Middle East Images

03/30/2026

The conflict in Lebanon escalated after Hezbollah joined the fighting on March 2, following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Since then, Israeli forces have expanded air and ground operations, while fresh evacuation orders have triggered renewed displacement across southern Lebanon.

Photos by
Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images

03/21/2026

Here are scenes from night skies across Iran, where ancient architecture, serene landscapes, and the silence of the night meet the stars.

Happy Nowruz from the Middle East Images team to all those celebrating.

Photos by
Amir Shahcheraghian / Middle East Images

03/19/2026

Kurdish people gather in Syria and Turkey to celebrate Nowruz, the ancient festival of the “new day” that marks the arrival of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, usually falling on March 20 or 21. Celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide, Nowruz has been observed for over 3,000 years across the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Europe.

Photos by
Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images


Bilal Seckin / Middle East Imagesseckin

03/15/2026

Damage from the war is visible across Iran in collapsed buildings, scorched blocks and streets lined with rubble. Iran’s Red Crescent said more than 20,000 buildings have been hit since February 28, including homes, commercial sites, schools and health centers, as strikes continued to hit cities after two weeks.

Photos by Middle East Images

03/14/2026

In an interview with NZZ, the Middle East Images team discusses the challenges of documenting the reality of the protests in Iran, where internet blackouts and strict restrictions have made visual reporting extremely difficult.

🔗 https://nzz.ch/gesellschaft/proteste-im-iran-2026-warum-es-kaum-bilder-des-massakers-gibt-ld.1928937

Die unsichtbaren Proteste – Wie Bilder aus Iran die Welt erreichen

03/13/2026

New work by Keiwan Fatehi / Middle East Images published in New Lines Magazine.
A visual report on Iranian Kurdish militias based in Iraq’s Kurdistan region amid rising tensions in the region.

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As Israeli-American airstrikes rain down, groups exiled from Iran to Iraq are weighing a familiar dilemma: seize a historic opening, or risk being used and abandoned again

03/11/2026

Peshmerga fighters of the PDKI at one of their bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. PDKI (also written KDPI) is the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, founded in 1945, and widely described as a leftist Kurdish opposition party with an armed wing historically known as the Peshmerga. It has operated largely in exile from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region for decades, where Iranian Kurdish opposition groups have long maintained bases.

Photos by
Keiwan Fatehi / Middle East Images

03/09/2026

The Iran-U.S.-Israel war escalated across the Middle East after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior commanders, triggering Iranian missile and drone retaliation. After Khamenei’s death, Iran’s clerical leadership named his son Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader.

Photos by Middle East Images:
1. Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot in Tehran. 📷: Sasan

2. A portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is seen among rubble inside a damaged building in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border. 📷: Silvia Casadeiacasadei

3. A woman holds a picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while mourning on Enghelab (Freedom) Street in Tehran. 📷: Negar

4. Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, participates in the annual Quds Day rally in Tehran. 📷: Rouzbeh Fouladi


5. Fire breaks out near Erbil International Airport after overnight explosions at the site hosting U.S.-led coalition troops in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. 📷: Osama Al Maqdoni


6. A man checks his phone in a cafe in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. 📷: Su Cassiano


7. A damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit, Bekaa, Lebanon. 📷: Jonathan Labusch


8. An Iranian missile leaves a trail in the sky over Tel Aviv. 📷: Mohammad Nazzalbzu

9. A man says goodbye to his girlfriend as she returns to Iran at the border crossing in Van, Turkey. 📷: Murat Kocabas35

10. Israeli warplanes strike near the old Iranian embassy building in Beirut’s southern suburbs in Beirut. 📷: Toufic Rmeiti


11. Israeli emergency service officers comb through debris at the scene of an Iranian missile attack in Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. 📷: Ori Aviram


12. Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran. 📷: Sohrab

03/06/2026

Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Purim in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Israel, despite security restrictions limiting public gatherings during the ongoing war, after Iran launched missile attacks on Israel following a joint U.S.-Israeli strike.

Photos by
Ori Aviram / Middle East Images