Features

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
Features  An Israeli security personnel inspects an impact site, after Iran launched missiles towards Israel, in an Israeli settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 8, 2026. (Reuters)

Defying Trump with Brief Iran Fight, Israel Seeks Sway over Peace Talks

In launching renewed strikes on Iran on Monday in apparent open defiance of Donald Trump, Israel has tried to make its case to have a say at the peace…

Features Pro-government Iranian demonstrators wave flags of Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement after Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in Tehran on June 7, 2026. (AFP)

A Timeline of the Escalating Tensions Between Iran and Israel over Lebanon

The Middle East is suddenly bracing for war again. Iran fired missiles at Israel late Sunday in the first such bombardment in the two months since a ceasefire…

Features A health worker disinfects an ambulance at the Mongbwalu treatment center that transported a suspected Ebola patient in Mongbwalu, Congo, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP)

Health Workers at the Epicenter of Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Labor with Little Pay or Rest

Dr. Richard Lokudu, the medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, has received barely any compensation for his work on the front line of one of…

Features A photo released by Iran's Nour News of a previous meeting between Khamenei and Sinwar

How Did Tehran Enter the Palestinian Arena?

A compelling story is often enough to send a journalist in search of the man who carries it. The search becomes even more urgent when that man carries two…

Ghassan Charbel (Riyadh)
Features During his Senate confirmation hearing, Issa outlined the contours of his policy, setting out several themes that later became central to his performance

Lebanese-Born US Envoy Michel Issa Arrives with High Expectations

When the new US ambassador to Lebanon arrived in Beirut, he did not need a learning period or special State Department training before taking up his first…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Features Hafez al-Assad made it easier for Khamenei to consolidate control over Lebanon through Hezbollah. (AFP)

When Hafez al-Assad Opened Lebanon’s Gate to Tehran

One week after the Iranian Revolution declared victory on February 11, 1979, two photographs emerged from Tehran that, in retrospect, help explain many of the…

Ghassan Charbel (Riyadh)
Features US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they shake hands during a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025. (Reuters)

Trump’s ‘Crazy’ Rebuke Undercuts Netanyahu at a Critical Moment

Benjamin Netanyahu has long portrayed himself to the Israeli public as being uniquely adept in dealing with Donald Trump, capable of winning and sustaining the…

Features A woman holds up an Iranian flag in front of a banner showing a portrait of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a religious festival in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP)

Mojtaba Khamenei: Iran’s New Supreme Leader Lurking in the Shadows

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed after a career entirely out of the spotlight as a behind-the-scenes figure, faces the challenge of occupying…

Features (FILES) Photo taken 01 February 1979 at Tehran airport of Ruhollah Khomeini (C) leaving the Air France Boeing 747 jumbo that flew him back from exile in France to Tehran. Getty Images

Three Precious Gifts to Tehran from Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and George W. Bush

Most people in today’s Middle East were born after 1979. Yet they often overlook how profoundly that year shaped their countries, their stability, and their…

Ghassan Charbel (Riyadh)
Features A staff member hangs up protective equipment to dry after washing them at the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Munigi on June 2, 2026. (AFP)

‘If Ebola Comes, We’ll Be Wiped Out’: Fear Grips Camps in DR Congo

Dorcas Mapenzi fears the worst if Ebola comes to the Kingonze camp, where she lives alongside more than 25,000 other displaced people in the conflict-hit…