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Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

How Iran war is prompting Saudi Arabia to pursue its own Shahed drones

Saudi Arabia is moving to domestically produce a long-range attack drone modeled on Iran’s Shahed-136, signaling a major shift toward scalable, low-cost offensive deterrence.

Francesco Schiavi

Yazar: Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

People hold portraits of the dead at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Mosque to commemorate those killed in the current US-Israeli war as well as previous wars on May 24, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

How Tehran's hardening rhetoric signals uneasy path for US talks

Iran's leadership is increasingly portraying negotiations with Washington not as compromise but as a continuation of confrontation by other means.

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Hawre Khalid/Getty Images

Analysis

Can Iraq absorb Iran-backed militias without deepening Tehran’s influence?

While some militias have openly resisted disarmament, experts say those expressing support for the government’s plans may be motivated by political calculations.

Adam Lucente

Yazar: Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 29: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss regional security in the Middle East as well as the U.S.-Israel partnership. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Exclusive

Trump 'hit the brakes': Netanyahu's circle faults US president for failed Iran regime change, looming deal

With regime in Iran still standing and a possible US-Iran agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands to pay the ultimate political price as elections near in Israel.

Yazar: Ben Caspit

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

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Jarjoua, southern Lebanon, on May 13, 2026.

Lebanon and Israel hold military talks at Pentagon despite Israeli offensive: What to know

A renewed Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon aims to extract concessions from Beirut in US-brokered diplomatic talks, but Lebanese military officials say there is no path forward until Israel halts its attacks and returns to the April ceasefire.

Latest News

Culture

Tyre, Lebanon’s ‘Queen of the Seas,’ devastated by Israeli bombing: What to know

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Qlaile as pictured from nearby Tyre in southern Lebanon on April 7, 2026. The Israeli military said on April 7 that it had completed the deployment of ground troops along a "defence line" in southern Lebanon, where it is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. The military has not given any geographical details on the furthest point to which its soldiers have advanced into Lebanese territory. (Photo by Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images)

As US and Iran near deal, Trump confronts familiar dilemma

US President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of state Marco Rubio during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 27, 2026.

Explainer

Trump team floats $300B Iran fund after rejecting Tehran’s past business pitch

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Israel strikes Lebanon's capital Beirut for first time in 3 weeks: What to know

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

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Gulf of Oman map is seen in this illustration taken April 15, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

US military says it turned away blockade runner trying to reach Iranian port

Reuters

A person waves a flag of Turkey featuring a picture of modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as supporters of Ozgur Ozel, the ousted chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey, May 30, 2026. REUTERS/Efekan Akyuz

Ousted Turkish opposition leader Ozel draws thousands in Ankara protest

Reuters

Destroyed buildings are pictured in the village of Kfarkila in southern Lebanon as seen from across the border in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on May 29

Lebanon PM denounces Israeli campaign as fresh strikes hit south

Agence France-Presse

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, while attending a major Asia defence summit in Singapore, said the US could restart the war with Iran if it wanted

US says capable of resuming war with Iran as deal remains elusive

Agence France-Presse

Featured Newsletters

Editor's choice

Three stories hand-picked by our editorial team.

Expert insight on the Middle East—delivered regularly

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Gonul Tol

On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Turkey's outsize influence in Somalia fuels corruption and autocracy, says MEI's Gonul Tol

Gonul Tol joins Amberin Zaman

14 May, 5:43 PM ET

19:31

Adam Lucente and Rina Bassist

The AL-MONITOR Brief

Is there a US-Israel rift on Iran?

Rina Bassist joins Adam Lucente

8 May, 4:16 PM ET

11:57

Adam Lucente and Rosaleen Carroll

The AL-MONITOR Brief

China’s diplomacy on Iran

Rosaleen Carroll joins Adam Lucente

6 May, 2:58 PM ET

9:24

Interviews

Exclusive conversations with AL-MONITOR.

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Interview

Eski İsrailli istihbaratçı: ABD kara gücü kullanmazsa İran'da rejim değişikliği zor

Retired Israeli General and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Amos Yadlin

Amos Yadlin

Former head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate

Interview

Suriyeli Kürt yetkili: Şam ile savaş herkese kaybettirir

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Interview

Türkiye’ye kaçan Libya Merkez Bankası Başkanı hükümeti ‘darbe’ ile suçluyor

Police officers stand guard outside Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on Aug. 27, 2024.

Sadiq al-Kabir

Sadiq al-Kabir

Governor of the Central Bank of Libya

Interview

Eski istihbarat şefi: İsrail'in hedefi İran'ı zayıflatmak, rejimi hemen devirmek değil

Retired Israeli general and executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

İran'ın dondurulmuş varlıklarını geri alma çabası diplomasiye yön veriyor

A man checks old banknotes in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran on March 3, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

İran rejimini ayakta tutan görünmeyen yapılar

Mahmoud Karimi, a maddah, leads a mourning ritual during the Muslim month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Tehran on July 3, 2025.

Jamshid Jamshidi

Yazar: Jamshid Jamshidi

Analysis

Hürmüz krizi sürerken Orta Doğu gıda güvenliği riskleriyle karşı karşıya

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

Samuel Wendel

Yazar: Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

'Çok kötü haber': Olası ABD-İran anlaşması İsrail'i kaygılandırıyor

Yazar: Ben Caspit

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

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Speakers from Iran war energy event: Samuel Wendel, Dr. Carole Nakhle, and Noam Raydan

How the Iran war is reshaping energy markets

May 20, 2026

1:00:30

Joyce Karam, Randa Slim, Hamidreza Azizi, Hasan Alhasan

Iran War at One Month: Outlook and Implications

April 1, 2026

1:04

Joyce Karam, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Holly Dagres, and Ali Hashem

Are the US and Iran closer to war or a deal?

February 24, 2026

0:59

Iraqi Christian man in dark blue sweater sitting in an office

After years abroad, Iraq’s Christians weigh returning home

February 10, 2026

3:39

Amberin Zaman, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Danny Makki, Joyce Karam in a virtual discussion on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's visit to Washington

Syria's Sharaa in Washington

November 6, 2025

1:00

Al-Monitor chief correspondent Amberin Zaman interviews H.E. Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The Future of Energy and Power in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

May 23, 2025

1:38

thumbnail of youtube video "Plestia Alaqad on Gaza and South Lebanon"

Plestia Alaqad on Gaza and South Lebanon

April 1, 2025

5:00

Vision Golfe 2024 - Jack Dutton

Vision Golfe 2024 - Mastering Mega events in the GCC from a Sports Perspective

June 4, 2024

34:36

Elizabeth Hagedorn panel

The Syria Strategy Project: Panel one

March 18, 2024

3:42:49

Jared Elizabeth Iran webinar

US confrontation with Iran’s proxies: Live Q&A with Jared Szuba and Elizabeth Hagedorn

February 2, 2024

38:25

David Satterfield webinar

The Israel-Hamas War: Live Q&A with Amb. David Satterfield (Part 2)

January 25, 2024

33:53

David Satterfield webinar

The Israel-Hamas War: Live Q&A with Amb. David Satterfield (Part 1)

November 21, 2023

30:11

Our Journalists

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Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Contributor

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Barın Kayaoğlu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security