Ethnic/Religious Minorities

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.

Analysis

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

As the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts around 20% of global oil supply, experts point to opportunities and challenges facing a renewed push to develop alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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)

Analysis

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

The renewed Israel war against Hezbollah in Lebanon has divided the Shiite community, with some still backing the group as resistance against Israel’s expansionist vision and others refusing to pay the price of foreign conflicts.

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

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

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced Shiites are facing growing resentment from host communities in areas outside of Hezbollah’s control in Lebanon amid uncertainty over their return to southern Lebanon, where Israeli attacks and advances signal a potential ground invasion.

Rabbi Daniel Walker and King Charles III view floral tributes during a visit to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Oct. 20, 2025, in Manchester, England.

UK, Netherlands probe Iran links to plots targeting Jewish sites: What to know

British authorities said two men had spied on the Jewish community in London for Iran, and synagogues were recently targeted in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Latest News

Analysis

Turkey cautious but unfazed by US plan to mobilize Iranian Kurds against regime

A group of Peshmergas of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) walks during military training near one of their bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on March 1, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Which 6 Kurdish groups could join the war in Iran?

A picture from the formation of the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan on Feb. 22, 2026.

Amid chatter of local uprisings, eyes turn to Iran's minorities: What to know

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Syria begins prisoner exchange with Druze militia in south: What to know

Suwayda

Russian Jews not Jewish enough for Israel's chief rabbi

In maligning immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef ignores that contrary to his ultra-Orthodox congregants, they contribute to Israel's economy and risk their lives serving in the military.

For many Gazans, it's another Christmas barred from Bethlehem

While most of Gaza's Christians submitted requests to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, only a small number were granted access by Israel.

Should Jewish refugees from Arab countries be compensated?

An Israeli-government project estimates that Jews who fled Arab countries and immigrated to Israel left behind $150 billion in property, and the prime minister has been authorized by law to seek compensation for it in any peace deal.

Jewish museums in Istanbul focus on upside of integration

Jews have been living in Turkey for many centuries, and both the Sephardim from Spain and then Ashkenazim from Eastern Europe boast their own museums.

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2ZED9OQ503

Liberman spawns 'alliance of the underprivileged'

Attacks by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman on Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties has pushed the two groups into a surprising alliance.

Ancient Kurdish festival offers taste of enduring love, mysticism

Mythology, mysticism and tributes to love dominate the Pir-Shalyar wedding festival in a rocky Kurdish village in western Iran.

Egypt's Sephardim explore Jewish roots in quest for Spanish citizenship

Egypt's minuscule Jewish community has taken advantage of a chance to gain Spanish nationality, though will stay in Egypt if they get it.

Incitement and the poet: Dareen Tatour's legal victory

The Israeli Supreme Court recently declined to review a district court ruling that a poem by Dareen Tatour did not constitute incitement.

Osama al-Nujaifi (R), speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, and Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Rose Nuri Shaways sit as they attend a session at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad July 1, 2014. Sunnis and Kurds abandoned the first meeting of Iraq's new parliament on Tuesday after Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister to replace al-Maliki, wrecking hopes that a unity government would be swiftly built to save Iraq from collapse. Parliament is not likely to meet again for at least a week, leavi

Third coalition arises in Iraq to vie for Sunni leadership

Former Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi has formed a new Sunni coalition in Iraq, but the "alliance" seems to indicate further division in Sunni political ranks.

Iraqi decision to remove Shabak PMU from Ninevah Plains stirs conflict

A dispute over the presence of Popular Mobilization Units in the Ninevah Plains raises concerns about the recurrence of conflict in the area.

An Arab Israeli woman casts her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on April 9, 2019 at a polling station in the northern Israeli town of Taiyiba. - Israelis voted today in a high-stakes election that will decide whether to extend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long right-wing tenure despite corruption allegations or to replace him with an ex-military chief new to politics. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

What really matters to Israeli Arab voters

The problem that most concerns Israel's Palestinian citizens is personal safety, an issue on which the Blue and White could make significant positive contributions and in doing so attract Arab voters, potentially breaking the prevailing electoral deadlock with the right.

Mandaeans perform religious rituals during the Benja festival along the Tigris river in Baghdad March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad - GF10000347592

Iraqi Mandaeans fear extinction

The Mandaean community in Iraq is dwindling to such low numbers that its members fear extinction.