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Politics & Security

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Alparslan Bayraktar speaks during the launch of an offshore energy exploration at the port in Mogadishu on April 10, 2026.

Turkey brokers intra-Somalia talks as federal rifts test Ankara’s influence

Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland and Jubaland states reportedly declined to join the talks, as Ankara is ramping up efforts to shore up support for Somalia’s federal institutions.

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

Why US strikes on Iran rail bridge signal shift in Hormuz conflict

A US missile strike on the railway bridge linking Iran to Central and East Asia suggests the White House is once again flirting with politically coercive tactics after the June agreement failed to halt Iran's attacks on Hormuz shipping.

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

'Obliterated entire families': Amnesty calls for investigating Israeli strikes in Lebanon as war crimes

Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes in Lebanon by wiping out entire families and killing children.

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Analysis

As Trump declares deal 'over,' IRGC takes lead in shaping Iran's response

Iranian NOPO special police officers stand guard in front of a large portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at Valiasr square on July 3, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Trump 'undecided' on Turkey's F-35s as Congress seeks answers on S-400

Getty Images

Feature

Armenia's Pashinyan keeps Iran close while wooing Trump, Turkey and Azerbaijan

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) shakes hands with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during his visit in Yerevan on July 19, 2025. (Photo by KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) (Photo by KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Iraqi security forces monitor the area during a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the Bashiqa camp, located in the Mosul province, on Oct. 8, 2016, outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad.

Analysis

Turkey’s security pact with Iraq: Which side came out on top?

The most contested presence for Baghdad is the military base established by Turkish forces in 2015 near the Iraqi town of Bashiqa.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt’s Sisi to pay first visit to Turkey as ties with Erdogan warm

Turkey and Egypt are expected to ink several cooperation deals during the visit, which will seal the end of more than a decade-long hostilities.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (L) reacts next to his nominee for the foreign ministry cabinet position Abbas Araghchi (R) as the former greets parliament members after giving an address during a session to approve his new cabinet appointments in Tehran on August 21, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Araghchi, Nasirzadeh and Khatib: Meet Iran’s new cabinet under Pezeshkian

The new cohort of ministers includes officials from both hard-liner and moderate camps; it also includes the first female minister in over a decade.

Attendees hold up signs with the names of people who died in the Gaza war on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 20, 2024.

At DNC, Harris contends with Democratic divide on Gaza

DNC delegates from the Uncommitted National Movement warn that if Harris doesn’t get tough on Israel, she risks alienating voters in battleground states like Michigan come November.

Lebanese firefighters put out a fire in a car after an Israeli strike in the southern city of Sidon on August 21, 2024. An Israeli strike in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on August 21, killed a Fatah official, said a leader from the Palestinian group and a security source, marking the first such attack reported on Fatah in over 10 months of cross-border clashes. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel assassinates Fatah official in Lebanon, a first since Gaza war began

In a first since the Gaza war, a senior Fatah official was killed in an Israeli strike on Lebanese soil, as Israel-Hezbollah cross-border hostilities continue to escalate.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Israel-Hezbollah tension expands to Golan Heights amid rocket attack

The Israeli military is threatening to retaliate after more than 50 Katyusha rockets were fired by Hezbollah at the Golan Heights town of Katzrin, following overnight strikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah ammunition depots.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken, Fidan discuss Gaza ahead of cease-fire talks in Egypt

The conversation followed the top US diplomat’s latest visit to the region without a breakthrough.

One of hundreds of drones made by Iran is displayed in this image, as the country continues to be sanctioned by the US, in this undated image.

Iran flexes drones, missiles at key Russia arms expo

Iran seized the event as a chance to showcase its military prowess, as the region is on edge and expecting an imminent Iranian attack on Israel after the killing in Tehran of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamburg

Iranian police close German Embassy school in latest row with Berlin

Iranian authorities shut down a German language school on Tuesday in a move widely seen as retaliation for Berlin banning the Hamburg Islamic Center in July.

JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken meets with Egypt's Sisi as Philadelphi Corridor remains sticking point in Gaza talks

Cairo will host a new round of talks this week to secure an agreement on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the region to mobilize support.

Yahya al-Sinwar (C), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, waves to supporters during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's foundation, in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. Hamas will end talks on securing a prisoner exchange with Israel unless there is progress soon, the militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip said on December 14. Since Israel's 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group has held the bodies of Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, altho

Analysis

As Netanyahu hedges, Hamas' Sinwar undecided between deal or regional war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived closer to the moment of truth where he must decide for or against a deal for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and a cease-fire in Gaza.

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

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel recovers bodies of six hostages taken alive to Gaza on Oct. 7

The bodies of six hostages were recovered by the Israeli military and Shin Bet troops from a tunnel in Khan Younis.