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Politics & Security

This photograph taken during a press tour organised by the Lebanese army shows Lebanese soldiers standing atop military vehicles in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on Nov. 28, 2025.

Lebanon’s military hits back at US sanctions, says loyalty 'solely to the nation'

Lebanon’s army and General Security stressed that their members remain loyal state institutions, responding to US sanctions that for the first time targeted security officers for alleged ties to Hezbollah.

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Ireland joins EU push to ban trade with Israeli settlements amid flotilla backlash

European frustration with Israel intensified this week after a far-right Israeli minister posted a video of the mistreatment of international activists detained in the country.

This handout photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on April 25, 2026 shows Pakistan's Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R) meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi upon his arrival in Islamabad. US envoys headed to the Pakistani capital on April 25 in a bid to kickstart a new round of peace negotiations with Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, though the prospect of direct talks remained uncertain. (Photo by Iranian Foreign Ministry / AFP via Getty Images) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO E

Live Updates

Iran talks see momentum as Pakistani officials visit Tehran

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, has reportedly departed for the Iranian capital, while Doha dispatched a diplomatic team.

Israeli soldiers react after taking cover near the Israel-Lebanon border following a Hezbollah drone attack that hit the northern border on May 19, 2026. The Israeli military on May 19 warned residents of 12 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate ahead of expected attacks against Hezbollah, the latest despite a ceasefire. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

In first, US sanctions Lebanon military, intel officials for aiding Hezbollah

New tranche of sanctions marks a warning shot from Washington as Senate Republicans threaten to freeze funding to the Lebanese Armed Forces if it does not move more aggressively to disarm Hezbollah.

Latest News

US, Iran trade mixed signals on enriched uranium as Tehran weighs response

Iranians drive next to a billboard displaying pictures of nuclear scientists, centrifuges and a sentence reading in Farsi " Science is the power," at the Enqelab Square in Tehran, on Aug. 29, 2025.

Feature

With sanctions off, what’s keeping Syria on US terror blacklist?

TOPSHOT - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Bing Guan / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Israel targets Turkey charity amid Gaza flotilla tensions

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s Hormuz authority declares control over ports in UAE, Oman: What to know

AFP via 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

Israel election

Analysis

Netanyahu unlikely to upset US ties over Iran, Lebanon

Lion's Den fighters shift attacks from Nablus to Hebron; Palestinian startups get warm welcome in Dubai.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Ben-Gvir

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition could upend Israeli democracy

Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a dangerous deal with far-right and religious radical partners who are sure to undercut Israeli's democratic institutions.

Former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu speak to the press after casting their vote in the Israeli general election, Jerusalem, Nov. 1, 2022.

Netanyahu back with Israel's furthest-right government ever

About to establish his sixth government, Benjamin Netanyahu must partner exclusively with religious and far-right partners.

Iranian refugees and Iranians living in Greece hold up placards during a demonstration to commemorate 40 days from the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini while in police custody in Iran, in central Athens on Oct. 29, 2022.

Iran rocked by more violence as protesters mourn victims

The clashes saw angry protesters taking on government forces, who had opened fire and blocked ways to the victims’ graves.

Palestinians gather to demonstrate at the Hawara checkpoint, demanding the reopening of roads around the closed-off city of Nablus, West Bank, Nov. 1, 2022.

Israel lifts siege on Nablus as Lion’s Den group gains more popularity

Israel has partially lifted the siege it had imposed on the West Bank city of Nablus after killing the leader of the Lion’s Den group.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (L) speaks with Sweden's Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist ahead of the second day of a meeting of the alliance's Defense Ministers at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 13, 2022.

NATO chief urges Turkey to stop stalling Sweden, Finland accession

Both Turkey's president and foreign minister tell the NATO secretary-general that steps from Sweden and Finland will determine the pace of Ankara’s ratification of the Nordic accession.

Netanyahu

India’s Modi, Italy’s Meloni congratulate Netanyahu

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also congratulated Israel's current opposition leader, who is slated to return as prime minister with a right-wing coalition.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife, Sara.

Lapid concedes defeat, congratulates Netanyahu on winning Israeli election

Prime Minister Yair Lapid broke his two-day silence and called opposition head Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him for winning the elections.

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush (R) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Libya differences stall Turkey-Egypt fence-mending

Turkey’s moves in Libya have undermined its fledgling dialogue with Egypt, even as Ankara took a number of measures to restrict Brotherhood exiles to please Cairo.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Religious leaders talk climate action in Israel ahead of COP27

At the initiative of the foreign ministry, Jewish, Christian, Druze, Bahai and Muslim leaders gathered in Jerusalem, in a joint call to act against climate change.

Supporters of Hezbollah hold up their phones and wave the party flag during a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Shiite movement creation in southern suburb of Beirut on Aug. 22, 2022.

Breaking | Last Updated: November 17, 2022, 12:36 pm

US sanctions oil shipping network supporting Hezbollah, Quds Force

The Treasury Department accused a Gulf-based group of individuals and front companies of concealing the Iranian origins of oil shipments.

Lahur Talabany gives a talk at the UK House of Commons in London, Nov. 1, 2022.

Ex-intel chief Talabany warns Iraqi Kurds risk civil conflict leaving Turkey, Iran room to meddle

Ousted Iraqi Kurdish Intel Chief Lahur Talabany warns of civil conflict amid escalating tensions between the main Iraqi Kurdish factions, and insists that Kurds' future lies in Iraq.