On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Selim Koru, founder of the Kulturkampf Substack, argues that Turkey’s World Cup loss is emblematic of the failure of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s civilizational project and may prove to be a milestone in the unraveling of his 24-year reign. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

President Donald Trump sought Kurdish support in efforts to topple Iran’s regime, only to drop them like hot potatoes amid pressure from Turkey, a key NATO ally. Now, after signing a peace deal with Tehran, Trump has left Iran’s Kurds more isolated than ever. But Dutch scholar Wladimir van Wilgenburg says the agreement will not stop the Kurds from continuing their struggle for recognition and righ...

Tigran Grigoryan, director of the Center for Democracy and Security, a Yerevan-based think tank, argues that the road ahead for Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is fraught with risk. Pashinyan won by a wide margin in the June 7 election, but failed to clinch the super majority needed to push through peace with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Economic pressure from Russia is adding to his woes.&nbsp...

Somalia is home to Turkey’s largest overseas military base. It has signed an oil exploration and production deal with Ankara that has sparked protests from the opposition. The Middle East Institute’s Gonul Tol unpacks the drivers of Turkey’s Africa policy, noting that Turkish engagement comes at a cost. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19....

Kurds in northeast Syria have suffered significant territorial and political setbacks, while Kurds in Turkey continue to lack meaningful rights. A growing number of Kurdish voices are blaming the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan for what they see as betrayal. However, Kurdish expert Aliza Marcus argues that such accusations overlook the broader regional and p...

With no resolution in sight, the conflict is taking a heavy toll on Saudi Arabia amid widening fissures with its Gulf neighbor the United Arab Emirates. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The Iran conflict is entering its second month with no resolution, despite a ceasefire extension announced by the United States on April 8. Iranian negotiators follow Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, says academic Hassan Ahmadian, warning that continued US strikes on Iranian ships enforcing a Strait of Hormuz blockade could reignite the war. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...

Lebanon faces escalating violence and mounting displacement as Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket attacks intensify ahead of planned US-backed talks in Washington on April 14. I speak with Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame, who says Hezbollah disarmament by force is an illusion, warns the Washington meeting is not yet real negotiations, and cautions that continued escalation could furt...

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” as the old adage goes — a logic Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, put into practice by offering his military’s expertise in countering Iranian drones to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during a regional tour that concluded Sunday, as the Atlantic Council’s Yevgeniya Gaber noted. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pr...

Iranian-American academic Vali Nasr says rising civilian deaths and the destruction of iconic sites such as the Qajar-era Golestan Palace are turning even the most anti-regime Iranians against the US‑Israeli war, which many now see as a threat to the nation itself. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

On Feb. 28, the first day of the war in Iran, at least 175 people — most of them children — were killed when a U.S. missile struck a girls’ school in Minab. Since then, the civilian death toll has steadily risen, turning even some of the regime’s most ardent critics against the conflict, according to Skylar Thompson, deputy director of Human Rights Activists in Iran. See Privacy Policy at https://...

Russia has close military and diplomatic ties with Iran but it also has cordial relations with Iran's foes, notably Israel. At the same time, it is bogged down by its own war with Ukraine. So how much actual assistance can it provide to Iran as it seeks to withstand Israel and the United States? Iranian American academic Nicole Grajewski unpacks the complexities. See Privacy Policy at https://art1...

President Donald Trump says he has ruled out plans to ally with armed Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, after previously suggesting he would like them to help overthrow the Iranian regime. However, Asso Hassan Zadeh, a prominent figure in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, says there is reason to believe otherwise and that such an alliance may still be on the table. See Privacy Policy at htt...

Iranian political scientist Hamidreza Azizi explains that a nuclear deal with the United States would be widely opposed by Iranians. He says trust in the regime has been irreparably damaged following the mass killings of protesters. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the US-Iranian standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program are continuing apace. However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains implacably opposed to any concessions. Iranian historian Arash Azizi discusses the suffering of ordinary Iranians and outlines the scenarios that could unfold as the regime faces its gravest threat since the 1979 Revolut...

The Kurds of northeast Syria have suffered a series of humiliating setbacks over the past month, losing more than 80% of the territory they once controlled to central government forces. A US-mediated truce averted a potential bloodbath. Meghan Bodette of the Kurdish Peace Institute says new opportunities may be emerging, but ordinary Kurds expect their leaders to acknowledge the mistakes that led...

UK historian Christopher de Bellaige says Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will fight till the bitter end as will the formidable Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. But their success is no longer guaranteed amid threats of US intervention and a new generation of young and fearless protestors bent on their fall. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Noti...

A fifth round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Syria began in Paris on Jan. 5. Elizabeth Tsurkov, a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute, explains why Israel may finally yield to US pressure and sign a security agreement with Syria’s new Islamist government — while remaining unlikely to extend the same protections to Syria’s Kurds as it does to the Druze. See Privacy Policy at https://a...

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE are escalating anew in Yemen. Al-Monitor senior editor Joyce Karam says the clash is real, leaving the Trump administration torn between its top regional allies. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Murad Ismael, a prominent Yazidi activist who has worked tirelessly to draw attention to his people’s ongoing plight following one of the first genocides of the 21st century, is vowing to change the way politics are practiced in Iraq. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Chatham House senior fellow Renad Mansour explains why Iraq remains even more vital for Iran in the wake of its humiliating 12-day conflict with Israel, and how renewed US interest in Iraq with the appointment of a new envoy is adding to the heat. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

On the eve of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's historic meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington on Nov. 10, Al-Monitor spoke with former US Ambassador Barbara Leaf, the first senior US official to formally meet with him after the fall of the Assad regime. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The fall of el-Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces, amid renewed allegations of UAE backing, raises fears of further civilian massacres in a regional struggle for Sudan’s gold and Red Sea ports. Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair examines the forces — and the toll — behind the violence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

Vittorio Maresca di Serracapriola, lead sanctions expert at Karam Shaar Advisory, unpacks the current status of international sanctions over Syria and what they mean for its people after 14 years of civil war and 60 years of repression by the Assad regime. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Weam Fadul, a Sudanese feminist and activist, blames outside forces for fueling the conflict and says the Sudanese people should be left to decide their own fate.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .