Interviews

Exclusive conversations with Al-Monitor.

Ami Ayalon, a candidate for the Israeli Labor Party leadership, arrives to vote in the second and decisive round of party primaries on June 12, 2007, in Geva Carmel, northern Israel.

Ayalon: Netanyahu firing Shin Bet chief to shield inner circle from Qatar probe

Oman's Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim Al Aufi arrives for the 45th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 5, 2022.

Interview

Oman banking on hydrogen, renewables in diversified energy strategy

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Oman’s energy and minerals minister is charting a course for affordable, sustainable energy and welcomes international investors.

Salim Al Aufi

Salim Al Aufi

Oman Minister of Energy and Minerals

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian listens during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart at the foreign ministry headquarters in Iran's capital Tehran on June 23, 2022.

Interview

Iran ‘ready to provide answers’ on nuclear probes, FM says

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discusses the nuclear talks, the prospects for a prisoner exchange and the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Foreign Minister of Iran

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi meets Jordanian King Abdullah at the UN General Assembly's high-level week in September 2022.

Interview

Iraq’s political class must address 'crisis of trust,' says PM

In an exclusive interview, Mustafa al-Kadhimi also discusses Iraq’s shift to regional hub for diplomacy and economic progress despite strong political headwinds.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi

Mustafa al-Kadhimi

Prime Minister of Iraq

Lebanons caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 21, 2022.

Interview

Lebanese prime minister praises US mediation toward gas deal with Israel

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Najib Mikati also says Lebanon should sign IMF agreement ‘as soon as possible.’

Najib Mitaki

Najib Mitaki

Prime Minister of Lebanon

Frej

Interview

Israeli Minister Frej joins Palestinian aid summit in Brussels

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Israel’s Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej said that while a strong Palestinian Authority is "of course a Palestinian interest ... it is also an Israeli and international interest."

Esawi Frej

Esawi Frej

Minister for Regional Cooperation of Israel

UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinians Francesca Albanese.

Interview

Israel’s occupation has crossed the ‘red line of legality,’ says new UN rapporteur

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the newly appointed UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, speaks about her plans to address human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, while fending off a smear campaign launched against her by Israel.

Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on January 24, 2019. - Any deal between Syria's Kurds and the Damascus regime should respect the "special status" of Kurdish-led forces who fought the Islamic State (IS) group, Kobani said. The SDF control around a third of Syria after expelling jihadists from a large northeastern swathe of t

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander sees chance to ease tensions with Turkey under Biden

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Mazlum Kobane said the former vice president's victory may well spell change in Ankara’s behavior.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Interview

Chief rabbi of Iran: Israel does not represent Judaism

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Rabbi Yehuda Garami, chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Iran, explains about their daily lives and why he paid a condolence visit to the family of assassinated Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

Yehuda Garami

Yehuda Garami

Chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Iran

Interview

SDF commander says Kurds ready for dialogue if Ankara is sincere

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor in northeast Syria, Gen. Mazlum Kobane speaks on a range of issues including prospects for reviving dialogue with Turkey, US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria and the impact of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani's killing in Iraq.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

President of the Kurdistan region in Iraq Nechirvan Barzani sits in a shaft of window light as he greets U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in the VIP terminal at Erbil International Airport in Erbil, Iraq November 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC23HD91WQR6

Interview

Iraqi Kurdistan president: 'We are not scared of Iran, but we respect Iran'

Assessing the aftermath of Qasem Soleimani's death, KRG President Nechirvan Barzani, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, calls for a reasoned, negotiated approach to Iraq's problems and for the Kurdish issue in the region.

Nechirvan Barzani

Nechirvan Barzani

President of the Kurdistan Regional Government

Interview

Saudi Arabia still awaiting signs of ‘goodwill’ from Iran

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud talks about the "dramatic effect" of the September attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, and says there will be no official Saudi contacts with Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved.

Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud

Prince Turki bin Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud

Former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US

Interview

UAE minister draws on the past to seize possibilities of AI future

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s minister of artificial intelligence, laid out his country's approach to AI, stating, “We do not believe that we need to wait and be followers in the AI revolution. We need to take the lead.”

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