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Politics & Security

A giant billboard depicts late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (2nd L), and his son Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, with Arabic writing that reads: "Thank you Iran," in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, on June 15, 2026.

Khamenei says Hezbollah's agenda 'strategic mandate' for Iran

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s comments come as Lebanon and Israel move forward with a US-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah in the south, though the Iran-backed group is resisting calls to turn over its weapons.

Trump Netanyahu

On eighth visit, Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to repair ties with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to focus on Iran in his Tuesday meeting with President Donald Trump, while the US leader is more likely to want to discuss Lebanon and Syria.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (not pictured) at the Pentagon on July 14, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.

Zaidi to meet Erdogan as Turkey-Iraq ties take off, Kurds feel sidelined

The Iraqi prime minister's visits to Ankara and Riyadh underscore Baghdad's push to deepen regional ties as Turkey seeks closer cooperation on energy and security.

US President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Trump says Iran seeks talks after strikes halted

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the two sides have communicated only through intermediaries.

Latest News

Iran summons French ambassador after detaining 2 diplomats: What to know

Iranian security forces stand guard in front of the French Embassy in Tehran in this undated image.

Analysis

Zaidi’s test in Tehran

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is welcomed to the Saadabad Palace in Tehran by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, July 23, 2026.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Analysis

Iran war puts Turkey’s inflation fight, lira under fresh pressure

Vendors sell dry food as people shop by a banner reading " No to Inflation" near the New Mosque area in Istanbul's Eminonu district on Nov. 6, 2018.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Bitcoin

Fugitive Turkish cryptocurrency chief arrested in Albania

Faruk Fatih Ozer, who reportedly fled with $2 billion in investors' assets, had an Interpol red notice.

Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rest during a protest.

Deadly intra-Shiite violence rattles Iraq’s Kurds

Kurds are "deeply troubled by the new cycle of violence in Iraq" and look to be peacemakers.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Protesters withdraw from Baghdad's Green Zone

Following Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's order, his followers have withdrawn completely from the Green Zone and evacuated the parliament building.

Israeli former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on June 30, 2022.

Netanyahu campaign leans on Israel's economic woes

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu is focusing his electoral campaign on the failure of the government to lower the cost of living and better working conditions in schools and hospitals.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq's neighbors urge calm in response to Baghdad clashes

The situation in Baghdad has calmed somewhat after cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters to pull back.

ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images

Iran urges dialogue amid Iraq turmoil

Iranian authorities have called on Iraqi factions to seek political solutions as Baghdad streets saw deadly clashes between members of the Shiite Sadrist movement and their Tehran-backed rivals.

Israeli Prime Minister and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid speaks during the party's opening election campaign rally ahead of the general elections, Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 3, 2022.

Israel’s Lapid, Mossad chief diverge on emerging Iran nuclear deal

Prime Minister Yair Lapid was surprised by the briefings to the press of Mossad Director David Barnea, who accused the West and the United States of generating a strategic catastrophe for the region.

An aerial view of protesters raising a giant flag of the Syrian rebels atop a building during a demonstration against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Binnish, Idlib province, Syria, April 1, 2022.

Syrian opposition fears more Russian attacks in Idlib to pressure Turkey

Russia has escalated its attack against Idlib, as the Syrian opposition fears that Moscow will resort to further escalation after talks about rapprochement attempts between Turkey and the Syrian government.

A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr sits with his portrait during the weekly Friday prayers.

Sadr announces hunger strike as 20 killed in Baghdad clashes

Clashes between rival Shiite groups, the Sadrists and the Popular Mobilization Units, have left more than 20 dead and hundreds injured.

Iraqi police are pictured standing guard at the closed gate of the government headquarters.

Iraq issues arrest warrants for Sadrist leaders after judiciary storming

The Iraqi judiciary issued arrest warrants and travel bans against key Sadrist movement leaders amid violent political conflicts, but their enforcement could be a sensitive task.

A supporter of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr carries bullet casings and a spent shotgun shell.

US: No plans to evacuate embassy in Baghdad, monitoring clashes

White House official calls for calm in Iraq following Muqtada al-Sadr's resignation from politics.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sits near a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As US awaits Iran deal response, new Vienna round unlikely

A European Union source said negotiators would only return to the Austrian capital to ink a final agreement.