekh Nawsha, a Christian military organization fighting the Islamic State in Iraq, are finally seeing combat.

The Islamic State's secret recruiting ground in Turkey

Bombers from two separate incidents have hailed from Adiyaman province.

Relatives of victims who were killed in Monday's bomb attack in Suruc mourn over the coffins at a cemetery in Gaziantep, Turkey, July 21, 2015. Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu rejected accusations Turkey had in the past tacitly supported Islamic State militants operating from Syria and unwittingly opened the door to a suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people. The blast on Monday tore through a group of university-aged students from an activist group as they gathered in the border town of Suruc

Deciphering IS' strategy in latest Turkey attack

The July 20 attack on Suruc was designed to send a strong message to Kurds, the United States and Turkey.

Tribal massacre victims forced to negotiate with IS

A year after a deadly attack by the Islamic State, tribesmen in Syria's Deir ez-Zor are trying to bring civilians back to their homes.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference at the NATO Foreign Minister's Meeting in Antalya, Turkey, May 13, 2015. NATO and Ukraine voiced concern on Wednesday about Russian statements on the possible future stationing of nuclear weapons in Ukraine's Crimea region, which has been annexed by Moscow. REUTERS/Kaan Soyturk - RTX1CTH4

Turkey needs to drop its dead-end foreign policy

Former diplomats say Ankara should act urgently with its NATO allies to face the new threats that have emerged to its security from groups like the Islamic State.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil attends a meeting with Caracas' Mayor Jorge Rodriguez in Caracas February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4RH0Y

Lebanese, UN fall out over refugee registration

Lebanese officials have criticized UNHCR efforts to register Syrian refugee births, arguing that the country is at capacity.

EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY CONTENT OF VIDEO FROM WHICH THIS STILL IMAGE WAS TAKEN.

A member of the Free Syria Army with an assault rifle stands guard during a patrol in the western border town of Zabadani in this undated still image taken from amateur video obtained by Reuters January 16, 2012. Masked gunmen prowl the rain-swept streets of the once-relaxed Syrian hill resort, which they have transformed into a hub of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Zabadani, hugging

Regime forces tighten noose on opposition in Zabadani

The Syrian army, assisted by Hezbollah, is making gains in the city of Zabadani against opposition fighters, who have barricaded themselves in the old town.

Riot police use water cannon as demonstrators throw fireworks during a protest in central Istanbul, Turkey, July 20, 2015. Police in Istanbul fired teargas and water cannon when a demonstration by protesters blaming the government for a suspected Islamic State suicide bombing turned violent, a Reuters witness said. Hundreds gathered near Istanbul's central Taksim Square after the bombing in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruc which killed at least 30 people. Some chanted slogans against President Tayyip

Kurdish opposition figures denounce Ankara officials as 'accomplices' of IS after Suruc bombing

After 31 young Turks were killed and many more wounded by a suicide attack in Suruc, protests erupted across the country and politicians scrambled to point fingers.