Middle East

The United States is on track to withdraw its remaining forces from Iraq by September 30, according to US and Iraqi officials who spoke with the Associated Press, marking the latest and potentially final stage of a military intervention that began with Washington’s 2003 invasion and occupation of …

 Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh The signing of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan on 7 August 2026 represents one of the most consequential developments in the reconfiguration of the Middle East’s security architecture in decades. The agreement establishes a collective-defence principle under which aggression …

Amir Soltanzadeh Iran says a shipping accord with Oman is in its final stages, but analysts warn sanctions, security concerns and rival US-Iran goals could limit its impact. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said this week that an agreement with Oman, which lies on the other side …

How to control a technology whose spread and capabilities are outpacing our ability to manage its risks? That question has become increasingly urgent with the rise of artificial intelligence. One answer seemed to stand out: Keep the most powerful models under close supervision by limiting their release and …

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Iranian separatist groups have begun digging trenches and tunnels along the border with Iran, according to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Sulaymaniyah. Fighters have been redeployed from the Duhok mountains and northeastern Syria to the Iranian border, our correspondent reported, with heavy engineering …

Eng. Salem Al-Batayneh I often find myself puzzled when I sit down to write an article. I wonder how certain scenes, events, and reckless slips of the tongue suddenly emerge in public discourse—expressions so careless and so intellectually shallow that they reveal how far rationality has sometimes been …

Israeli newspaper Maariv said the explosive blast that killed two Israeli soldiers in Majdal Zoun, southern Lebanon, signals a troubling shift for “Israel”, describing it as evidence that Hezbollah is “changing the rules of the game,” an assessment the paper said has rattled the Israeli military. Maariv said …

Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton View image in fullscreenIllustration: Jordan Bohannon/The Guardian/Getty Images/White House In 1948, with war raging in Palestine, Harry Truman found himself trapped. On one side were Zionist lobbyists and the president’s domestic political advisers, who were urging him to support the establishment of a …

Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh The latest U.S.–Iran war has done more than expose the volatility of the Middle East. It has exposed the exhaustion of the region’s post-Cold War security model. For decades, Middle Eastern states relied on an implicit strategic bargain: the United States would remain the principal …