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Samia Nakhoul

An Iranian worshipper wears a banner showing portraits of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, bottom, late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, top right, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during Friday prayers ceremony at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, on April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
April 28, 2026, 8:30 pm
IRGC shores up wartime power in Iran, blunting supreme leader’s role
Experts assess it’s the Revolutionary Guards, not Mojtaba Khamenei, who dominate deliberations, as ‘painfully slow’ process yields uncompromising stance
By Samia Nakhoul, Parisa Hafezi and Asif Shazhad
Iranians hold flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran beneath a large billboard reading 'The Strait of Hormuz remains closed,' as people gather in Tehran's Revolution Square after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, April 8, 2026. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
April 9, 2026, 10:35 am
As Trump claims victory, Iran emerges bruised but resilient, with leverage over Hormuz
Islamic Republic retains missile capabilities and uranium stockpiles, after worried Gulf states press for maritime freedom
By Samia Nakhoul
A flag of Hezbollah flutters at the site of destroyed buildings following airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs of Ghobeiry neighborhood, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
March 21, 2026, 11:53 am
How Iran’s IRGC rebuilt Lebanon’s Hezbollah to be ready for war
Iranian advisers filled the gaps in Hezbollah’s decimated leadership, shifted terror group from a hierarchical command to small decentralized units
By Laila Bassam, TOM PERRY, Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily
FILE: A fire and plume of smoke rise after, according to authorities, debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
March 17, 2026, 8:09 am
With their economies on the line, Gulf states press US to neutralize Iran for good
After initially opposing the US-Israeli war, Washington’s allies now realize that stopping too soon could allow Tehran to keep holding the region to ransom
By Samia Nakhoul
FILE: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends the annual anti-Israeli Al-Quds, Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
March 9, 2026, 5:45 am
More hardline than his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment signals defiance and revenge
Successor and son of Iran’s slain supreme leader will expand repression even if war ends, official says, warning of his ‘iron fist’ and predicting world ‘will miss the era of his father’
By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) greets Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (C) next to King Philippe of Belgium (R) during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
January 23, 2026, 4:18 pm
Lebanese PM: International Monetary Fund demanding changes to economic rescue bill
Rescue law is aimed at hauling Lebanon out of its worst financial crisis on record and giving depositors access to savings frozen for six years
By Samia Nakhoul
Protesters burn images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-regime protesters in Iran, in central London, January 11, 2026. (Carlos Jasso/AFP)
January 13, 2026, 11:24 pm
Why the massive Iran protests haven’t toppled its clerical establishment
Protests have gone on for weeks, but unless street unrest and foreign pressure can prompt defections at the top, the regime, though weakened, will likely hold, analysts say
By Samia Nakhoul
Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
July 23, 2025, 6:49 am
US envoy denies Syrian regime forces were involved in atrocities against Druze
Tom Barrack urges Sharaa to be ‘more inclusive quicker’ or risk his country’s fragmentation; says IDF strikes added to ‘confusion,’ offers to be ‘honest intermediary’ between Israel, Syria
By Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily
US President Donald Trump, right, meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, July 8, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
July 9, 2025, 3:40 am
After strikes, Israel and US diverge on how to further pressure Iran
While Trump says his priority is diplomacy, source familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking says the premier wants to use more force to compel fundamental concessions from Tehran
By Samia Nakhoul
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (L) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome before nuclear talks, on April 19, 2025. (Handout / ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)
May 2, 2025, 4:14 pm
‘JCPOA 2’: New US-Iran nuke deal said shaping up as largely similar to one Trump ended
Agreement being negotiated ‘preserves the core’ of 2015 deal, sources say; may impose constraints on uranium enrichment but not dismantle nuclear facilities or address Iran’s ballistic missiles
By Samia Nakhoul, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, hosting a meeting of top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe to discuss Syria, poses for a picture with the participants in Riyadh on January 12, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)
February 14, 2025, 5:46 pm
Arab countries scramble to offer Trump an alternate proposal for post-war Gaza
Egyptian plan would see terror group Hamas sidelined in governance of coastal enclave; issue to be discussed at end of month in Riyadh
By Pesha Magid, Samia Nakhoul, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan
An image of Syrian President Bashar Assad, riddled with bullets, is seen on the facade of the provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
December 13, 2024, 5:54 pm
Desperate Assad deceived those around him in last hours before stealthy flight from Syria
Ousted Syrian president kept officials and relatives, including his own brother, in dark about his exit plan; hunted for outside help to maintain his rule before eventually fleeing
By Samia Nakhoul, Maya Gebeily, Parisa Hafezi and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
An anti-government fighter waves an Islamic flag from atop a tank in Damascus on December 9, 2024. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
December 9, 2024, 7:53 pm
Assad’s collapse fractures Iranian axis, but ensuing chaos could batter rest of region
Alongside opportunities created by fall of regime, experts say risks abound should competing forces try to grab power, further destabilizing Syria
By Samia Nakhoul and Andrew Mills
File: Storage tanks are seen at the North Jeddah bulk plant, an Aramco oil facility, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
October 10, 2024, 5:32 pm
Gulf countries lobbying US to prevent Israeli strike on Iran’s oil facilities
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar refusing to let Jerusalem use their airspace for response to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack, fearing Iran could take aim at their own energy sites
By Samia Nakhoul, Parisa Hafezi and Pesha Magid
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks in a televised address via a video link during a ceremony to commemorate the death of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and six officers, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike that demolished Iran's consulate in Syria last Monday, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
September 28, 2024, 5:29 am
Hezbollah has lost its leader before. Will it manage without Nasrallah?
Experts say death of terror chief will greatly aggravate already fraught moment for group lashed by repeated IDF strikes
By Timour Azhari and Samia Nakhoul
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