Lizzie Porter

Radio/TV producers: I am available to consider media appearance requests but please be aware that I am in Istanbul, Turkey (not in Baghdad, Iraq, where I used to be based), or the UAE

Overwhelming fear and cries of relief in Iran after killing of Khamenei | The National Government supporters mourn while others celebrate end of leader who ruled with iron fist

Fear, mourning and joy in #Iran after news of #Khamenei's death

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

. @POTUS says Ali Khamenei, #Iran’s Supreme Leader, is dead

At least 201 people have been killed in Iran following airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel, a spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent Society told the Isna news agency.

Twenty-four of the country's 31 provinces have been targeted, and more than 740 people have been injured, he said.

Three IRGC members from former president Ahmadinejad's security team killed in Tehran attack | The National Building used by former leader's security team struck as US and Israel attack Iran

Exclusive: three members of the #IRGC killed in an attack on security team of former president Mahmoud Ahmedinajad in north-eastern #Tehran
www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

The job I would not want right now: that of Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating between Iran and the US. A reminder that western countries often rely on their Middle Eastern partners to do the really hard job of to-ing and fro-ing in the hardest circumstances.

‘Dad, if you're going to be a lion, it's better you be killed than to be a mouse and hide in a hole,' 17-year-old Soheil told his father, speaking about his participation in earlier protests in Iran i... TikTok video by The National News

The video version of our story on Soheil Almasi, shot dead during protests last month in #Iran. Before he died, Soheil told his father: "Dad, if you're going to be a lion, it's better you be killed than to be a mouse and hide in a hole."

www.tiktok.com/@thenational...

'Better to die as a lion': Family's tribute to son killed in Iran protests | The National Family of slain protester say citizens feel abandoned amid scepticism over nuclear talks

17 year old Soheil Almasi was one of 1000s of protestors shot dead in #Iran last month. #Iranians will not benefit from nuclear talks, but their desire to protest their government has not been stamped out, his uncle told me from the UK. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

'We don't want this government anymore': Iranian students launch new wave of anti-Khamenei protests | The National Students rally in major cities as protestors burn national flag

#Iranian students have begun protesting in the largest numbers since a bloody crackdown on demonstrations last month. "We know that the continuation of this government means that these crimes will be repeated again & again," 1 told me. #Iran
www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Egypt and Turkey deepen newly forged alliance with arms deals and manufacturing ties | The National Egyptian military has bought Turkish air defences and plans joint production of drones

#Egypt & #Turkey are rapidly building up an alliance that has moved the balance of power in the Middle East, with military and arms manufacturing ties central to their new alignment.
With Hamza Hendawi in Cairo

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

'My heart aches': Iranians mourn in shadow of war | The National As world attention shifts from their protests to possible US strikes, Iranians mark 40 days since deadliest nights of unrest

As world attention shifts to #US strikes & nuclear talks, #Iranians are defiantly renewing mourning of their dead killed last month.

"I don’t have it in me to carry on without Ayda,” 1 woman wailed.
#Iran

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

FMA joins other journalism and #pressfreedom organizations in calling for the release of award-winning Turkish journalist @alicanuludag.bsky.social and an end to judicial harassment of journalists reporting on matters of public interest. #GazetecilikSuçDeğildir turkiye.ipi.media/turkey-media...

‎رمضان كريم للجميع

‎رمضان مبارک

Ramazan ayımız mübarek olsun, Allah kabul etsin !

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Former PKK militants should reintegrate into society, Turkish MPs say | The National Key report on PKK dissolution stops short of offering amnesty to former militants

Former #PKK militants should re-integrate into society, but could still face legal action in #Turkey, a key report by Turkish lawmakers said
www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Syria's protectionist move to support local lorry drivers raises cost of business for neighbours | The National Ban on entry of vehicles carrying goods is delaying deliveries and pushing up shipping rates

#Syria has banned the entry of foreign lorries into the country, causing hold-ups at borders and disgruntlement among traders in #Jordan and #Turkey. Our piece, with Khaled Yacoub Oweiss & @NadaOHomsi www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Turkey sends offshore drilling ship to Somalia in first overseas mission | The National Energy exploration part of Ankara's growing influence in East Africa

Turkey sent a deep-sea drilling vessel to Somalia on Sunday for what its energy minister said was its first offshore exploration mission abroad, as Ankara cements its ties with in the East African nation.
www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Thanks !

