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

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference in Moscow on June 16, 2026.

Analysis

Fidan heads to Egypt amid questions over Saudi Arabia-Turkey-Pakistan pact

Conflicting accounts of why Egypt stayed out of the agreement have exposed the competing interests shaping the region’s emerging defense architecture.

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Explainer

Who benefits from Lebanon’s amnesty law and why it is controversial

The law, initially intended to ease prison overcrowding, could see the release of Islamists accused of killing soldiers and allow Lebanese exiled to Israel return to the country.

Lebanon

Children swimming in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Hormuz authority denies Trump claims of control over strait: What to know

Trump administration officials have said oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are rising, but maritime traffic remains diminished.

Iran

Libyan firefighting teams attempt to extinguish a fire at the Zawiya refinery, the second-largest oil refinery in Libya, with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, after a tank belonging to the state-owned Libyan Brega Oil Company was attacked by unknown perpetrators, in Zawiya, Libya, on Aug. 11, 2026.

Analysis

Libya’s oil revival faces new test as violence returns amid US peace push

A drone strike destroyed a power substation in Zawiya as a US-backed peace push appears to be roiling domestic tensions.

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, delivers a speech at the Pichincha Battalion after being sworn in, in Cali, Colombia, on Aug. 7, 2026.

Syria lodges UN complaint against Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan

Bogota’s move marked a foreign policy shift under new right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella, reversing Petro-era policies that strained ties with Israel.

Syria

Latest News

Hormuz traffic sinks to one-week low as ships attacked, talks stagnate

Iran

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

By Ben Caspit

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

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad, brother to death for war crimes

Syria

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FILE PHOTO: A Taiwan M109 Special Operations Assault Boat takes part in the annual Han Kuang military exercises at a navy base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, August 8, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Taiwan holds naval drill during war games as China steps up maritime pressure

Reuters

Silhouettes of laptop users are seen next to a screen projection of binary code are seen in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Taiwan says it was targeted last month in AI-driven hacking campaign

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A catering truck is parked on the other side of Air Force One, before U.S. President Donald Trump's departure from Ankara en route to Washington after his participation in the NATO leaders' summit, at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/ABC-TV/Pool/File Photo

Credible missile threat led to secret aircraft switch for Trump, source says

Reuters

US President Donald Trump is shifting strategy on Iran by focusing on sanctions

Trump 'low-key' bets on economic pressure against Iran

Agence France-Presse

Featured Newsletters

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Middle East Minute

Lebanon passes long-awaited amnesty law

Adam Lucente

12 August, 8:40 AM ET

3:57

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

Middle East Minute

Syria sentences Bashar al-Assad to death

Adam Lucente

11 August, 8:44 AM ET

4:13

Interviews

Exclusive conversations with AL-MONITOR.

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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

Why Strait of Hormuz no longer rattles oil markets as much: IMF

A ship sails off the coast of Ajman on July 10, 2026.

Jihad Azour

Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund

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.

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

Libya’s oil revival faces new test as violence returns amid US peace push

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

By Ben Caspit

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

Analysis

Fidan heads to Egypt amid questions over Saudi Arabia-Turkey-Pakistan pact

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

July 29, 2026