Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meets with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara, Aug. 6, 2026.

Syria's Shibani updates Turkey on Kurds' integration, slams Israel during Ankara visit

The visit highlighted Ankara's growing influence in post-Assad Syria, with the two neighbors expanding strategic coordination on security and regional affairs.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza double game: Back Trump, reassure Israel’s right

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to both give the impression that Israel retains total freedom of action in Gaza while allowing the Board of Peace to move ahead with President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

What to know about Lebanon-Israel 7th round of talks held in Rome

The US, Israel and Lebanon have sent expanded delegations to the talks, set to continue for three days and expected to focus on security arrangements, border issues and reconstruction.

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

A possible Hamas decision to disarm would represent more than a Gaza development, testing Iran's decades-old strategy of projecting power through regional allies.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Turkey, Pakistan among 14 countries backing Saudi Arabia's anti-Houthi Red Sea alliance

A Saudi navy ship is pictured docked at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah before the departure of a team to Port Sudan to help with the evacuation efforts of people fleeing Sudan, on April 29, 2023.

China cuts deal with Houthis, adjusts for long US war with Iran

This aerial photo shows a tanker unloading imported crude oil at a terminal port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on June 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images) / China OUT

Explainer

Tankers keep sailing Red Sea despite Houthi threats as Saudi oil lifeline faces strains

A commercial vessel passes through an international shipping lane off Yemen's Hanish Island in the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.

Explosions illuminate the sky during Israeli strikes on Gaza City on October 10, 2023. Israel said it recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the war's death toll passed 3,000 on October 10, the fourth day of gruelling fighting since the Islamists launched a surprise attack. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Day 4 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 10

This photograph taken on May 24, 2023 shows the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford cruising near Jeloya island, in Moss, south of Oslo. The ship is the world's largest warship and will be in port in Oslo for four days. Russia's embassy in Norway on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 hashly criticised the visit by the US aircraft carrier to Oslo as an "illogical and harmful" show of force. (Photo by Terje Pedersen / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by TERJE PEDERSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon warns Iran, Hezbollah to stay out of Hamas war with Israel

The Biden administration deployed an aircraft carrier strike group in a bid to deter a multi-front war against Israel, but lack of a formal defense treaty with Israel and Congressional authorities could inhibit Washington's ability to respond.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Day 3 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 9

On the third day of our live coverage, Israel called up reservists and was preparing for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

US works to confirm reports 'several Americans' killed, missing in Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said US citizens could be among the more than 100 people the Israeli government said were held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

People standing on a rooftop watch as a ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City on October 7, 2023 during an Israeli air strike that hit the Palestine Tower building. At least 70 people were reported killed in Israel, while Gaza authorities released a death toll of 198 in the bloodiest escalation in the wider conflict since May 2021, with hundreds more wounded on both sides. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel-Saudi normalization falls casualty of Hamas attack

The US-brokered talks were making progress; that’s probably why Iran gave Hamas the green light.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Day 2 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Oct. 8

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Day 1 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Oct. 7

In our first day of live coverage, Hamas militants invaded southern Israel.

Smoke billows from the Babasi oil facility in the countryside of al-Qahtaniya in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province on October 6, 2023 following a Turkish strike. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Delil souleiman has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [BABASI] instead of [BASBASI]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your serve

Turkey escalates airstrikes in Syria, but will it cross US, Russia red lines?

The likelihood of a fresh Turkish ground offensive in northern Syria appears to weaken after the unprecedented shooting down of a Turkish drone by the United States.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York on September 22, 2023. (Photo by BING GUAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BING GUAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's Fidan declares all PKK, YPG facilities in Syria, Iraq 'legitimate targets'

High-level and open threats by Turkey have ramped up fears of a fresh escalation in northern Syria between Turkish forces and Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara deems terrorists.

TOW missile

US sells Oman $70 million worth of TOW antitank missiles

The Biden administration advanced the sale proposal even as Yemen's Houthis have engaged in peace talks in Saudi Arabia last month.

Police presence after the attack in Ankara, Turkey.

PKK claims bomb attack in Turkey’s capital that injured 2 police officers

The attack happened just as the parliament returned from recess and was expected to take on Sweden’s NATO bid.

Members of Wagner group inspect a car in a street of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a "stab in the back" and that the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Wagner fractures in Syria, Libya amid conflict with Russia's Defense Ministry

A month after Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in a plane crash, Russian authorities are attempting to assert control over the parallel military structure.

Anton Mardasov

By Anton Mardasov