And our video graphics-led explainer on the “Trump route”, aiming to connect #Armenia and #Azerbaijan as part of a peace process to end more than 30 years of conflict in the South Caucasus vt.tiktok.com/ZSmMu1y4x/

My long read from the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, on the U.S.-backed, immodestly named “Trump Route for International Peace & Prosperity”, which is part of a tentative peace to end 30+ years of war in the South Caucasus

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Dozens of Europeans among ISIS prisoners transferred from Syria to Iraq | The National Nationalities of the more than 5,000 detainees transferred so far obtained by The National

"There isn't a strategy or a plan of what to do, even, you know, where to put them, which prisons, how many in each," @renadmansour.bsky.social said. "There are a lot of questions that they're scrambling to find answers to." www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

US troops withdraw from Al Tanf base in Syrian Desert | The National Syrian army soldiers immediately replace American forces at military site on border with Jordan and Iraq

US forces have ⁠left Al Tanf ⁠military base on Syria’s border and withdrawn to Jordan, a security official confirmed to The National on Thursday.

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

I have cancelled my Washington Post subscription. I will be putting the money instead towards a fund set up by some of the paper’s former correspondents to support foreign staff (producers, translators, drivers etc) who worked with the paper. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

'We want to scream': Iranians grapple with grief and anger in aftermath of crackdown on protests  | The National US-Iran talks set for this week fail to calm fears of new war

Sometimes when you think the world is not listening, it is very heartening to see how many people are reading and sharing this article about the sheer weight of despair many Iranians are feeling now. Thank you www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

“Everyone is unhappy…. Truly, many people lost hope for the future, especially the younger generation.”
How Iranians are feeling after the bloodiest crackdown on protests in the country’s modern history.
vt.tiktok.com/ZSaWRKjsY/

Absolutely mad decision making by @washingtonpost.com leadership to gut their international reporting teams (as well as sports & other desks). An absolute travesty at a time when more than ever, the world needs the kind of clear-eyed reporting at which Post correspondents are some of the very best.

Iran and US to hold nuclear talks on Friday in Oman | The National Tehran wants to show new negotiations are continuation of earlier rounds in Oman

US-#Iran talks latest: Now taking place in Muscat, #Oman. Iran wants talks limited to nuclear. Steve Witkoff & Abbas Araghchi to lead on each side. Iranian media reporting the talks as "indirect" & "with the previous format" [as talks last year]

www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/02...

New on #Iran-US talks: a regional diplomatic source tells me: "The Iranians want to change the agenda, participants & the venue of the meeting. So basically this is altogether a different meeting they are talking about now. They want to show this is a new round of previous nuclear talks in Oman."

'We want to scream': Iranians grapple with grief and anger in aftermath of crackdown on protests  | The National US-Iran talks set for this week fail to calm fears of new war

“We feel like we want to scream, but something is blocking our throats."
Amid grieving for loved ones, fear over the prospect of renewed conflict, & struggling with sky-high inflation, many #Iranians feel hopeless & angry.
My latest @thenationalnews.com
www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

What makes me procrastinate?
The fear I won't do the story justice.
The fear I won't accurately represent what has happened. The more painful the events, the harder it is.
The fear I won't write in a way that makes people read.
Sometimes you just have to start writing.

US and Iran set for talks in Istanbul on Friday, sources say | The National Regional mediators are also expected to participate

#Iran-#US talks set for Friday in Istanbul with partipation of ministers from Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, sources tell me and Hamza Hendawi in Cairo www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...