Middle East

(ANALYSIS) As Israel enters its third year of war on multiple fronts, the question of whether ultra-Orthodox men should be exempt from mandatory military service has become a much larger argument about citizenship itself: Who bears responsibility for defending the Jewish state?

Dozens of Christians connected to Iran Alive Ministries have been killed and hundreds arrested amid escalating persecution in Iran, ministry leaders report. Despite imprisonment, surveillance and criminalization of Christian broadcasts, the underground church continues growing, with thousands reportedly converting to Christianity and imprisoned believers sharing the Gospel.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel, the actor has frequently called out Israel’s military action in Gaza, notably wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin to the 2024 Oscars. In 2024, he was among more than 700 SAG-AFTRA members who signed a letter demanding the actors’ union publicly call for a Gaza ceasefire and protect pro-Palestinian members from what they described as industry blacklisting.

(ANALYSIS) (ANALYSIS) The Iranian government seized control of the historic St. Peter Evangelical Church earlier this month in Tehran, despite repeated warnings from U.N. human rights experts and international Christian organizations, revealing a broader pattern of violence against religious minorities in Iran.

Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group, warps Muslim theology into an extremist ideology in order to attract young men to its ranks. Now, a unique program aims to de-radicalize former fighters through counseling and showing them how to live a peaceful Muslim life.

(ANALYSIS) Every year, millions of pilgrims walk from the deserts of southern Iraq to the holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world. In 2026, pilgrims will converge on Karbala on Aug. 5.

(OPINION) The problem is not that Christians care about justice or participate in public life. The problem arises when Christianity becomes a vehicle for advancing political agendas.

(ANALYSIS) For Iran’s Baha’i community, the country’s latest political upheaval has revived a painful historical pattern: Whenever the Islamic Republic faces existential pressure, one of its first responses is to intensify its campaign against vulnerable religious minorities. The case of Peyvand Naimi and his cousin Borna Naimi illustrates this dynamic.

The way right-wing commentators talk about Islam has changed in the last few years. The same pundits who once criticized Islam are now defending it. To find out why, Matthew Peterson spoke with journalist Matthew Schmitz.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral is unlike any other in the history of Iran’s Islamic Republic and the wider Middle East. The country’s longtime supreme leader was killed four months ago in U.S.-Israeli strikes, but his burial has been delayed until now, making the ceremony a rare departure from Islamic tradition.

There’s that question again: How can mainstream media cover this story? Do elite journalists want to cover it? Is it cynical to thinkthat this story could, finally, end up on the front page of The New York Times if, and only if, it can be framed as yet another failure linked to Orange Man Bad?

The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, proved to be just the first bloodletting in a renewed cycle of violence and recrimination. Israel responded with its destructive campaign in Gaza. Far from the theater of war, American Jews reckoned with renewed fears of antisemitism and fractures within their own communities and families.

(ANALYSIS) When I was in graduate school our program required each student to have two majors and a minor field. I knew one of my major fields was going to be American politics — that was an easy choice. I was also made aware that it was easier to get a job teaching public administration than traditional political science because the positions were relatively plentiful and the number of grad students with training in PA were low, so I picked that up as a second major.

The Iran war has triggered several instances of unity among Sunnis and Shiites — two major Muslim groups that have historically been at odds. Young people lead the displays of solidarity, finding a common cause in the wake of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination.

(ESSAY) As an anthropologist who studies social bonding during times of crisis, I now understand how cultural religious traditions — even when they seem different — can create unexpected connections. Many years after my military service, during the final days of my father’s life, my large family kept vigil beside him. Sitting with my siblings, mother and dozens of nieces and nephews, I told them this story.

A new Pew Research Center study found religious hostilities increased sharply around the world in 2023, driven by harassment of religious minorities and fallout from the Israel-Hamas war. Government restrictions on religion remained near record highs, an issue affecting billions of people across dozens of countries.

Following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death in a US-Israeli strike and the renewed Israel-Iran conflict, Nigeria's Islamic Movement mobilized nationwide protests, reflecting deep ideological and spiritual ties to Iran while raising concerns among authorities about security, sectarian tensions and regional stability.

(REVIEW) Sid Klein has finally found his subject. More than half a century after he scrambled to pick a topic for his senior art project at Brooklyn College in New York — and settled on exploring the porcelain curves of a toilet bowl in a 20-painting series — he’s discovered a purpose.

(ANALYSIS) As Muslims gather for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, they will circle around the “Kaaba,” a black cube draped in gold-embroidered cloth. A ceremonial textile — known as the “kiswah” — covers the Kaaba, around which Muslims will walk seven times in a ritual known as “tawāf.” It is the central act of the annual pilgrimage.

(ANALYSIS) Liberal democracies promise freedom and prosperity, yet they often struggle to answer a deeper question: What is this freedom for? When shared narratives and moral horizons fade, individuals may experience fragmentation and a loss of meaning. Politics shrinks into technocratic management.

The Israeli thriller “Unconditional” has sparked accusations of “hasbara” before release, but the series proves more complicated than simple propaganda. Following a young Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia, the show explores national image-making, Israeli behavior abroad, and the moral gray zones surrounding identity, war, and public perception.

(ANALYSIS) The United States is on the verge of being burned again for not seeing the importance of religious belief driving human behavior in global conflicts. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is not defending Iran as a state but its version of Islam as a global religion.

Yazidis in northeast Syria are fleeing yet again as renewed fighting in Aleppo triggers mass displacement, reviving trauma from ISIS’s 2014 genocide. Survivors face deep psychological scars, economic hardship, and persistent insecurity, with many fearing further violence, family separation, and the gradual erosion of their community and identity through repeated upheaval.

(ANALYSIS) Stephen Miller’s “might makes right” worldview reflects a broader shift toward prioritizing power over understanding in global affairs. Through the tales of Nasreddin Hoja, the piece argues that curiosity, humility, and engagement with other cultures are essential — and that relying solely on strength risks blinding societies to complexity, difference and their own limitations.

(ANALYSIS) For two decades, Christian television channels produced in the United States and Europe have made their way into Iranian homes. Some of this programming echoes apocalyptic ideas from American figures promoting the war, drawing on scriptural interpretations long present in evangelical teachings.

It was more than a house of worship. Iran’s residents came to the community center for affordable healthcare and to borrow books. It was the heartbeat of a neighborhood in the northwestern Iranian city of Zanjan — and now locals are mourning its loss. As the war rages on, they are looking to rebuild.

(OPINION) Iranians are trapped in a digital iron cage as the state continues to deprive citizens of internet access, largely thanks to Chinese and Russian technology. The Iranian diaspora is turning to Western news outlets — but their coverage of Iran has been problematic, too.

The clash between Trump and Pope Leo highlights the conflict between political power and moral authority amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war. The pope condemns violence and rejects religious justification, emphasizing dignity and restraint. Trump counters by politicizing the pope, framing criticism as opposition.

When journalist Hiba Al-Tabai's husband posted a photo of the newlywed couple on Facebook last year, she never imagined it would upend their lives. Within hours of the seemingly innocuous post, Yemeni member of parliament and Muslim cleric Abdullah Al-Odini, who commands over 150,000 followers, condemned the image as "a violation of Islam and societal values.”