Features

Features Iraqi security personnel in their vehicle guard the street in Baghdad on June 28, 2026. (AFP)

Inside ‘Operation Dawn Strike’: The Covert Mission to Separate Iraq from Iran's Influence

Government and security sources have revealed that the wave of arrests carried out by Iraqi authorities last Sunday unfolded along two parallel tracks. One…

Ali Saray (London)
Features A near-empty market in Khartoum (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Sudanese Endure Hardship Under the Weight of War

For many Sudanese, the question is no longer when the war will end, but how they can make it through another day as prices soar and their ability to secure…

Asharq Al Awsat (Khartoum)
Features Iraqi factions that fought alongside Iran in the recent war with the United States. (Popular Mobilization Forces media)

Baghdad Emerges as Next Arena in US-Iran Confrontation

More than a month after winning parliament’s confidence on May 14, 2026, Ali al-Zaidi’s government remains unfinished. Nearly 10 ministerial portfolios are…

Hosham Dawod
Features A bird flies near an Iranian flag and a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Mojtaba Khamenei: Iran’s Unseen Leader Shadowed by Late Father

Mojtaba Khamenei, who has spent his career behind the scenes and is yet to appear in public as Iran's new supreme leader, faces the formidable challenge of…

Features People ride past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s New Leaders Post-Ali Khamenei

A group of military, theocratic and civilian figures, rather than a single individual, have led decision-making in Iran since the killing of longstanding…

Features This photograph taken on June 8, 2026 shows Afghan woman farmer Habiba (R) working at a field in the Eshtiwi village of Afghanistan's Parun district. (AFP)

The Afghan Women Farmers Keeping Their Village Alive

In a remote province of northeastern Afghanistan, women farmers are playing a vital role in their community's survival among the snow-capped mountains. The…

Features A boy balances on a tire at the water's edge as ships are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026 (AP) 

What Do We Know About the 1968 Pact on ‘Hormuz’ Shipping Routes that Iran is Rejecting?

By John Yoon One of Iran’s negotiators in talks with the United States, Kazem Gharibabadi, reasserted claims this week of permanent Iranian control over…

Features An Israeli helicopter flies on patrol near the Israel-Lebanon border, 23 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (EPA)

Lebanon-Israel Deal May Entrench Stalemate Rather Than End War, Analysts Say

A security deal between Lebanon and Israel risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel's underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel's…

Features The Muslim Brotherhood headquarters burning in Cairo in summer 2013 (Getty)

13 Years Since 'June 30' in Egypt... The Muslim Brotherhood Has Suffered Severe Setbacks

Thirteen years after the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood's rule in Egypt during the events of "June 30" 2013, the group has suffered major setbacks locally…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Features US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)

US Sees Lebanon and Israel Framework Agreement as a Step Toward ‘Lasting Peace’

The fifth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations ended in Washington on Friday with the signing of a framework agreement that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio…

Elie Youssef (Washington)
Features Esmail Qaani 

Through Lebanon… Is a New Regional Order Taking Shape?

Iran is portraying the outcome of the current war as a “victory” that forced Israel to consider withdrawal. That narrative was reinforced by a warning from…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features People conduct search operations in an area affected by an earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela, 26 June 2026. (EPA)

Older Buildings and Substandard Construction Left Venezuela Vulnerable to Earthquakes

Older buildings, substandard construction and geography left many neighborhoods in Venezuela vulnerable to strong earthquakes like the ones that struck the…

Features Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is running for prime minister in the next Israeli elections, attends MUNI EXPO, a municipal conference, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel’s Netanyahu Faces Election Challenge from Hawkish Ex-General

Israel's former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who lost a son in Gaza and boasts of his "Dahiyeh doctrine" of smashing foes with disproportionate force, is…

Features The Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates River sparked a Türkiye -Syria crisis in the 1990s. (Turkish State Hydraulic Works website)

Floods, Drought Raise Questions over Türkiye’s Tigris, Euphrates Leverage

Floods that swept northern and eastern Syria in early June, along with a rise in the Euphrates River after heavy rain and increased flows from Türkiye, have…

Said Abdel Razek (Ankara)
Features Ali Ahmed Karti, Secretary General of the Sudanese Islamic Movement. (Facebook)

Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood at a Crossroads

Sudan is passing through an exceptionally complex phase as the war enters its fourth year and military and political alliances continue to shift at a rapid…

Aidroos Abdulaziz (London)
Features Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi meets Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Kazem Al Sadeq in Baghdad. (Government media)

Can Iran Maintain its Influence in Iraq?

Iraqi politicians are closely watching what they describe as the potential “side effects” of any future US-Iran agreement and how it could reshape the balance…

Fadhel al-Nashmi (Baghdad)
Features A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural, depicting an Iranian and US negotiation table, next to the former US embassy in Tehran, Iran, 22 June 2026. (EPA)

Undoing the ‘Tangled Nest’ of Iran Sanctions Won’t Be Easy or Quick

Tehran stands to gain billions of dollars from a 60-day reprieve from US sanctions announced on Monday, but unwinding more than four decades of restrictions…

Features Israeli and US flags stand against a backdrop of destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (AP)

Trump Allies Defend Him to Israelis Anxious Over Iran Deal

American allies of President Donald Trump this week defended him to an Israeli public anxious about a US interim deal with Iran and White House criticism that…

Features  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he announces the timeline for his resignation, outside 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain, June 22, 2026. (Reuters)

A Decade of Chaos: Britain Prepares for Seventh Prime Minister

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would quit on Monday, paving the way for ‌the country to have its seventh leader in 10 years. The chaos dates…

Features Roman-era columns stand at an archaeological site, which was lightly damaged in an Israeli strike nearby, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP)

Israeli Strikes Leave Lebanon’s Ancient Coastal City of Tyre Shaken

The dust has barely settled in Tyre after weeks of Israeli airstrikes on the ancient city along Lebanon 's Mediterranean coast. Despite the relative calm,…

Features US Vice President JD Vance looks on next to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shakes hands with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, prior to a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026, as part of high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict. (Photo by Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP)

Key Points From the First Round of Iran-US Talks

Iran and the United States wrapped up the first round of talks to end the Middle East war at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland on Monday, with technical…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Children work in a darkroom with co-founder of the project, photographer and educator Amar Kilic (R) during a workshop held as part of Fotohane Darkroom project in Mardin, southeastern Türkiye, on June 14, 2026. (AFP)

In Türkiye’s ‘House of Photos’, the World as Seen Through the Lens of Children

In a dimly lit room illuminated by a pair of red lamps, eight-year-old Zeynep waits to see photographs she has taken, now trapped as shadows and silhouettes on…

Features A placard is held as people walk past the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, during the National Rejoin March IV organized by National Rejoin March (NRM), marking ten years since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016 and calling for closer cooperation between Britain and Europe, in London, Britain, June 20, 2026. (Reuters)

What to Know about the Legacy of Brexit, Which Still Divides Britain 10 Years on

Ten years ago, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that forges political identities to this day and that shattered a half…

Features الرئيس الأميركي دونالد ترمب يستقبل نظيره السوري أحمد الشرع في البيت الأبيض (أرشيفية - رويترز)

How Damascus, Beirut and Tel Aviv View Trump's Call for Syrian Intervention in Lebanon

US President Donald Trump's repeated remarks in recent days that he had asked President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to have Syria intervene against Hezbollah in Lebanon…

Souad Jarous (Damascus ) Nazeer Majli (Tel Aviv) Soubhi Amhaz (Beirut)