Features

Features 06 February 2009, Bavaria, Munich: Ali Larijani, then chairman of the Iranian parliament, speaks at the 45th Munich Security Conference in Munich. (dpa)

Iran’s Larijani, the Man Whose Power Grew During Mideast War

When Israeli and US strikes killed Ali Khamenei at the start of the Middle East war, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani became even more powerful than he had…

Features  A demonstrator holds a portrait of the Mojtaba Khamenei during the Quds day in London, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)

Who Is Leading Iran? Western Sources Map the Inner Circle of the New Supreme Leader

Western diplomatic sources have outlined to Asharq Al-Awsat the tight inner circle surrounding Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, shedding light on…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Features Protesters hold a mockup of Iranian-made drone Shahed-136, during a rally marking al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 13, 2026. (EPA)

Why Iranian Drones Are Hard to Stop

Cheap and deadly, Iranian-designed Shahed drones have inflicted major damage in the Middle East war, and have anti-jamming and other capabilities that make…

Features FILE - Newer skyscrapers flank the communist-era Palace of Culture and Science, foreground, in n, Poland, May 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, File)

How Poland Went from Post-Communist Wreck to One of the World's 20 Biggest Economies

A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. Today its economy has edged past…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media on March 7 and 8, 2026 shows fire erupting at an oil depot in Iran's capital Tehran. (UGC / AFP)

After Attacks on Iran’s Oil Facilities, Toxic Black Rain Endangers the Public

Clouds of toxic smoke unleashed into the atmosphere by US-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian oil facilities made a dangerous return to Earth in the form of “black…

Features Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives the pledge of allegiance as crown prince at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah (SPA).

Mohammed bin Salman in Nine Years: Domestic Growth and Global Engagement

Nine years have passed since the royal decree issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, appointing Prince Mohammed bin Salman…

Features  People walk past closed shops at the almost empty traditional main bazaar, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)

How Iranians Are Communicating Through Internet Blackout

Iran's latest internet blackout has lasted more than 14 days, connectivity monitor Netblocks said Friday. The nature of the limits on internet activity shows…

Features  People walk past closed shops at the almost empty traditional main bazaar, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP)

How Iranians Are Communicating Through Internet Blackout

Iran's latest internet blackout has lasted more than 14 days, connectivity monitor Netblocks said Friday. The nature of the limits on internet activity shows…

Features Iranian former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AFP)

Will Ahmadinejad Return to the Political Scene in Iran?

A report by The Atlantic said the strike that hit a region close to Iranian former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s residence in the first days of the war on…

Features GILLETT, TEXAS - MARCH 11: Pump jacks operate in a field on March 11, 2026 in Gillett, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

How Have US Presidents Tapped Strategic Petroleum Reserves During War?

The US plans to release 172 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, more than 40% of a wider release coordinated with allies, to help…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the administration “had a strong game plan” before the war broke out. Doug Mills/The New York Times

How Trump and his Advisers Miscalculated Iran’s Response to War

By Mark Mazzetti, Tyler Pager, Edward Wong On Feb. 18, as President Trump weighed whether to launch military attacks on Iran, Chris Wright, the energy…

Features Saudi flag’s profound symbolism reflects unity, justice, strength and prosperity (SPA)

Saudi Flag Narrative Centers on Justice, Security

Ensuring a certain level of security is not difficult for any state, regardless of its system of governance. Security, understood here as the preservation of…

Bandar bin Abdul-Rahman bin Muammar (Riyadh)
Features Saudi researcher Adnan Al-Tarif poses with two Saudi state flags (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Researcher Owns 100 Rare Flags From Saudi State Eras

Saudi Arabia marked Flag Day on March 11 for the fourth consecutive year, following a royal order issued on March 1, 2023, designating the date as an annual…

Badr al-Khuraif (Riyadh)
Features A visitor of an exhibition takes a photo of parts of an Iranian made unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Shahed-131/136, which was launched on Ukrainian territories, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Tracing the US Military’s Learning Curve on Fighting Iran’s Drones: What to Know

The Iran war quickly tested America's ability to combat the swarms of cheap drones that have become a staple of the modern battlefield after Ukraine and Russia…

Features This handout image taken by the European Space Agency (ESA) captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite shows a view of Iran's Kharg Island, which hosts the country's main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world, about 25 kilometers south of the mainland in the north of the Gulf, on March 2, 2026. (AFP / ESA)

Kharg Island: Iran’s Vital Oil Hub in the Crosshairs?

Kharg Island, a scrubby stretch of land in the northern Gulf, handles almost all of Iran's crude exports and any attempt to seize it would mark a major…

Features Two women look at the sea as boxes of food prepared for Iftar during Ramadan lie on a bench along the Corniche, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Latest Conflict Brings Rare Public Backlash Against Hezbollah as War Flares Again

The Lebanese mother of two had just awakened to prepare the pre-dawn meal before another day of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan when Israeli warplanes…

Features Palestinian patients sit in wheelchairs in the courtyard of the Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis while waiting to leave for treatment (AFP)

Gaza Patients Face Death Again as Rafah Crossing Stays Closed

Patients and wounded in Gaza are facing increasingly harsh conditions after Israeli authorities again closed the Rafah land crossing, which had been partially…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features US President Donald Trump dances during a private celebration with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives in Florida on Monday (AFP)

Trump’s Tough Test: Is Military Success Enough to End the War?

On the eleventh day of the war, the conflict with Iran looks closer to a military decision than a political settlement. By most circulating estimates, the US…

Elie Youssef (Washington )
Features Smoke rises after an air strike in central Tehran, Iran, 10 March 2026. (EPA)

Iran Bets on Long War to Wear Down Trump’s US, Say Experts

Outgunned by the United States, Iran's rulers have been lashing out on multiple fronts -- but experts say what looks like a chaotic reaction is actually a time…

Features The late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei receives the late «Hamas» leader Ismail Haniyeh and the leader of the «Jihad» movement, Ziad al-Nakhala, in Tehran, July 2024 (AFP)

What Safe Havens Remain for the Islamic Jihad?

The US-Israeli war against Iran has reshaped the landscape for Palestinian factions aligned with Tehran, with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad among the most…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features  Syrians living in Lebanon wait outside the Ministry of Interior Immigration and Passports Department, at the Syrian-Lebanese border, as they return to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, March 3, 2026. (Reuters)

Syrians on Alert to Prevent Accommodation of Displaced Hezbollah Supporters from Lebanon

Syrians in Damascus, its countryside, and western Homs countryside are on alert to prevent displaced Lebanese supporters of Hezbollah from entering Syrian…

Muwafaq Mohammed (Damascus)
Features An Iranian Shahed exploding drone launched by Russia flies through the sky seconds before it struck buildings in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)

This Is How Ukraine Has Countered Russia’s Iran-Designed Drones

Ukraine is preparing to dispatch military drone specialists to Gulf states to help them fend off Iranian-designed drones -- something the Ukrainian army has…

Features Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day rally in Tehran, Iran, on May 31, 2019. (AP)

A Son of Iran’s Late Supreme Leader Is a Possible Candidate to Replace His Father as War Rages

Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has long been considered a contender to the post of the country's next paramount ruler —…

Features Members of Iraq's pro-Iran paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah march with the group's banners in a funeral for slain fighters killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on their headquarters in al-Qaim near the border with Syria, during a ceremony in Baghdad on March 2, 2026. (AFP)

Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' under Threat after US-Israeli War

Iran once boasted that it controlled four Arab capitals: Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa in an alliance dubbed the "Axis of Resistance". But the network…