AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani backs US-led regional economic integration efforts and lauds US partnership in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor.

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

Exclusive

Saudi Arabia wants Iran-backed militia 'heads to roll' in Iraq amid talks with Tehran

Riyadh is pressing Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to act against the groups behind attacks on the kingdom as Baghdad struggles to balance ties with Tehran and Washington.

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Saddam Hifter meets with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin

Russia’s Putin hosts Saddam Hifter amid instability in Libya: What to know

Moscow has built a strong relationship with Libya’s eastern camp, as Washington and Ankara pursue efforts to reunify the country’s political and military institutions.

Libya

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference at the site where Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by a US airstrike in 2020 near the airport upon his arrival in Baghdad, on Aug. 19, 2026.

Iran’s Ghalibaf makes high-level visit to Iraq ahead of disarmament deadline

The Iraqi parliament speaker is calling on his Iranian counterpart to help Iraq export oil through Hormuz amid the regional conflict.

Iran

President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar at the People’s Palace in Damascus, Syria, on Aug. 19, 2026.

Turkey looks to expand Syria energy footprint into oil, gas

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said state oil giant TPAO and private companies are ready to explore for oil and gas onshore and offshore in Syria.

Turkey

Latest News

With talks stalled, Iran ups threats against Gulf, Europe: What to know

Iran

Explainer

Iraq seeks special Hormuz access from Iran in scramble to keep oil flowing

Iraq

UAE halts all trade ties with Iran after missile attack

Ships are docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on July 14, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

By Ben Caspit

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

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US envoy Huckabee tells Israeli settlers not to take Palestinian Americans' land

Reuters

Exclusive-More than 150 Polymarket wallets may have traded on military secrets, research finds

Reuters

Some two dozen people have been arrested over January protests

Iran executes Afghan national over 2026 protests: rights group

Agence France-Presse

Israel and Turkey step up warnings over Syria after airbase bombing

Reuters

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Middle East Minute

Iran's Ghalibaf visits Iraq

Adam Lucente

19 August, 8:52 AM ET

4:28

Middle East Minute

Syria slams Israeli strikes on Idlib airbase linked to Turkey

Adam Lucente

18 August, 8:42 AM ET

3:40

On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Iran sees threats, opportunities but little deterrence in Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact, says Hamidreza Azizi

Hamidreza Azizi joins Amberin Zaman

11 August, 12:54 PM ET

38:57

Interviews

Exclusive conversations with AL-MONITOR.

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Interview

Israel's deputy FM, Sharren Haskel, bets on a new right after breaking with Netanyahu

Sharren Haskel speaks at an event marking 60 years of diplomatic ties between Germany and Israel hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, Oct. 16, 2025.

Interview

Resumption in Yemen's oil exports 'possible' with security measures: VP

Deputy chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Sultan Ali al-Aradah

Interview

PJAK leader mocks Iran’s claim Turkey spiked US Kurdish-backed regime-change plan

A Kurdish fighter from the Iranian Kurdish armed faction Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) stands with his rifle at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 8, 2026.

Siamand Moeini

PJAK Executive Council Member

Interview

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Masrour Barzani

KRG Prime Minister

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

By Ben Caspit

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

Analysis

RSF turns to drones, new fronts as Sudan battlefield pressure grows

View of some wreckage after the Rapid Support Forces targeted several civilian facilities in Al-Rahad Abu Dakna, one of the largest cities in North Kordofan, on the national highway linking Kosti and el-Obeid, July 25, 2026.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Analysis

Inside Netanyahu's bet on divided opposition to secure another term

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

How failing US-Iran diplomacy is giving way to fresh confrontation

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Inside US-Israel fault lines on Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

July 29, 2026