Features

Features US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, June 18, 2026. (Reuters)

For US Vice President JD Vance, Iran Talks Could Shape Political Rise

US Vice President JD Vance is poised to take on his biggest role yet on the international stage as President Donald Trump's chief negotiator to end the three…

Features Black smoke rises from the area of the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft's Moscow oil refinery on the south-eastern outskirts of Moscow on June 18, 2026. (AFP)

‘Got to Get Used to It’: Moscow Braces for More Ukrainian Attacks

In the Moscow district of Maryino, shopkeeper Andrei Kondratyev braced for more Ukrainian attacks and possible petrol shortages, saying Russians needed to "get…

Features A Sudanese woman in a refugee camp. (Getty Images)

Sudan Sexual Violence: Systematic Abuse, Weapon of War

As Sudan’s war enters its fourth year, the stories of women and girls who survived sexual violence remain hidden behind the walls of shattered homes and…

Asharq Al Awsat (Sudan)
Features Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference in Jerusalem, 15 June 2026, following the announcement of a US-Iran mediated preliminary framework to end regional military hostilities. (EPA)

Netanyahu, Israel’s Arch-Survivor, Set to Face Voter Fury Over Iran Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hopes of clinging to power in an election this autumn have long been shaky, but the interim US deal with Iran has…

Features A view of Milad Tower, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Interim US-Iran Deal Leaves the Thorniest Issue Still to Be Negotiated: Tehran’s Nuclear Program

The interim deal between the US and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries…

Features President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)

Trump Goes After Netanyahu as He Pursues Deal with Iran, Putting Their Friendship to the Test

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump last year that he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House." Now, as…

Features  Sukaina al-Muhtadi, 22, who returned to her village following the announcement of an initial ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran, search for her belongings between the rubble of her destroyed house in Nabatieh town, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP)

Costs to Lebanon of Latest Israel-Hezbollah War

Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the regional war ‌triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran more than three months ago, which is set to…

Features Palestinian dressmakers add skirt hoops to a child's gown, at a workshop where dresses are created including evening and wedding gowns despite limited resources and old dresses are recycled, in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP) /

Gaza Tailor Turns Waste Fabrics Into Dresses for Girls

A young Gazan girl twirls across the floor of a dressmaker's shop, her white dress billowing around her as a shy smile spreads across her face. Trimmed…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference in Jerusalem, 15 June 2026, following the announcement of a US-Iran mediated preliminary framework to end regional military hostilities. (EPA)

Netanyahu and Trump on Collision Course as US, Iran Agree to Halt War

Benjamin Netanyahu bet that his joint war alongside Donald Trump would topple Iran's clerical rulers and bolster himself ahead of elections at home, as the…

Features Displaced families drive past a man holding the Hezbollah party flag as they drive along the highway through the area of Jiyyeh as they return to their home villages in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. (AFP)

US-Iran Deal Leaves Major Lebanon Questions Unresolved

A deal between Washington and Tehran that ends the Israel-Hezbollah war leaves many issues in Lebanon unresolved, failing to mention Israel withdrawing from…

Features  People make their way through the rubble of a destroyed building as residents displaced by fighting return to Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Mourn Homes, Livelihoods Destroyed by Israel in Southern City

When Kamal Kamal heard a ceasefire deal had been agreed between Iran and the United States, he rushed back to the southern city of Nabatieh only to find an…

Features Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (R) meets with Pakistan’s Army Chief Syed Asim Munir in Tehran, Iran, May 23, 2026. (AFP)

Ghalibaf: Ambitious ‘Public Face’ of Post-Ali Khamenei Iran

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has emerged as the key negotiator and one of the most high-profile figures in the epublic's leadership as…

Features A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet patrols the skies above the Middle East as American forces maintain regional presence and vigilance (CENTCOM)

What to Know About the US-Iran Peace Deal

Washington: The New York Times The United States and Iran said they were close to reaching a deal toward ending the war that has upended the Middle East for…

Features The Egyptian prime minister visits the construction site of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in July 2025. (Egyptian government)

Growing Egypt-Russia Partnership Raises Alarm in Israel

Egypt’s El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant has yet to begin operations on the country’s Mediterranean coast, but Israeli media outlets supportive of Prime Minister…

Mohamed Mahmoud (Cairo)
Features People stand outside the Palais Lumiere ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Trump Faces G7 After Year of Trade Wrath, Diplomatic Bluster

Little is known about what President Donald Trump's intentions are for the G7 summit in Evian, France next week, except maybe the obvious: the American…

Features A man walks past Iran's national flag at the Vanak Square in Tehran on June 10, 2026. (AFP)

Why Is a ‘Very Close’ Iran-US Deal Taking So Long?

President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared Iran and the US are on the verge of agreeing a deal to end the Middle East war, but a litany of sticking points…

Features A drone view shows people during a protest against a luxury resort, a plan by a company linked to Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast, in Zvernec near Vlora, Albania June 6, 2026. (Reuters)

What to Know About the Growing Opposition to Trump Family-Linked Resort in Albania

A massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, is facing growing resistance from protesters in…

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. (Photo by EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY / AFP)

Kharg... A Pivotal Island for Iran

Islands under Iran's control, spanning from the northern Arabian Gulf to the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, have returned to the forefront of the war as…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Features Khan al-Ahmar community in the heart of the West Bank (Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - B’Tselem)

Khan al-Ahmar: Last Tent in Battle for Greater Jerusalem

On the road to the impoverished Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, in the heart of the West Bank, the upscale Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim occupies a…

Kifah Zboun (Khan al-Ahmar, West Bank)
Features This picture shows a view of the minaret of a mosque in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, on June 6, 2026. (AFP)

Israel Is Tightening Its Grip on East Jerusalem with Evictions of Palestinians, Demolitions

Fakhri Abu Diab fought for decades to save his home. But when Israeli authorities arrived with bulldozers two years ago, he was powerless to stop them. He…

Features Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Why Iran Risked an Attack on Israel

At first glance, Tehran’s retaliation for Israeli attacks in Lebanon might seem like a reckless act that risks rekindling a devastating regional war. For…

Features A fireball rises from a building in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre following an Israeli airstrike (AFP). 

Drones vs. Airstrikes: How the Deterrence Equation Between Israel and Hezbollah Changed

Israel is pressing forward with firepower, evacuation warnings, and limited ground incursions, while Hezbollah is responding with drones and direct engagements…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Features Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment on the village of Jibchit in southern Lebanon on May 23, 2026. (AFP)

Have Hezbollah’s Drones Changed the Rules of Engagement with Israel?

The “support war” waged by Lebanon’s Hezbollah in backing Hamas in late 2023 shattered the doctrine of “deterrence” that the Iranian-backed group had embraced…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Features Palestinians assess damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

Report: World Conflicts Hit Peak in 2025

The world saw the highest number of state conflicts since the Second World War in 2025, a Norwegian study said on Tuesday, warning of a surge in attacks…

Asharq Al Awsat