United Nations

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike that targeted a building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 19, 2025.

US military to start Gaza ceasefire monitoring as international force plans stall

Diplomatic snags and concerns that their troops could be caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israel are raising questions about a US proposal to stabilize postwar Gaza with an international force, despite "great optimism" cited by US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday.

ABDELRAHMAN RASHAD/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

FIFA, Arab League, World Bank: Who's pledging what toward Gaza’s $70B reconstruction?

More than 90% of Gaza’s residential buildings have been damaged, and nearly 70% of all structures have either been severely damaged or leveled over the course of the war.

Khaled El-Enany, Egyptologist and former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, speaks during an interview with AFP at a hotel in Paris on April 10, 2025.

Culture

UNESCO backs Egypt's Khaled el-Enany as next director-general, first Arab in post

Enany would be the first Egyptian and the first Arab to serve as the agency’s director-general.

Former senior commander of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman.

In a first, ICC convicts Sudanese militia leader of Darfur war crimes

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.

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Analysis

How far will China, Russia go in shielding Iran from UN sanctions?

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) welcomes Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov (L) and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazeem Gharibabadi.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

'Prepared for any scenario': What are Iran's options after sanctions snapback?

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 24, 2025 in New York City.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Pentagon pushes to accelerate ISIS detainee repatriations from Syria

Women and children walk at the Al-Amal Camp (formerly Al-Jadaa), south of Mosul in northern Iraq, which houses Iraqi families who have been repatriated from Syria's Al-Hol camp, on May 8, 2025.

Analysis

Netanyahu sidesteps Trump's Gaza plan at UN as US presses Israel to end war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (L) talks to US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025, in Washington.

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

President Donald Trump (C-R) and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-L) listen during a multilateral meeting with leaders from several Arab and Muslim-majority countries at the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City.

Trump presents Gaza plan to Arab, Muslim leaders at UNGA

As international pressure builds during UNGA week, Trump pitched Arab and Muslim leaders on a plan for ending the war in Gaza and the handling of its governance.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a joint press conference following the signing of an Egypt-backed agreement on practical modalities to resume nuclear inspections on the Iranian nuclear program on Sept. 9, 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.

Araghchi pushes last-ditch diplomacy at UN as Iran braces for sanctions snapback

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pursued urgent diplomacy in New York to block the looming snapback of UN sanctions, warning Western powers against "confrontation," as lawmakers at home demanded radical revisions of Tehran's nuclear doctrine.

President Donald Trump (R) speaks with President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), as they arrive for the North Atlantic Council Plenary Session on the second day of the 2025 NATO Summit on June 25, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands.

Turkey’s Erdogan eyes F-35s, Kurdish concessions in White House talks with Trump

Erdogan is pressing Washington for a return to the F-35 program and a rollback of US support for Kurdish forces, even as Congress signals resistance.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

In UN speech, Trump slams allies’ Palestine recognition as 'reward' to Hamas

President Donald Trump spoke on the heels of France, the United Kingdom and other countries endorsing Palestinian statehood.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City on Sept. 22, 2025.

In UN spotlight, Syria’s Sharaa meets Rubio in New York

Ahmed al-Sharaa is set to become the first Syrian president since 1967 to address the annual United Nations summit.

National Security Advisor Michael Waltz speaks on a panel titled Designing the DoD for the 21st Century Battlefield at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Senate confirms Mike Waltz as Trump’s UN ambassador ahead of UNGA summit

The vote comes days ahead of President Donald Trump's address to the annual gathering of the UN General Assembly.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Analysis

From Palestine push to Sharaa’s UN debut: What to watch at UN summit

The annual international get-together will feature a wave of Palestinian statehood recognition, the Syrian president’s United Nations debut and possible 11th-hour diplomacy with Iran.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Riyad Mansour, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the conflict in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on April 29, 2025 in New York City. The Security Council held a meeting on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds its second day of hearings into Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians after more than 50 days of Israel’

Palestine UN envoy: Ramallah bracing for Israeli retaliation amid UN recognition push

Palestinians aim to press for recognition and international support at the UN next week, with envoy Riyad Mansour telling Al-Monitor that the coming days will be critical.

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen addresses a press conference in Damascus on Jan. 22, 2025.

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen steps down after six years

Pedersen is leaving as Syria continues to grapple with political upheaval, humanitarian crises and ongoing conflict.

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

US lists 4 Iran-backed Iraqi militias as foreign terrorist organizations

Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited the militias' repeated attacks on US and coalition forces across Iraq.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

142 back, 10 oppose French-Saudi roadmap for two-state solution at UN: What to know

The text initiated by France and Saudi Arabia for the implementation of the two-state-solution was adopted Friday by the United Nations General Assembly with a large majority.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (L) welcomes Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (R) to Hamad International Airport in Doha, on Sept. 10, 2025.

UAE president visits Qatar, bans Israel from Dubai Airshow after Doha strikes

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan threw his country’s support behind Qatar, saying the Israeli strikes on Qatari territory violated international laws.