Features

Features Ships and a boat in the Strait of Hormuz on April 12, 2026 (Reuters)

What Does a ‘Blockade of the Blockade’ in the Strait of Hormuz Mean?

When Iran moved to close the Strait of Hormuz, it did not physically seal the waterway — for example, by fully mining it. Instead, it barred ships and oil…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Features Haifa Kenjo, who fled Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, holds her 15-day-old daughter Shiman inside the tent she uses as a shelter and where she gave birth to her in Beirut, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Baby Born in Tent on a Beirut Roadside Struggles to Survive, Her Family Displaced by War

All that newborn Shiman knows of the world is a flimsy tent along Beirut’s waterfront — the stench of mildewed blankets, stings of swarming insects and screams…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features  People stand next to a Synagogue, which was damaged in a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 7, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran, Lebanon Bore Brunt of Missiles and Drones Launched During War

Some three-quarters of the airstrikes during the Middle East war targeted sites in Iran or Lebanon, according to an AFP analysis of data from ACLED, a non…

Features A person holds a placard representing a US flag, with an image of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on a billboard in the background, on the day of a ceremony marking 40 days since Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and US strikes, in Tehran, Iran, April 9, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

US-Iran: More Than Four Decades of Enmity

The United States and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. On Saturday, the arch-foes…

Features A man gestures with picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei next to Iranian and Iraqi flags from a atop a truck during celebrations welcoming the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran in Baghdad's central Tahrir Square on April 8, 2026.(AFP)

Iran Revolutionary Guards Officers Reject Iraqi Calls to Halt Attacks

Iraqi sources said officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who oversee armed factions in Iraq, have rebuffed attempts by Shiite politicians to halt attacks…

Ali Saray (London)
Features  Protesters wave Hezbollah and Iran's flags during a protest against the Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in front the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP)

Lebanon Heads to Historic Israel Talks with Few Hopes Except to Staunch Bloodshed

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has called for historic direct talks with longtime foe Israel since war erupted a month ago - a month in which Israel's…

Features  Government supporters walk past a billboard depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as they gather to mark the 40th day since the killing of his father, slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP)

By the Numbers: US Thrashed Military Targets in Iran, but Some Capabilities Remain

Since the ceasefire between Iran and the US was announced, leaders in President Donald Trump's administration have been quick to say Iranian military and arms…

Features A man rides a motorcycle past the President house as Pakistan gears up to host the US and Iran for peace talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 9, 2026. REUTERS/Waseem Khan

Five Things to Know about the US-Iran Talks in Islamabad

The United States and Iran are holding their highest-level talks in years in Islamabad in a Pakistan-brokered bid to turn a fragile two-week ceasefire into a…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features  Palestinian youths look on as they stand in an area next to tents at a makeshift camp for displaced people, at sunset in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP)

Gaza Marks 6 Months of a Ceasefire That May Offer Lessons for the Iran War

Friday marks six months since Gaza's ceasefire deal took effect, a milestone largely lost in the confusion over the new and even more fragile ceasefire in the…

Features An AI-generated animation created by a pro-Iran studio and depicting ​​​an Iranian man grilling four US aircraft like a kebab over a campfire is seen on a computer screen in Brussels, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP)

Pro-Iran Groups Have Used AI to Try to Control the War Narrative

Pro-Iran groups have used artificial intelligence to create slick internet memes in English to try to shape the narrative during the war against the US and…

Features An Israeli soldier gestures from an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC), as they leave southern Lebanon and enter Israel, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 8, 2026. REUTERS/Ayal Margolin

As US and Iran Talk Truce, Israel Digs in for a 'Forever War'

Even as the US and Iran seek to cement a ceasefire, Israel is seizing more territory from its neighbors in preparation for a long, drawn-out conflict across…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A view of a damaged building following an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), in the Jnah District of Beirut, Lebanon, 06 April 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon Becomes an Alternate Arena for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after Assad’s Fall

A multi-layered structure run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is taking shape in Lebanon, spanning Lebanese and Palestinian arms across intertwined security,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features A photo published by the Iranian Supreme Leader’s website from an interview with Khademi, February 18. 

