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Syria

October 23, 2026

Damascus 5:44 pm

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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

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. Since Tuesday, black clad ISIL fighters have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad. They continued their lightning advance on Thursday, moving into towns just an hour's drive from the capital. Picture taken June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (I

Mosul's rude awakening on ISIS

Edward Dark writes that Iraqis who may have welcomed the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) as liberators will soon have a rude awakening; a first-hand report of Syria’s barrel bombs; the ISIS threat to Lebanon; video of the IPI Free Media Pioneer Awards.

$Supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad wave the national flags and chant slogans in front of General Federation of Trade Unions building, during presidential election in Damascus June 3, 2014. Syrians began voting on Tuesday in an election expected to deliver an overwhelming victory to President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of a civil war that has fractured the country and killed more than 160,000 people. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3RXFT$

Can Syria help defeat ISIS?

The Syrian government, which has recently engaged the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in battle, might share an interest with the United States in defeating the terror organization.

Syria's barrel bombs: an eyewitness account

The author documents the aftermath of a barrel bomb attack on civilians in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo.

Iraqi soldiers stand beside Al-Yaroubia crossing in the province of Hasakah November 10, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTX158J9

Iraqi Kurds seize control of key Syria border crossing

The Syria-based Democratic Union Party (PYD) fears a return to isolation after a Kurdish rival, the Iraq-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), captures the Rabia border crossing.

Iraqi Shiite Turkmen Families fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul arrive at Shangal, a town in Nineveh province, June 17, 2014. The mainly Turkmen city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, fell to Sunni militants late on Sunday, and the Iraqi military said it was sending reinforcement there. The Iraqi army said on state television it had killed a top militant, named Abu Abdul Rahman al-Muhajir, in Mosul in clashes. Picture taken June 17, 2014. REUTERS/ Ari Jala (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNR

Ex-Saddam Baathists unite in Ninevah campaign

A member of the Iraqi Baath Party claims that 14 different factions, including the Baathists, were involved in the takeover of Ninevah province on June 10.

A man walks on debris of collapsed buildings at a damaged site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Ansari neighbourhood June 18, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3UEWE

Aleppo fears new ISIS offensive

Syrian regime forces and rebels holed up in Aleppo worry that ISIS' newfound power and advanced military hardware in Iraq will result in a renewed offensive on Aleppo.

A fighter from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stands near burning confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3JOPD

Three reasons Lebanon fears ISIS advance

The Lebanese are concerned that their country may be the next target of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (R) greets the audience as he and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul arrive at a meeting in Ankara June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3T167

Will Turkey and Iran find common ground in Iraq?

Developments in Iraq, coming soon after a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Turkey, might be forcing a change in Turkey's approach to jihadist groups.

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) celebrate on vehicles taken from Iraqi security forces, at a street in city of Mosul, June 12, 2014. Since Tuesday, black clad ISIL fighters have seized Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and Tikrit, home town of former dictator Saddam Hussein, as well as other towns and cities north of Baghdad. They continued their lightning advance on Thursday, moving into towns just an hour's drive from the capital. Picture taken June 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (I

Turkey paying price for jihadist highway on border

The hostage crisis in Mosul is the boomerang effect of Ankara’s policy of opening its borders to jihadists.

A Muslim prays at the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (The Mosque of the Prophet) before the early morning prayer of al-Fajr in the holy city of Medina January 16, 2014. Muslims marked Eid Mawlid al-Nabawi, or the birth of Prophet Mohammad, on January 14. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX17H44

Saudis debate Salafism and democracy

The recent growth of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has led to an extensive debate among Islamist groups in Saudi Arabia over the relationship between Salafism and governance.

Mouaz al-Khatib, Former President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces speaks during the 11th US-Islamic World Forum, in Doha, on June 10, 2014. This years Forum is entitled Islam and Inclusion focuses on challenges of inclusion within Muslim communities around the world, especially in the context of governance, academia, religious institutions and civil society. The US-Islamic World Forum is a Brookings Institutions Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, in pa

Khatib blames regional countries for prolonging Syria war

Former Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib says he's open to negotiations with both the Syrian and Iranian governments as a matter of "principle" to help end the bloodshed in Syria.

Families fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul arrive at a checkpoint in outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, June 10, 2014. Radical Sunni Muslim insurgents seized control of most of Iraq's second largest city of Mosul early on Tuesday, overrunning a military base and freeing hundreds of prisoners in a spectacular strike against the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3T260

ISIS weighs approach on Baghdad

The fall of Mosul into the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is an indicator of the breakdown in the Iraqi army, and shows the necessity to unify the ranks in Iraq to fight terrorism.