Al Majalla’s cover story last week focused on Iran’s leadership composition and structure following the assassination of its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hanan Azizi wrote about his son, Mojtaba, who succeeded him as leader, but who has also been out of public view since the war started, fuelling speculation over who is actually running the country. We also profile the three main members of Iran’s government who are effectively calling the shots. 

Meanwhile, talks in Islamabad aimed at turning a two-week ceasefire into a lasting permanent peace ended on Saturday without a deal, leaving the fate of the truce hanging in the balance. For his part, Kaswar Klasra wrote on Pakistan’s pivotal role in bringing the parties together. For his part, John Haltiwanger presents five unanswered questions surrounding the ceasefire. One of the key sticking points is Israel’s insistence on continuing to bomb Lebanon, which had been initially declared as part of the truce. For his part, Con Coughlin looks at how this threatens the truce.

For his part, Futoshi Matsumoto explains that Trump’s demand of Unconditional surrender' was never an option for Iran. Read his piece to find out why. And Brian Katulis explains how The US-Iran war tanked Trump’s popularity at home. “Instead of the ‘no endless wars’ they were promised, Americans were thrown into a disastrous war and were feeling the economic pinch at the gas pump,” he says. Meanwhile, Michael Hirsh points out Iran discovered Trump's Achilles’ heel—a market slump— which ultimately drove his push for a truce.

In other news, Alia Mansour asks if Sharaa’s ‘Syria First’ promise will hold up under pressure. “Against the backdrop of the US-Iran war and its regional fallout, many Syrians are hoping that it won't turn out to be just a slogan but an approach that Damascus intends to see through,” she writes. For his part, Khaled Essam Eleslamboly pens a piece titled  Palestinian executions are now official Israel policy. In it, he says, “Israel’s parliament approved a draconian death penalty law last week that only applies to Palestinian prisoners, in a move that the UN says ‘would constitute a war crime.'”

In Culture, Asala Lamie asserts that Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil has a new face in 2026. “Throughout history, intellectuals have struggled to come to terms with the arrival of violence and the sudden discarding of values and morals once considered foundational,” she writes. Meanwhile, Wael Said lays out his Film Watch picks for the month. And last but not least, in Science, Mohammed Mansour writes about a recent study that found that deep sleep is better than long sleep, and the surprising role immersive dreams can play.