Majid Khademi: Brief Tenure at Helm of Embattled IRGC Intelligence Ends in Assassination

Majid Khademi’s rise to the top of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence apparatus was as abrupt as his fall. During the 12-day war in June…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters file)

Report: Europe’s Options in the Strait of Hormuz Are Few and Risky

When senior officials from 40 countries met virtually this week to discuss how to bring shipping traffic back to the Strait of Hormuz, Italy’s foreign minister…

Features An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP)

US Military Jets Hit in Iran War Are the First Shot Down by Enemy Fire in Over 20 Years

Iran shooting down two American military jets marks an exceedingly rare assault for the US that has not happened in more than 20 years and shows Iran’s…

Features An Iranian flag is seen on a residential building that was damaged by recent strikes at Vahdat town in Karaj, southwest of Tehran on April 3, 2026. (AFP)

Iran Leaders Join Crowds on Tehran’s Streets to Project Control in Wartime

After more than a month of being stalked by targeted assassinations, Iran's leadership has adopted a new tactic to show it is still in control - with senior…

Features Smelter workers process copper at the Glogow plant in southwestern Poland, owned by KGHM. Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP

'Metals of the Future': Copper and Silver Flow Beneath Poland's Surface

Thousands of meters beneath the ground, amid suffocating heat, lies one of the keys to Poland's rumbling mining sector -- and the world economy. Whitish ore,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A NATO flag flutters at the Tapa military base, Estonia April 30, 2023. (Reuters)

Trump’s Anger Over Iran Thrusts NATO into Fresh Crisis

The NATO alliance has in recent years survived existential challenges - ranging from the war in Ukraine to multiple bouts of pressure and insults from US…

Features Indonesian soldiers stand guard as Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey is docked at Tanjung Priok Port during a port visit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)

A Look at the UK’s Royal Navy, Which Has Faced Jibe After Jibe from Trump and Hegseth

US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been damning of the UK's naval capabilities. Their jibes may have stung in a country with…

Features Smoke rises from explosions during Israeli military operations in the Lebanese village of Taybeh on April 1, 2026. (AFP)

Back to Israeli Occupation of South Lebanon?

A month into Israel's war against Hezbollah, invading Israeli troops are gradually advancing in south Lebanon, raising fears for the area's fate following the…

Features Iraqi fuel tankers heading to enter Syrian territory (Syrian General Authority for Land and Sea Ports)

Al-Tanf Crossing Opens Iraqi Energy Lifeline to Counter Hormuz Disruption

In a step reflecting a strategic shift in regional energy routes, Baghdad has officially begun exporting crude oil via Syria, in an effort to bypass the…

Muwafaq Mohammed (Damascus )
Features  This image from an Airbus Defense and Space's Pléiades Neo satellite shows a truck in the upper left-hand corner that analysts believe was carrying highly enriched uranium to a tunnel in the compound of the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, in Isfahan, Iran, June 9, 2025. (Airbus Defense and Space© via AP)

Securing Iran’s Enriched Uranium by Force Would Be Risky and Complex, Experts Say

Should the US decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile, it would be a complex, risky and lengthy operation, fraught with radiation…

Features  Members of a family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP)

Lebanese Displaced by War Fill Beirut’s Streets, Upending City Life

Beirut is bursting. It's been a month since Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel after the US-Israeli attack on its patron, Iran, triggering Israeli…

Features A US military handout image shows the Balad Air Base in Iraq in 2011.

Siege of Balad Base May Prelude ‘Doomsday’ Scenario in Iraq

An American contractor responsible for operating Iraq’s F-16 fighter jets has withdrawn its staff from an Iraqi air base after attacks by Iran-aligned factions…

Ali Saray (London)