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Politics & Security

A billboard with the image of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wraps the front of a building in Tehran on May 5, 2026.

Analysis

Iran's Gulf gambit: Attacking the UAE to shift US calculations

Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Parker Song / Getty Images

Iran’s Araghchi heads to China as US presses Beijing over Hormuz: What to know

The visit comes ahead of President Donald Trump's long-awaited trip to Beijing next week.

A picture taken near Kars on Feb. 28, 2024 shows the ruins of a bridge over Arpacay river, the natural border between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

Ankara is pursuing normalization with Armenia ahead of June parliamentary elections in a thaw also positioned to advance its broader Middle Corridor ambitions.

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.

Latest News

Ethiopia rejects Sudan's strike claims, accuses Khartoum of backing Tigray rebels

The charred remains of a tank from clashes between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) lie on a road near Gereb Agew, Southern Tigray, on March 3, 2026.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Pentagon says Iran ceasefire continues despite UAE attack

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah chief says 'inevitable' response to Lebanon blasts coming

Hassan Nasrallah’s speech comes after a series of pager and walkie-talkie blasts across Lebanon, increasing fears that Israel will launch a wider war in the country nearly one year into ongoing cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

A man holds an Icom walkie talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 18, 2024.

From Taiwan to Hungary: What we know about manufacturing of Hezbollah pagers

Companies in Hungary, Bulgaria and Taiwan have been linked to Israel’s detonation of pagers used by the group.

An Iranian border outpost is seen behind a part of Turkey’s newly completed border wall on the Turkey-Iran border, Caldiran, Turkey, July 10, 2021.

Israeli indicted for espionage in alleged Iran scheme to kill PM, defense minister

Israel Police and Shin Bet suspect that Moti Maman traveled twice to Iran, where he was asked to help carry out a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant or another senior officials.

US President Joe Biden (R) and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) attend a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

UAE president to visit White House as frustrations mount over Gaza endgame

Abu Dhabi has hardened its stance on Israel as Gulf states consider their role in rebuilding Gaza.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured) in Jeddah, on March 20, 2024.

Saudi crown prince says no Israel normalization without Palestinian state

The crown prince's comments follow the kingdom's top diplomat saying that any deal with Israel would require a pathway toward a Palestinian state.

AFP via Getty Images

At least 14 killed, 450 injured as second wave of blasts targets Hezbollah devices in Lebanon

Hezbollah has vowed to respond to the pagers attack, which it pinned on Israel, as the two parties continue to exchange fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

An Israeli soldier works on a tank as troops gather at a position in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Nov. 7, 2023.

Israel deploys forces to Lebanon border after pager attack on Hezbollah

Reflecting a shift in priorities, the Israeli military has transferred the elite 98th Division from the Gaza Strip to the Lebanon border area.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by the country's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, meets with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in Saint Petersburg, on Sept. 12, 2024.

Top Putin aides in Iran as Russia seeks to ease concerns on Zangezur Corridor

The flurry of diplomatic visits and discussions appear to be a fresh move by Moscow to reenergize Iran-Russia bilateral ties, which have recently faced new complexities.

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard as an ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024.

Exclusive

Exclusive: Hezbollah suspicions forced Israel to expedite Lebanon pager attack

It was not Israel’s preferred course of action to detonate the pagers ahead of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but security officials made an 11th-hour decision after at least two Hezbollah members suspected something was amiss with the devices.

Gabrielle Debinski

Tyler Huffman

By Gabrielle Debinski , Tyler Huffman

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Pentagon denies role in suspected Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon

Phone pagers exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands in a suspected Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah just a day after top Washington officials urged Israeli leaders not to escalate the conflict.

Jared Szuba

Rina Bassist

By Jared Szuba , Rina Bassist

EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian poll finds majority of Gazans say Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was wrong

A September public opinion poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that Palestinian support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has dropped and a majority of Palestinians in Gaza say the attack was not the right move.

An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on Sept. 17, 2024.

Lebanon: At least 11 killed, 4,000 injured in suspected Israeli pager attack against Hezbollah

The blasts, which reportedly killed several and injured thousands, came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.