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

AL-MONITOR Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) arrives at the Palais Brongniart for the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on June 22, 2023. Dozens of global leaders are gathering in Paris on June 22 for a summit to tease out a new consensus on international economic reforms to help debt-burdened developing countries face a growing onslaught of challenges, particularly climate change. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Top White House officials meet MBS to talk Saudi-Israel normalization

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Syrian refugees salvage belongings from the wreckage of their shelters at a camp set on fire overnight in the northern Lebanese town of Bhanine on Dec. 27, 2020.

Fire engulfs Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon as plight grows

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

A US Navy Martin UAV drone flies over the Gulf waters as Royal Bahrain Naval Force Abdulrahman Al Fadhel takes part in joint naval exercise between US 5th Fleet Command and Bahraini forces, Oct. 26, 2021.

Pentagon sends US Marines to deter Iran tanker seizures in Persian Gulf

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

This combination of pictures created on April 1, 2018 shows a file photo taken on November 19, 2017 of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attending the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem and a file photo taken on December 15, 2017 of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the inauguration ceremony of Turkey's first automated urban metro line on the Asian side of Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Benjamin Netanyahu on April 1, 2018 of being "a terrorist" after the I

Israel's Netanyahu to visit Turkey after 14 years as ties with Erdogan improve

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

The UN-chartered vessel MV Valsamitis is loaded to deliver 25,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat to Kenya and 5,000 tonnes to Ethiopia, at the port of Chornomorsk, east of Odessa on the Black Sea coast, Feb. 18, 2023.

Turkey, Russia discuss Ukraine grain export deal after Moscow halts pact

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

US Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands while giving joint statements at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 9, 2016. Biden implicitly criticised Palestinian leaders for not condemning attacks against Israelis, as an upsurge in violence marred his visit. / AFP / POOL / DEBBIE HILL (Photo credit should read DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden extends invite to Israel's Netanyahu to visit US

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur returns the ball to Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur stuns Sabalenka, advances to Wimbledon's final

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

This photo taken on July 10, 2012, in Ankara shows people at a traditional "doner" fast food restaurant. In Turkey 35% of the population has accumulated excess body fat to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. The Turkish health ministry has launched a campaign calling on Turks to be more active. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Bahrain, Turkey are Middle East's biggest eaters: Oxford rankings

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Lebanese TV station LBCIs anchorwoman Dima Sadek arrives at a Beirut court on November 4, 2015, as she appeared before a judge on the backdrop of a complaint filed by Hezbollah against her. The lawsuit was filed after Sadek hosted a TV episode on corruption, accusing Hezbollah of being involved in corrupt operations. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Outrage in Lebanon as journalist Dima Sadek sentenced to prison

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Turkish minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek,(L) speaks with minister of Energy and Natural Resourcesand Alparslan Bayraktar,(R) during the group meeting of Justice and Development (AK) Party at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's finance, banking chiefs to visit Saudi Arabia in search of foreign funds

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2R), Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi (2L) arrive for a joint press conference following a meeting of Sergei Lavrov with his counterparts of the GCC member states in Moscow on July 10, 2023. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In Moscow, Russia's Lavrov welcomes Gulf states' rapprochement with Iran

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats cruise past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

US confirms Iran’s IRGC seized tanker smuggling fuel in Gulf

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff