Features

Features Streaks of light illuminate the sky during an interception attempt, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, March 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Questions Over Israel’s Interceptor Stockpiles as Middle East War Drags on

The ability of Israel's highly sophisticated air defenses to keep intercepting Iranian attacks is coming under scrutiny as the Middle East war drags on into a…

Features Map showing the Strait of Hormuz, alongside a 3D-printed model of US President Donald Trump (Reuters)

Middle East Power Struggle Faces Defining Moment

Perhaps the worst-case scenario long feared in decision-making circles has come true. With the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Washington and Tel…

Joe Macaron
Features FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking following the official signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, during a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Why Pakistan Has Emerged as a Mediator between US and Iran

As fears of a wider regional conflict escalate following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began in late February, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A woman holds a poster depicting Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during an anti-US and anti-Israeli rally, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

With Top Figures Dead, Who Is Now Running Iran?

Iran's veteran ‌supreme leader and a host of other top figures and Revolutionary Guards commanders have been killed in US-Israeli strikes, but the ruling…

Features A satellite imagery taken on February 1, 2026, shows a new roof over a previously destroyed building at Isfahan nuclear site, Iran. (2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via Reuters)

Report: Iran Hardliners Ramp up Calls for a Nuclear Bomb

The debate among Iranian hardliners over whether Tehran should seek a nuclear bomb in defiance of an escalating US-Israeli attack is getting louder, more…

Features  Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheibani (Iranian media)

Sheibani, an Iranian Diplomat with Intelligence Clout

Only weeks after Iranian diplomat Mohammad Reza Sheibani returned to Beirut as ambassador, his name has become the focus of a diplomatic crisis. Lebanon’s…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features Zolghadr speaks in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, December 2020.

Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr: A Man with Strong Connections at the Heart of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr was not an unfamiliar figure when he was appointed on Tuesday as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. One week after…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Features Iranian Ambassador to Syria Mohammad Reza Sheibani, shows his ink-stained finger as he votes in the first round of the Iranian presidential election on June 14, 2013 at the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus. (AFP)

Expulsion of Iran Ambassador Tests Diplomacy between Beirut and Tehran

Diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Iran have entered a new phase with Beirut’s unprecedented withdrawal on Tuesday of its approval of the accreditation…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features PMF chief Falih al-Fayadh and his chief of staff Abdulaziz al-Muhammadawi. (PMF file photo)

Falih al-Fayadh, a ‘Cunning’ Player Who Survived Saddam and the US

Despite his “modest and calm” appearance, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces chief Falih al-Fayadh is widely seen, including by rivals, as a “cunning” operator…

Fadhel al-Nashmi (Baghdad)
Features Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi adjusts glasses during a press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2025. (Reuters)

‘A Top Person’: Who Is the US Dealing with in Iran?

He is, according to President Donald Trump, a "top person" in the Iranian system who is "most respected" and is in an unenviable position. But who is the…

Features  Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, left, waves to residents as he visits the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 12, 2024. (AP)

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Is Floated as a Possible US Contact in Talks as War Rages

Long before he became Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went on a charm offensive for almost two decades, portraying himself as a hard-liner…

Features A worker operates a wheel loader to convey heaps of raw coal into train carriages, excavated from an open-cast mine on the outskirts of Dhanbad, in India's Jharkhand state on August 13, 2025. (AFP)

Back to Black: Facing Energy Shock, Asia Turns to Coal

Asian countries are ramping up use of polluting coal to tackle energy shortages and price spikes linked to the Iran war, but the crisis could have an…

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Features Tankers sail in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Five Options Under Consideration to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Luke Broadwater, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt* Washington: As the United States presses ahead with its military campaign against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz…

Features An aerial view of Diego Garcia Island where the joint military base between Britain and the United States is located. (AP)

What to Know About Diego Garcia After Iran Targets the Remote Island’s Key US Military Base

Iran has launched missiles at Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean island that is home to a strategic UK-US military base. Britain condemned “Iran’s reckless…

Features A picture shows damaged buildings and destroyed vehicles following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Haret Hreik neighborhood in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 21, 2026. (AFP)

How Iran’s IRGC Rebooted Lebanon’s Hezbollah to Be Ready for War

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) rebuilt Hezbollah's military command after it was mauled by Israel in 2024, plugging gaps with Iranian officers before…

Features In this image from video circulating on social media, protesters dance and cheer around a bonfire as they take to the streets of Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)

A Wave of Executions Is Feared in Iran After 3 Young Men Were Hanged This Week

A 19-year-old star wrestler and two other young men were hanged in Iran this week, raising alarm among rights groups that a wave of executions may be underway…

Features US President Donald Trump (R), with Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), responds to a question from the news media as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 20 March 2026. (EPA)

Trump’s Iran War Rattles US Swing Voters Ahead of Midterms

Donald Trump's war with Iran is weighing on independent US voters, a crucial bloc likely to determine if the president's Republican Party maintains control of…

Features Trump, emboldened by his January operation in Venezuela, has held out hope for working with a figure within the Iranian republic -- while Israel has openly declared it will kill any high-ranking Iranian official it sees. Jim WATSON / AFP

US, Israel Tactics Diverge on Iran as Trump's Goals Still 'Fuzzy'

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both praise their relationship as excellent, but after three weeks of attacking Iran,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features 12 October 2024, Lebanon, Beirut: Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Beirut. (Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa)

Ghalibaf: Iran’s New Strongman Running War Effort

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards, has emerged as the highest-profile political figure in the…

Features  People who work as delivery drivers for the Toters delivery app stand outside a delivery center in Beirut, Lebanon, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)

As Israel Expands Strikes on Beirut, Delivery Drivers Steer Clear of Danger

Lebanese food courier Hamza Hareb now keeps his distance if he spots a car with tinted windows while on a delivery run in Beirut. Hezbollah is rumored to use…

Features Damage after a rocket fired by Hezbollah toward Nahariya (Reuters)

What Remains of Hezbollah’s Military Arsenal?

The rockets that Hezbollah continues to fire, since its decision to join what it calls a support war for Iran, have surprised observers with their intensity…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Features A photo released by the Iranian supreme leader’s official website shows Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in November last year

Esmail Khatib, Iran Spy Chief, from Shadow War to Assassination

Within Iran’s ruling structure in Tehran, the post of intelligence minister is far from a routine cabinet role. The ministry, established after the 1979…

Asharq Al Awsat (London, Tehran)
Features  People gather around the coffin of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani during a funeral for Larijani and victims of the IRIS Dena warship at Enghelab Square, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 18, 2026. (Reuters)

Killing of Larijani Complicates Iran’s Decision-Making, Shrinks Its Options

The killing of Iran's most influential powerbroker, Ali Larijani, has pushed the country into a more uncertain phase, complicating decision-making in Tehran…

Features  A view of the containment dome of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr, Iran. (AFP)

What to Know About Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant After Report of Projectile Hitting Its Complex

Iran and Russia both allege a projectile struck the grounds of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the country, raising the specter of a radiological incident…