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Sanctions relief and reconstruction: How China benefits from Trump-Iran deal

It is no exaggeration to say that every provision of the 14-point deal favors China.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during a government meeting at the Presidential Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 5, 2025.

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun to visit White House this month, Trump says

The visit would be the first by a Lebanese president to the White House in over a decade.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Trump’s push for Syria to confront Hezbollah is an unlikely bid

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is welcomed by Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on April 24, 2026, on the sidelines of a European summit.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 2026.

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds up a map as he addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - HP1EF9O181E99

Will Erdogan's plans for northern Syria be realized?

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may keep everyone guessing about his next move in Syria, but it is not certain if he has clear plans himself.

Iran's supreme leader vows to continue cuts to nuclear deal commitments

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised that Iran will take further steps back from its nuclear-related commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division clean the barrel of the artillery at a military base north of Mosul, Iraq, February 14, 2017. Picture taken February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily - RC16F437F890

Pentagon to expand brain trauma treatment for terror war veterans

The Defense Department plans to expand a program that transitions veterans of the war on terror in the Middle East from Pentagon health care to the Department of Veterans Affairs to include traumatic brain injuries, a signature wound of the 17-year war.

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1F9D39A050

Looming dilemma for the US: Disarm the YPG or not?

The Trump administration has to decide whether it will disarm the Syrian Democratic Forces and the People's Protection Units to assuage Turkey.

U.S. President Donald Trump sits down to a meeting with of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, including Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R), during their summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC19B4965AE0

Trump intensifies ‘Arab NATO’ talks after Iran strike

The Donald Trump administration is working to push forward with a military alliance of Middle Eastern states as the international community looks to respond to a suspected Iranian attack on a Saudi oil facility.

Members of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) take part in their graduation ceremony at a military camp in Kerbala, Iraq August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC1D99820E90

US pushes Iraq to integrate Iran-backed PMU militias after strikes

The Donald Trump administration is calling on Iraq to demobilize Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units after renewed rocket strikes hit near the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Iraq's president Barham Salih addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - HP1EF9P126TEO

Iraqi president gives priority to job opportunities for youth, calls corruption 'political economy of conflict'

Iraqi President Barham Salih, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, says that in the present climate "talking about another war is just madness."

Russia's President Vladimir†Putin†and Iran's President†Hassan†Rouhani attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan June 14, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1D5F7AAE10

Russia’s future in Iran looks brighter as Europe, US fade

Moscow hopes its efforts to help Iran work around US sanctions will pay off in trade, finance and politics.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 24: Lolwah Rashid Al-Khater, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, speaks at the APCO backstage studio during the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit - Day 2 at Grand Hyatt New York on September 24, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)

Interview

Qatar spokesperson: Blockade 'existential threat' to GCC

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson remains optimistic that diplomacy in Afghanistan remains possible.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon addresses the U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S., December 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC1AE23439C0

Interview

Israel’s UN ambassador says crisis with Iran 'brings us closer' to Arab states

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Danny Danon says Iran is "lying all the way" about its nuclear program — "We proved it to the world.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is greeted by Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa after arriving at Manama International Airport in Manama, Bahrain, January 11, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC18014FB370

Bahrain would welcome 'new JCPOA' if Iran ends 'toxic' behavior

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the foreign minister of Bahrain, says his country is "not shy" about working with the United States to support peace and prosperity in the region.

US embassy charge d'affaires Jeffrey Hovenier (L) leaves the Caglayan courthouse on May 15, 2019, in Istanbul, after US consular staffer Metin Topuz was ordered to remain in custody after the latest hearing in his trial on espionage charges -- part of a growing rift between Washington and Ankara. - Topuz was arrested in 2017 and accused of contacts with police and a prosecutor suspected of ties to US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says ordered an attempted coup in 2016. (Photo by Bulent

Intel: How Congress is trying to get US prisoners out of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey