Ethnic/Religious Minorities

US President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Feature

Backed by Trump and Turkey, Armenia's Pashinyan eyes third term in pivotal poll

As Russia and the West vie for influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears on track to secure a new mandate for his peace agenda with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi takes part in a demonstration against rising crime rates against Arab-Israelis in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 31, 2026.

Interview

Ahmad Tibi says Arab parties in Israel can block Netanyahu without joining next government

Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Israeli Ta’al party, accused US President Trump of enabling Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue the war in Gaza and escalate settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Israeli Arab lawmaker

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl speaks at a press conference following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Southern California, on May 18, 2026.

Three victims identified in San Diego mosque attack: What to know

One of the victims, Amin Abdullah, was a security guard at the center who "played a pivotal role in preventing this from being much worse," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Ali al-Zaidi

Iraq's Shiite alliance nominates Ali al-Zaidi as PM candidate: What to know

Ali al-Zaidi, who leads a bank accused of money laundering, received support from previous nominee Nouri al-Maliki and incumbent Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, though it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will approve of him.

Latest News

Iran arrests Ahwazi separatist leader amid war crackdown: What to know

Iranians carry the coffin of one of the people killed in a shooting attack, during their funeral in the city of Izeh in Iran's Khuzestan province, on November 18, 2022. In some of the worst violence since the protests erupted, assailants on motorbikes shot dead seven people, including a woman and two children aged nine and 13, at a central market of Izeh on the evening of November 16, 2022, state media said. (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / isna / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI/isna/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz on March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Displacement and dissent: Hezbollah’s war with Israel splits Lebanon’s Shiites

A Hezbollah flag is seen in a destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit (Al-Nabi Shayth), Lebanon, on March 26, 2026. In the first week of March, the Israeli army carried out an unsuccessful nighttime commando operation there to recover the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, triggering airstrikes and destruction in the area that forced residents to flee their homes. (Photo by Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced families set up tents along Beirut's waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10, 2026, after fleeing recent Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

Demonstrators protest over the death of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in front of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC292H96R5RD

Reactions to George Floyd murder reveal Islamist fragility in Turkey

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticizes the United States for racism while pro-government media alleges that the anti-fascist groups in the protests are being supported by outlawed groups in Turkey.

A Bedouin man stands next to a mural depicting Micky Mouse outside a polling station as Israelis vote in a parliamentary election, in the city of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev Desert April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC175CC9E220

Bedouins say Israeli police ignoring violence in their communities

Some characterize the Negev as the Wild West because of the lack of law enforcement.

Sudanese immigrants in Lebanon try crossing border into Israel

In recent months, Sudanese refugees have been trying to enter Israel by slipping across the tense border with Lebanon.

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The killing of George Floyd sparks controversy over African-Iraqi rights

Ongoing protests in the United States over the killing of George Floyd have raised awareness among Iraqis about African-Iraqi rights in the country.

Syriac Christian girls, who are members of the choir, attend a mass on Christmas at the Virgin Mary Syriac Orthodox Church in Diyarbakir, Turkey, December 25, 2017. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - RC1E35E59DE0

Minorities in Turkey on edge amid threats, attacks

Vulnerable groups have faced intimidation or worse in recent weeks in what both the government and the opposition warn are efforts to stoke conflict, though they disagree on who’s to blame.

Intel: Houthis continue to detain Baha’i prisoners despite promise to release them

The political head of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Mehdi al-Mashat, vowed to release six Baha’i prisoners during a lengthy televised address in March. Two months later, multiple sources have confirmed to Al-Monitor that the Yemeni rebels have failed to follow through and that all six prisoners remain behind bars.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 18: Hagia Sophia and its surroundings remain empty during the third day of the 4-day coronavirus restrictions imposed to stem the novel COVID-19 pandemic in Istanbul, Turkey on May 18, 2020. (Photo by Erhan Sevenler/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Ankara unfolds Hagia Sophia card against COVID-19 crisis

Erdogan’s government has signaled it could consider turning the Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque as part of religious messages aimed at keeping its voter base intact under the strain of economic turmoil, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intel: Trump’s religious freedom envoy ‘pleased’ with Iran’s release of Bahai’s

President Donald Trump’s envoy for international religious freedom welcomed the release of some Baha’i political prisoners by Iran and by Yemen’s Houthi rebels while also noting concerns about Iran's treatment of the religious group.

Refugees from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, walk past tents at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, August 17, 2014. Proclaiming a caliphate straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State militants have swept across northern Iraq, pushing back Kurdish regional forces and driving tens of thousands of Christians and members of the Yazidi religious minority from their homes. Picture taken August 17, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLIT

Intel: US watchdog calls on State Department to add Syria to list of religious freedom violators

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should designate Syria as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders and put Iraq, Turkey and Egypt on a special watch list, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its annual report.

Syriacs mark Easter in Turkey amid safety fears

The indictment of a monk on terrorism charges and the mysterious death of an elderly woman has shaken one of the world’s oldest Christian communities as it celebrates Easter during the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli Arabs left to rely on 'self-help' for coronavirus testing

The discrepancy in the Israel government's approach to coronavirus testing in Jewish and Arab communities has put the burden on Arab Knesset members and local Arab authorities to organize to try to keep infections under control in Arab towns and villages.

Members of the Baha'i faith hold flowers as they demonstrate outside a state security court during a hearing in the case of a fellow Baha'i man charged with seeking to establish a base for the community in Yemen, in the country's capital Sanaa April 3, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - GF10000369865

Will Baha'is be released from Yemeni prisons as ordered?

At the end of March, Houthi leaders ordered the release of all Baha'is currently detained in Yemeni prisons, including their leader, but there have been no signs of progress in that direction in the ensuing weeks.