Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on AL-MONITOR’s world class reporting.
Iran plays Hamas card
Iran's improved relations with Turkey, Qatar and Hamas send a message to the region.
What Iran-Qatar reset means for Syria
Iran adds another “Sunni” power to its regional network; Turkey ponders next moves in Idlib; Israel presents the “big picture” on Iran in Washington and Sochi, Russia; Akiva Eldar on Israel’s silence over Charlottesville.
Turkey, Iran step up coordination in Syria
Once unthinkable, an emerging consensus is developing between Ankara and Tehran in Syria, as Washington and Moscow try to keep pace; Iraqi Kurdish sources signal that it could be possible to delay a Kurdish independence referendum for a “short time.”
Is Barzani backing away from independence referendum?
Iraqi Kurdistan's president expects "guarantees and alternatives" from Washington; Hamas diplomatic surge with Iran and Russia.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s risky independence referendum
Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani may seek leverage from Sunni Arabs to balance opposition from Baghdad, Tehran and Ankara.
Does Turkey face day of reckoning with al-Qaeda in Idlib?
Al-Qaeda affiliate gains upper hand in northern Syrian city; Turkey’s shameful show trial of independent journalists part of “vicious crackdown.”
Will Netanyahu enforce Syrian red line against Iran?
Israel opposes cease-fire plan, as Russia, Turkey and Syria inch toward possible agreement on Afrin.
Abu Mazen plays losing hand badly in Gaza Strip
The Palestinian president faces a challenge from a bitter rival backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates; what is Saddam Hussein’s family doing in Qatar?; Russia and the United States wary of Turkish military intervention in Syria.
Turkey potential spoiler of US-Russian progress on Syria
Turkey may find common ground with Damascus and Tehran in its concerns about Syrian Kurds; UNHCR notes trend of "spontaneous returns" in Syria; Turkey seizes property of ancient Christian community.
Does the US have answer for Turkish threats against Syrian Kurds?
Turkey also seeks sway in Salafi-controlled Idlib; Hamas inches closer to Iran, Hezbollah.
Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war
“Iran’s logic is the logic of war,” a Gulf regional official tells Al-Monitor.
Zaidi’s test in Tehran
Less than 24 hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi returned from Tehran on Thursday, Iraqi Kurdistan again came under attack.
Five explosive drones were intercepted over Erbil by US-led coalition air defenses, triggering explosions and smoke near the airport that hosts coalition forces and sits adjacent to the US consulate. While Iraq’s Kurdistan region is no stranger to attacks by Iran and its proxies, the timing was hard to ignore. For Tehran, despite the arrival of a new Iraqi prime minister promising a different path, it appears to be business as usual.
US banking on Iraqi turnaround with nomination of Zaidi as new PM
Trump signals hope for a "tremendous new chapter” in US-Iraq ties with the nomination of Ali Al-Zaidi as prime minister.
Iraq's Sudani: US troop withdrawal does not mean end of security relationship
At an event hosted by Al-Monitor and the US Chamber of Commerce, the prime minister discussed Iraq’s plan to achieve energy independence by 2030 and his desire to drawdown the US military presence in the country.
