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Syria

September 17, 2026

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Assala Nasri (C) attends the 2025 Joy Awards at The Venue, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 18, 2025.

Culture

Syrian singer Assala returns to Damascus stage after 15-year exile

The Syrian star, one of the Arab world’s most famous artists, had been in self-exile since 2011 after she openly supported the uprising against the since-ousted Assad government.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, Sept. 15, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa talks economic ties with UAE leader: What to know

The UAE is moving to boost trade and investment ties with Syria amid the conflicts in the region and following initial caution in its dealings with Damascus.

Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images

Fuel price protests in Syria continue for second day: What to know

The Syrian government hiked fuel prices by more than 28%, prompting massive protests across at least eight provinces.

Two women stand before graffiti on the cemetery wall for victims of the chemical massacre, on Aug. 21, 2025 in Zamalka, Syria.

UN watchdog formally ends probe into Assad-era nuclear sites

The vote follows last month's visit by international inspectors to two suspected former nuclear sites in Syria.

Latest News

Syria destroys 42 bombs in chemical stockpile purge: What to know

Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images

Fresh fighting in Syria's Suwayda leaves one dead: What to know

Tribal and Bedouin fighters deploy in the western neighborhood of southern Syria's predominantly Druze city of Suwayda amid clashes with Druze gunmen on July 19, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Can Turkey, Iran Cooperate on Syria?

Working with Iran could help end Turkey’s growing isolation over the Syrian civil war.

A general view shows people attending a candle-lit vigil at the Balamand Monastery in Koura, near the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, to call for the release of bishops kidnapped in northern Syria two months ago, June 22, 2013. Greek Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi led the candle-lit vigil on Saturday for Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, appealing to their kidnappers to free them and urging Syrian security forces to do more to win their release. REUTERS/Om

New Information Indicates Kidnapped Syrian Bishops Still Alive

The two Syrian bishops kidnapped in April are still alive, according to new information, and Turkish authorities may be working to secure their release.

Syrian refugees work to help produce concrete blocks in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon September 21, 2013. Female Syrian refugees of the Masari family, who fled from the Aleppo countryside in Syria a year ago, worked alongside their husbands in the concrete producing factory owned by a Lebanese man, according to the workers. Each Syrian couple produces 700 concrete blocks a day and earns a combined wage of $50, the refugees said. Picture taken September 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: BUSINESS CONS

In Lebanon, Syrian Refugees Put Political Differences Aside

Syrian refugees in Lebanon try to avoid the divisions that are fueling the war at home.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13YDW

Obama, Rouhani Stress Diplomacy But Do Not Meet

The presidents of the US and Iran suggest they can resolve their differences peacefully in dueling speeches at the UN General Assembly.

Fighters from Iraq's Islamist Shi'ite militias pose for pictures before departing to Syria from Baghdad, June 11, 2013. Syria is splintering the Middle East along a divide between the two main denominations of Islam, becoming a battlefield in a proxy war between Assad's main regional ally, Shi'ite Iran, and his Sunni enemies in Turkey and the Gulf Arab states. As the Syrian war grinds into its third year, sectarian killings are increasing, while hardline Sunni clerics are declaring Jihad or holy war on the

Tracing Syrian Conflict Back to Iraq’s Civil War

The relationship between Iraq and Syria has always been close, yet contradictory, with some arguing that the economic and political results of the Iraqi civil war led to the outbreak of Syria’s current conflict.

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH
Blood covers the walls and furniture of a restaurant after a suicide bombing, at al-Basel Sport city in Aleppo, August 22, 2013. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in the crowded restaurant during a private party, killing at least seven people according to Syria's national news agency SANA. Picture taken August 22, 2013. REUTERS/George Ourfalian (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT BUSINESS) TEMPLATE OUT - RTX1

Al-Qaeda's Latest Target: Syria's Civilian Activists

Opposition activists are being targeted by al-Qaeda fighters in rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

Lebanese army soldiers are deployed on their armoured vehicles in Beirut's southern suburbs September 23, 2013. Lebanese security personnel were deployed today in the southern suburbs of Beirut, part of a move to take over the checkpoints set up by Hezbollah after recent car bombings targeted the area, according to the local media. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13WWO

Nasrallah Warns Turkey, Gulf on Syria

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah speaks on Syria and the region.

Turkish soldiers salute during a ceremony marking the 91st anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 30, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX131DP

Turkey Should Postpone Bill On Sending Troops Abroad

It is not time for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to ask the parliament to pass a new bill authorizing sending troops abroad, including Syria.

Turkish soldiers patrol on the Turkish-Syrian border in the town of Ceylanpinar in Sanliurfa province July 19, 2013. Kurdish militias have sought to consolidate their grip in northern Syria after exploiting the chaos of the country's civil war over the past year by seizing control of districts as President Bashar al-Assad's forces focused elsewhere. The clashes have reduced to the odd burst of gunfire, but days of heavy exchanges last month sent stray shells and bullets crashing onto the Turkish side. The T

Impressions From Turkey’s Syrian Frontier

A visit to Turkey’s border with Syria provides context for the complexity of Ankara’s choices in dealing with the Syria war.

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraq border October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they

Syrian Opposition, Kurd Agreement Irrelevant Without PYD

The Syrian National Coalition will need to reach an agreement with the powerful Democratic Union Party if it truly wants to win Kurdish support.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani (L) during a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, September 13, 2013. Rouhani said on Friday that he wanted a swift resolution to a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Western states fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (KYRGYZSTAN - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD

Rouhani Heads to New York, Offers Help On Syria Talks

Al-Monitor’s analysis and coverage of what to expect at the UN General Assembly this week.

Kurdish Parties Build Alliance To Curb Barzani’s Power in Syria

On the eve of elections in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the Kurdish question in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria becomes even more entangled.