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Syria

October 23, 2026

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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 from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) burn confiscated cigarettes in the city of Raqqa April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3JP4Z

Saudis fear Syria blowback after discovering ISIS cell

Fears of jihadist blowback from the Syrian war are starting to be realized after Saudi's discovery of a terrorist cell planning attacks on its soil.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd L) arrives to testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on national security and foreign policy priorities for the 2014 international affairs budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 18, 2013. Kerry on Thursday asked senators pressing for tougher sanctions over Iran's nuclear ambitions to be patient, saying there is uncertainty in the Islamic republic two months before its June 14 election. Pictured with Kerry are (L-R) committee chairman Robert Men

McCain calls Homs a ‘huge victory’ for Assad

Senator’s comment comes as Syrian opposition leaders seek congressional allies in their bid for more weapons.

A civil defence worker runs towards a fire after what activists said was an air strike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr April 18, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3LTHO

Aleppo's rebel fighters disillusioned with war

Rebel fighters in Aleppo look to Homs as a potential model for a cease-fire to end the war in the city.

Salih Muslim, co-president of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), poses during an interview in Marseille, southern France, on December 1, 2013. PYD, the biggest Kurdish armed group, wants to establish an autonomous Kurdish state within a federal Syria and a commission is already writing the constitution of this potential state, Muslim told AFP. Syrian Kurds in the war-torn country's northeast announced last month the formation of a transitional autonomous administration after making key territo

Syrian Kurd leader urges Turkey to join fight against jihadists

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim says his Democratic Union Party will not participate in Syria’s presidential elections, and questions why the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq is not helping Syria’s Kurds.

Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, speaks during an interview at the U.S embassy in Kabul September 14, 2011. A marathon siege in Kabul's diplomatic enclave ended on Tuesday with the death of the last two of a group of gunmen who had held off Western and Afghan security forces for nearly 20 hours, showering rockets on Western embassies in a dramatic show of insurgent strength. Crocker said around six or seven rockets had hit inside the embassy perimeter during the early hours of the attack, l

Former US diplomat warns of possible 'grave mistake' in Syria

Ryan Crocker, former US ambassador to Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, warns against a regime change plan that would depose the Alawite power structure in Syria and advises the Obama administration to contain the fighting by backing US regional allies, but not to intervene militarily.

Smoke rises after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Armenian Christian town of Kasab April 7, 2014. For three years, residents of Syria's Mediterranean provinces have watched from their coastal sanctuary as civil war raging further inland tore the country apart, killing tens of thousands of people and devastating historic cities. But a three-week-old offensive by rebel fighters in the north of Latakia province, a bastion of Assad's Alawite minority,

Turkey's Syria borders an open door for smugglers

Guns, people and stolen goods move with surprising ease and regularity over a sensitive border.

Syrian refugees are seen in a refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near Idlib January 29, 2013, in this picture provided by Shaam News Network. Picture taken January 29, 2013. REUTERS/Muhammad Najdet Qadour/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY IMMIGRATION POVERTY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL U

Turkey’s endless Syrian refugee crisis

There may be a limit to Turkey’s open-door policy for Syrian refugees, one that is taxing Turkey’s economy and society.

Free Syrian Army fighters ride a tank as they patrol a street in Rif al-Muhandisin at the Western countryside of Aleppo March 27, 2014. Picture taken March 27, 2014. REUTERS/Abdalghne Karoof (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3IYY0

My perilous journey from Aleppo to Turkey

The journey from Aleppo to the Turkish border once took 45 minutes but is now a 6.5-hour drive fraught with danger.

U.S. President Barack Obama waves after addressing Israeli students at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem March 21, 2013. Obama appealed directly on Thursday to the Israeli people to put themselves in the shoes of stateless Palestinians and recognise that Jewish settlement activity in occupied territory hurts prospects for peace. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FA2G

The myth of Obama’s failure in the Middle East

US diplomacy is actively engaged on all fronts in the region, while the president’s critics offer no feasible alternatives.

An Israeli tank patrols the Shebaa Farms area, wedged between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights July 8, 2009. A Lebanese army colonel suspected of collaborating with Israel fled to the Jewish state last week, a Lebanese security source said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR25GD9

Hezbollah sends Israel message in Shebaa bombing

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed responsibility for the Shebaa Farms bombing that wounded Israeli soldiers, and Israel has filed a complaint at the United Nations, signaling that Israel understood the message.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) speaks to a soldier during his visit to Maaloula town, northeast of Damascus April 20, 2014, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Assad on Sunday visited Maaloula, an ancient Christian town recaptured from rebels last week, state media said, as he seeks to persuade minorities that the government is their best protection against hardline Islamists. Assad's Easter visit to Maaloula - a rare appearance outside central Damascus - also hig

Syrian government to intensify offensive before election

After its victory in Yabrud, the Syrian regime may try to retake Aleppo, strengthening its position ahead of presidential elections scheduled for early June.

Children sell washing detergent on a sidewalk in Aleppo December 1, 2013. REUTERS/Molhem Barakat (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX16005

Aleppo's children struggle to stay in school

A first-hand report from Aleppo on local initiatives in rebel-held east Aleppo trying to keep children in school.