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Politics & Security

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US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

The Trump administration is cautiously sizing up Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, as a potential partner in pushing back on Iranian influence.

An Iranian woman holds up an image of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Iran president says he held official meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei: What to know

The president’s announcement marks the first public confirmation of a meeting between a senior official and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since the start of the war.

People look at a drone on display at the Baykar exhibit at the SAHA International Defence and Aerospace Expo on May 06, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey, Japan launch defense industry partnership with eye on drones

The initiative could eventually lead to joint UAV development and production as Japan looks to expand drone capabilities amid regional tensions.

Latest News

Israel strikes Beirut in breach of Lebanon ceasefire

People gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Haret Hreik on May 6, 2026.

Saudi FM in Turkey as Ankara, Riyadh step up coordination amid Iran war

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, May 6, 2026.

Iran, China discuss Hormuz reopening amid potential US-Iran talks

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, talks to his Iranian Counterpart Abbas Araghchi, left, during the bilateral meeting in Beijing, Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Lebanon, Israel eye third round of talks, but no Netanyahu-Aoun meeting in sight

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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

Exterior view of the U.S. Capitol building prior to a roundtable discussion on Supreme Court Ethics conducted by Democrats of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.

House spending bill erases UNRWA, Gaza pier funding, blocks refugee resettlement

President Joe Biden has threatened to veto the House-passed State, Foreign Operations bill if it reaches his desk.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JUNE 25: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant walk into the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Their meeting comes a day after Gallant and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat down together to discuss Gaza and Lebanon. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Analysis

US rejects limited Israeli war in Lebanon, continues 2000-lb bomb freeze

After the statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the Biden administration of halting arms shipments to Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went to Washington for damage control.

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

A photo taken during a tour organized by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and Transport shows staff loading cargo onto a plane at Beirut's international airport on June 24, 2024.

India, Jordan join chorus of countries warning against travel to Lebanon

The fighting between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel has escalated in recent days, prompting several countries to recommend against travel to Lebanon due to concerns over a war breaking out.

A large sign put up by private citizens bearing the portrait of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, with text in Arabic below reading "total allegiance", is displayed along Abo Romaneh street in the capital Damascus on May 10, 2021 ahead of the country's presidential elections. - A Syrian former minister and a member of the Damascus-tolerated opposition will face Assad in the May 26 presidential election, according to the constitutional court in Syria. The election will be the second since the start of a dec

As Assad 'welcomes' mending ties with Turkey, can Russia or Iraq mediate?

The stalled Ankara-Damascus dialogue is likely to see some fast developments, one expert says, though he warns not to expect too much thanks to complications including the upcoming US elections.

An Iranian cleric walks past a banner and posters with the image of presidential candidate, conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as he walks along a street days before the national snap elections, in Tehran on June 26, 2024. Six candidates are vying in the June 28 snap elections to succeed the ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran election: With 4 candidates left, hard-liners rally behind Ghalibaf, Jalili

Hard-liner Saeed Jalili and Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian topped two recent polls, though many Iranians say they don't plan to vote amid widespread opposition to the government.

Israel Lebanon

Israel strikes Syria, hits deeper in Lebanon as Hezbollah tensions grow

Strikes believed conducted by Israel have increased inside Syria in response to repeated attacks by pro-Iranian groups against Israel since the Gaza war began.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma walk in a street of Paris on December 10, 2010. Al-Assad is on a two-days official visit to France. AFP PHOTO MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Paris court upholds France's arrest warrant for Assad: What we know

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is wanted in France for his alleged involvement in a 2013 chemical attacks in Ghouta and Douma that left as many as 1,000 people killed.

ABDEL GHANI BASHIR/AFP via Getty Images

Iran claims Saudi Arabia won't let Iranian pilgrims vote

Iranian worshippers resumed Umrah pilgrimages to holy sites in Saudi Arabia in April after the two countries resumed relations last year.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 29: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to supporters at his party’s Istanbul mayoral candidate Murat Kurum's campaign rally on March 29, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey will hold municipal elections on Sunday March 31, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party aiming to reclaim cities lost in 2019, including the country's largest city of Istanbul and the capital Ankara. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Turkey's Erdogan warns Israel against Lebanon war, calls Netanyahu 'mentally ill'

The Turkish president's comments have reignited the war of words between Turkey and Israel.

A Sudanese girl who have fled from the war in Sudan with her family carry a box with some of her belongings after arriving at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, on February 13, 2024.More than 550,000 people have now fled from the war in Sudan to South Sudan since the conflict exploded in April 2023, according to the United Nations. South Sudan, that has itself recently come out of decades of war, was facing a dire humanitarian situation before the war in Sudan erupted and it is feared to not have the re

Sudan war death toll over 40,000 as 2 million face imminent starvation

New figures on Sudan’s crisis show conditions deteriorating as fighting expands in scope between warring generals.

A man gestures as he holds up a small election flag during a campaign rally for reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian at Afrasiabi Stadium in Tehran on June 23, 2024 ahead of the upcoming Iranian presidential election. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Does China have favorite in Iran's presidential election?

The question of whether Iran's next president will maintain the country's current anti-West, anti-US position while pursuing improved relations with Beijing is foremost in China's mind.

Pictured are participants of the 19th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting held June 24, 2024, in Tehran.

US cautious on Iran’s Bahrain frozen funds claims, warns of sanctions

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Monday that officials from Iran's and Bahrain’s central banks held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the release of Iran's “foreign exchange resources in Bahrain.”