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Timour Azhari

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, right, greets Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)
July 30, 2026, 6:31 pm
Frustrated with the US, Gulf states look to China for help reining in Iran
Beijing has avoided challenging Tehran’s Hormuz blockade, and Gulf concerns could end up taking a backseat to superpower politics and China’s reliance on Iranian oil, analysts say
By Samia Nakhoul and Timour Azhari
An armed student waves a Yemeni flag as he is flanked by a peer waving a Palestinian flag and others displaying the Houthi rebels' banner, which reads 'Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews,' at a rally in support of the Iran-backed rebels amid escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia, on the Sanaa University Campus in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital, on July 22, 2026. (Mohammed HUWAIS/AFP)
July 29, 2026, 2:42 pm
Yemen’s Houthis considering fees for ships traversing the Red Sea, sources say
Rebels launched a blockade on Saudi shipping last week; are said to have spoken with Iranian backers at Khamenei’s funeral about plan to normalize tolls in international waterways
By Jonathan Saul, Parisa Hafezi and Timour Azhari
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pose for a photo during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, January 17, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
July 23, 2026, 12:12 am
Iranian strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Sources say the effectiveness and precision of attacks point to possible Moscow data sharing; analysts believe a strike in Riyadh was carried out using Russian-enhanced drones
By Jonathan Landay, Gram Slattery and Timour Azhari
A billboard depicting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's late supreme leader who was killed on February 28 in an Israeli strike in Tehran, standing behind an Iranian soldier with a caption in Arabic reading 'A martyr leads the battlefield' is displayed along a road in the Ameriyah neighborhood in western Baghdad on March 18, 2026 (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
May 14, 2026, 3:30 am
Saudi warplanes struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq during war, sources say
Riyadh said to have targeted sites near the kingdom’s northern border from which drone and missiles were launched at Gulf states; Kuwait also said to have fired on Iraq
By Timour Azhari, Ahmed Rasheed and Humeyra Pamuk
Demonstrators wave a Syrian flag during a march marking the 15th anniversary of the start of the Syrian revolution against the Bashar Assad regime in the Old City of Damascus, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
March 18, 2026, 6:49 am
US encouraging Syria to assist with disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon — sources
People briefed on the matter say Damascus is hesitant to take military action in eastern Lebanon, concerned about risks of Iranian missile attacks and domestic instability
By Feras Dalatey, Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari
Screen captures from videos said to show smoke billowing from the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia after an Iranian drone strike, March 2, 2026. (X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
March 15, 2026, 8:57 pm
Iran wants ‘serious review’ of Arab Gulf ties, denies role in Saudi oil attacks
Tehran’s ambassador to Riyadh says Gulf countries must reduce reliance on external powers, deepen regional ties despite tensions from US-Israel war on Iran
By Timour Azhari
An Image of Syrian banknotes being counted out by a machine at a bank in Damascus on February 28, 2012. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
January 15, 2026, 2:43 pm
Qatari company to acquire major stakes in Syrian banks
Estithmar Holding to take 60% controlling share of Shahba Bank and 30% stake in Syrian International Islamic Bank; acquisitions still subject to regulatory approval
By Timour Azhari
Students drag a toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad on the street during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. (Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
December 5, 2025, 9:12 pm
Assad’s exiled spy chief and billionaire cousin plot Syrian uprisings from Russia
Competing factions seek to exploit unrest and rebuild their influence amid Syria’s fragile post-Assad transition
By Feras Dalatey and Timour Azhari
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives at the Grand Kremlin Palace for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on October 15, 2025. (Pavel Bednyakov / POOL / AFP)
October 31, 2025, 8:54 pm
No spoils of war: Syria’s new ruler lays down the law to loyalists
Sharaa has launched a crackdown on corruption as he attempts to transform an insurgent movement into a functioning government
By Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey
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 19, 2025, 8:58 am
Syria erroneously thought it had green light from US, Israel to deploy troops to Sweida
Despite months of Israeli warnings not to send forces south, Syrian officials correspondence with US led Damascus to believe it could deploy without prompting confrontation with IDF
By Timour Azhari, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Maya Gebeily
This file frame grab from video posted online March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows an IS fighter firing his weapon during clashes with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, in Baghouz, Syria. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)
June 12, 2025, 4:22 pm
Islamic State reactivating fighters, eyeing comeback in Syria and Iraq
Western and Middle Eastern authorities see terror group making moves to fill power vacuums, but claim security forces have effective countermeasures in place
By Ahmed Rasheed, Timour Azhari and Michael Georgy
Israeli forces on the border fence with Syria, in the northern Israeli town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, May 9, 2025. (Michael Giladi/FLash90)
June 11, 2025, 5:00 pm
US rabbi and Trump-linked pastor visit Syria, say peace with Israel possible
Rev. Johnnie Moore and Rabbi Abraham Cooper say they believe Sharaa will be uniquely able to deliver on a peace-making agenda, but first priority must be ‘Syria focusing on Syria’
By Timour Azhari
Thomas Barrack, nominee to serve as the US ambassador to Turkey, testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2025. (Kayla Bartkowski /Getty Images via AFP)
May 21, 2025, 3:01 pm
US to appoint its ambassador to Turkey as special envoy for Syria, sources say
State Department says no announcement yet on Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend of president; move comes as administration builds ties with new Damascus regime
By Timour Azhari and Jonathan Spicer
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa listens during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 7, 2025. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via AP)
May 12, 2025, 10:16 am
Trump Tower Damascus? Syria seeks to charm US president for sanctions relief
With Gulf help, Sharaa launches bid to get face time with Trump during his Mideast visit, with a pitch that includes a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas
By Timour Azhari and Humeyra Pamuk
This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa addressing representatives and dignitaries of Syrian communities during the National Dialogue Conference called for by the country's new authorities in Damascus on February 25, 2025. (SANA/AFP)
March 6, 2025, 2:22 pm
Syria gets fresh batch of currency printed in Russia, as ties continue to warm
Size of delivery, the second since Ahmed al-Sharaa came into power, is unclear; Moscow seeking to maintain influence in Damascus after backing ousted leader Assad during civil war
By Timour Azhari
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