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An Iraqi police officer stands guard as a man walks beneath a billboard bearing a portrait of Iran's slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Baghdad on March 25, 2026. Iraq will submit a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council over strikes in its territory, the office of the prime minister said on March 25, following an attack in the country's west that killed seven security personnel. Iraq has been drawn into the Middle East war triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbour Iran

Breaking

Last Updated: March 25, 2026, 12:44 pm

Iran rejects Trump's proposal for ceasefire as US dispatches forces

Iran has outlined five conditions for a ceasefire, most of which are seen as nonstarters by the Trump administration.

Iran

Saudi Arabia launches new Bahrain maritime link as Hormuz routes strain

The service connects King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with Bahrain’s Khalifa Bin Salman Port.

Saudi Arabia

The president of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, visited the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, March 25, 2026, where she met with the president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, at the El Mouradia Presidential Palace.

Analysis

Italy, Spain eye Algerian gas as Iran war slashes Gulf supplies

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algiers Wednesday in an effort maximize additional gas supplies from the North African nation.

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division walk to a C-17 Globemaster III before an airborne operation at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, March 13, 2025.

US readies 3,000 additional troops for Iran war: What to know

The deployment of US Army paratroopers could give the Trump administration additional options to escalate the war against Iran, including the potential seizure of strategically important terrain.

Iran

Smoke and fire rise in the direction of the fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, following a drone strike amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Al-Dajeej, Kuwait, March 25, 2026, in this still image obtained from a social media video. Social Media/via REUTERS

Drone attack hits fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport causing fire

Reuters

Latest News

Analysis

Meet Bagher Zolghadr, a hard-line IRGC veteran now Iran's security chief

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the new secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is pictured in this undated photo.

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Iran's first strike on Iraqi Kurdish forces since war began a warning to US allies

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran inspects the damage sustained at the Azadi Camp following an Iranian cross-border attack in the town of Koye, east of Erbil district, on March 3, 2026.

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Israel hedges, intensifies Iran and Lebanon strikes ahead of Trump talks

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the eastern outskirts of the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 24, 2026. Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has since launched strikes across Lebanon, killing at least 1,039 people and displacing more than a million others, and sent ground troops into the country's south. (Ph

By Ben Caspit

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

Analysis

Pakistan emerges as mediator but faces limitations in Iran-Trump standoff

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (C) speaks as US President Donald Trump (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (R) watch during the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit on Oct. 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

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Israel continues to carry out air strikes on Gaza despite a ceasefire since October 10, 2025

Gaza civil defence says Israeli strike kills one, tents on fire

Agence France-Presse

The remains of a motorbike used by two paramedics killed in an Israeli strike lie at the site, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in Nabatieh, Lebanon, March 25, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

In Lebanon, paramedics mourn their own killed in Israeli strike

Reuters

Analysts expect Israel to continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon even if the war in Iran ends

Trump eyes Iran deal, but no end in sight for Israel war in Lebanon

Agence France-Presse

UN needs more funds to help people displaced by Mideast war, refugee chief says

Reuters

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The Al-Monitor Brief

Is Israel achieving its goals in Iran and Lebanon?

Ben Caspit joins Adam Lucente

20 March, 8:30 AM ET

16:55

On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Friends with some benefits: Why Russia cannot overtly support Iran

Nicole Grajewski joins Amberin Zaman

17 March, 6:56 PM ET

18:33

The Al-Monitor Brief

Iranians flee into Turkey as war, protest crackdown take toll: Dispatch from the border

Ezgi Akin joins Adam Lucente

13 March, 11:21 AM ET

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Interview

Yadlin: Israel's war goal to weaken Iran, not immediate regime change

Retired Israeli general and executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Interview

Huckabee confirms US-Israel alignment on Iran, says Hamas will disarm 'sooner or later'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel, testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, March 25, 2025.

Interview

AI, cybersecurity high on Mideast priorities amid global tech rivalry: Tech Mahindra

A man and woman walk along a promenade overlooking the Burj al-Arab and Dubai skyline on January 4, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Ex-Israeli security official: Netanyahu pushed US, Israel into Iran war without imminent threat

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

Meet Bagher Zolghadr, a hard-line IRGC veteran now Iran's security chief

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Iran's first strike on Iraqi Kurdish forces since war began a warning to US allies

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Pakistan emerges as mediator but faces limitations in Iran-Trump standoff

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Analysis

Italy, Spain eye Algerian gas as Iran war slashes Gulf supplies

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Ezgi Akin at Turkey's Kapikoy border crossing

Al-Monitor's Ezgi Akin at Turkey-Iran Border Crossing

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Rebecca Anne Proctor in Dubai offering an update on US-Israel-Iran war

Dubai: Day 7 of US-Israel-Iran War

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Joyce Karam, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Holly Dagres, and Ali Hashem

Are the US and Iran closer to war or a deal?

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0:59

Saudi Arabia's former and new investment ministers side by side

Saudi Arabia names new investment minister as Vision 2030 funding lags

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Past

AL-Monitor Global Institute hosts food security forum with Dr. Conrad Rein

On October 16, 2025, the AL-Monitor Global Institute hosted Dr. Conrad Rein, Secretary of the Global Flagship Initiative for Food Security, alongside representatives from multilateral development banks and the private sector for a discussion on food security in the Middle East and Africa.

Washington, DC

October 16, 2025 11:00 EDT

Past

AL-Monitor Global Institute hosts Digital Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya

On Sept. 21, 2025, the AL-Monitor Global Institute hosted Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization, for a discussion on digital inclusion and economic empowerment in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

New York, NY

September 21, 2025 17:00 EDT

Past

Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani at AL-Monitor Global Institute

AL-Monitor Global Institute hosts Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright

On May 22, 2025, the AL-Monitor Global Institute hosted Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in Washington DC to discuss the future of power and energy in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Washington, DC

May 22, 2025 10:30 EDT

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