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Syrian men stand outside the building of the Iranian Embassy.

Analysis

Iran’s strategy unravels: Assad fall and collapse of Tehran's regional bloc

What began as a bold strategy to challenge Israel and reshape the Middle East’s balance of power now appears increasingly fragile, with Iran’s influence faltering and its allies under siege.

Ali Hashem

Yazar: Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

People celebrate the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad and Baath Party rule, Umayyad Square, Damascus, Dec. 8, 2024.

Analysis

Turkey in post-Assad Syria: Balancing PKK, Jihadist threats & opportunities

Although pleased with the rebel takeover in Syria, Ankara wants to avoid the instability that gripped Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Barin Kayaoglu

Yazar: Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Emiratis wave national flags as citizens celebrate their country's 40 years of independence on National Day, in Abu Dhabi, on Dec. 2, 2011.

Analysis

Gulf’s citizenship industry poised for growth amid new global uncertainty

Flexible visa programs have emerged in the Middle East, fueled by wealthy Gulf states competing to attract foreign investors and skilled professionals as part of their economic diversification strategies.

Samuel Wendel

Yazar: Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey, Israel on collision course in Syria over incursions, Kurdish support

Ankara is concerned that Israel may seek to solidify its territorial gains in Syria, leveraging regional instability and pro-Israel US policies.

Ezgi Akin

Yazar: Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Bavar missiles are displayed during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of Iran's 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, in Tehran on Sept. 21, 2024.

Analysis

Two months on, Iran’s ‘inevitable’ retaliation against Israel stalls, fueling frustration

The Islamic Republic is facing questions about its regional strength, and ferocious criticism from its loyalists, as it rethinks a promised response to Israel's October missile attack amid massive defense setbacks and fears of a yet more devastating cycle of escalation.

A correspondent in Tehran

Yazar: A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

China seeks to protect Syria interests, work with HTS on Uyghur 'threats'

A man rides his scooter past a destroyed mosque and apartment buildings in Harasta, near the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Dec. 19, 2024.

Sabena Siddiqui

Yazar: Sabena Siddiqui

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

US scraps $10M bounty on HTS leader Golani after meeting in Damascus

The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive snatching Damascus from government control, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, waves to the crowd before addressing them at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8, 2024. Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, gave a speech as the crowd chanted "Allahu akbar (God is greatest)," a video shared by the rebels on their Telegram channel showed. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KE

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Turkey appears to want more than Syria’s oil

Pump jacks operate in an oil field in the countryside of al-Qahtaniyah town in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border, on March 11, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Were Israel's Yemen strikes trial run for major attack on Iran?

A banner depicting Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stands next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square, Tehran, Sept. 26, 2024.

Yazar: Ben Caspit

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

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied that militant groups around the region were its proxies

Khamenei says Iran does not have or need regional proxy forces

Agence France-Presse

A relative of Abu Samra family looks on as Palestinians search for survivors after a strike on their home in central Gaza

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 28

Agence France-Presse

A relative of Abu Samra family looks on as Palestinians search for survivors after a strike on their home in central Gaza

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 28

Agence France-Presse

Empty whisky bottles on the bar of a Baghdad club ordered closed by Iraqi security forces

Iraq's prohibition zeal threatens Baghdad's boozy subculture

Agence France-Presse

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The Al-Monitor Brief

What's behind Europe's overtures towards Syria after the fall of Assad?

Adam Lucente interviews Rina Bassist

9:27

Cengiz Candar

On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Turkish lawmaker Cengiz Candar: 'Turkey's endgame is to destroy Kurdish autonomy in Syria'

Amberin Zaman interviews Cengiz Candar

38:22

Adam, Elizabeth, Jared podcast

The Al-Monitor Brief

How does US view the rebel advance in Syria?

Adam Lucente interviews Elizabeth Hagedorn & Jared Szuba

13:40

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Exclusive conversations with Al-Monitor.

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Interview

Azerbaycan’a verilen tavizler nedeniyle Paşinyan’ı devirmek isteyen başpiskopos Al-Monitor’a konuştu

The protest movement leader Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan participates during the rally demanding the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over land transfer to neighboring Azerbaijan, outside the government building in central Yerevan on May 30, 2024.

Bagrat Galstanyan

Bagrat Galstanyan

Armenian Archbishop

Interview

Suriyeli Kürt liderden İran bağlantılı saldırılara 'güçlü karşılık' uyarısı

Salih Muslim, the diplomatic relations official for the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society, and the former co-chairman of the main Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party (PYD), speaks during an interview in his office on August 2, 2018.

Salih Muslim

Salih Muslim

PYD co-chairman

Interview

İran Dışişleri Bakanı: ABD’ye arka kanallardan mesaj gönderdik

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian listens to a question during a press conference with his Saudi counterpart (not pictured) in Tehran, on June 17, 2023.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Foreign Minister of Iran

Interview

Türkiye’ye kaçan Libya Merkez Bankası Başkanı hükümeti ‘darbe’ ile suçluyor

Sadiq al-Kabir

Sadiq al-Kabir

Governor of the Central Bank of Libya

Police officers stand guard outside Libya's Central Bank headquarters in Tripoli on Aug. 27, 2024.

ALM Memos

Executive briefs that lay out scenarios on key issues.

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This picture taken on December 18, 2018 shows a view of electricity transmission towers in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's electricity sector to see significant transformation by 2030

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: A container ship departs the Port of Newark for the Atlantic Ocean on September 30, 2024 seen from New York City. A massive strike that could shut down ports across the East and Gulf coasts could begin at midnight as members of the International Longshoremen’s Association continue to make salary and other demands to the United States Maritime Alliance, which controls many of the ports across the country. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Red Sea, Iran energy threats amplify 2025 global economic risks as trade wars, Trump loom

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Cars drive along a street in front of high-rise buildings in Dubai, on February 18, 2023. - Home to towering skyscrapers and ultra-luxury villas, Dubai saw record real estate transactions in 2022, largely due to an influx of wealthy investors, especially from Russia. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE aims to attract family offices to boost stature as wealth hub

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Analysis

Stay a step ahead of your colleagues.

Analysis

İsrail Esad sonrası Suriye’ye nasıl bakıyor?

Israeli tanks take position near the fence with the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from the rest of Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, Dec. 8, 2024.

Yazar: Ben Caspit

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

Analysis

HTŞ taarruzu: Suriye’deki gidişatı Türkiye’nin kararları da şekillendirecek

Jihadists drive on the international M5 highway in the area Zarbah which was taken over by anti-government fighters on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and allied factions continue their offensive in Syria's northern Aleppo province against government forces.

Amberin Zaman

Yazar: Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Lübnan anlaşmasının ivmesi Gazze'de de ateşkesi getirir mi?

IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Rina Bassist

Yazar: Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

Türkiye’nin Suriye’deki artan nüfuzu İsrail’i düşündürüyor

Yazar: Ben Caspit

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

People hold a banner featuring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as members of the Syrian community and supporters gather to celebrate the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the face of an offensive by Islamist-led rebels, in Istanbul's Fatih district on December 8, 2024. Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive that a UN envoy called "a watershed moment" for the nation marred by civil war. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP) (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN/AF

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Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Contributor

News and Business Correspondent

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

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict