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Politics & Security

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi (L) and US President Donald Trump pose during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025.

Trump threatens to 'blow up' Oman as US-Iran talks stall

“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up,” Trump said in surprising comments on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (R) shakes hands with Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, during a news conference on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary.

With Hungary’s ICC U-turn, Israel loses a key European ally

Hungary’s parliament voted to remain in the International Criminal Court, reversing a planned withdrawal and marking a shift in Budapest’s approach to Israel and the EU.

Iraqis walk past portraits of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, including one on a banner calling for a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Sadr City, east of Baghdad on October 29, 2025. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Iraq on 11 November 2025, which will determine the 329 members of Iraq's Council of Representatives, who are responsible for electing the country's president and approving the appointment of the prime minister. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by

Iraq’s Sadr moves to place his militia under state control: What to know

Muqtada al-Sadr is the first militia leader to heed new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s call to place weapons in the hands of the state as US pressure continues.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Who was Mohammed Odeh, Hamas military commander killed by Israel in Gaza?

Odeh was killed in a Tuesday strike in the Palestinian enclave just days after he assumed his leadership position.

Latest News

White House calls Iranian report on Hormuz, MOU 'complete fabrication'

Vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, off the port city of Khasab on Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula on May 17, 2026.

Jared Szuba

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

Analysis

'Very bad news’: Israel alarmed as Trump pushes ahead toward Iran deal

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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

Israel strikes near Lebanon’s Qaraoun dam as war intensifies: What to know

A partial view shows a drainage vacuum hole on the lake of Qaraoun in Lebanon's southern Beqaa Valley on April 5, 2019.

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

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox not ready to take down Bennett government

Despite the political upset between the coalition and the opposition, the ultra-Orthodox seem in no hurry to topple the current government.

Tunisian President Kais Saied (R) arrives with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan plays to base with criticism of Tunisia

By slamming the dissolution of Tunisia’s parliament, Erdogan may have emboldened his ideological allies from the Ennahda party, but his criticism might backfire to further isolate political Islam.

Mohamed al-Manfi (L), head of Libya's presidency council, and new interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah (R) arrive.

Egypt steps up efforts to calm Libya

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with head of the Libyan Presidency Council Mohammad Menfi in Cairo to discuss the future of the political process in Tripoli, amid Cairo’s renewed efforts to end the political chaos and divisions in the neighboring country.

Members of the Palestinian Authority's security force deploy near the Jewish pilgrimage site of the Tomb of Joseph on the outskirts of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, early on April 11, 2022.

Israel condemns vandalization of Joseph’s Tomb by Palestinians

The site of Joseph’s Tomb in the environs of the West Bank city of Nablus again at the center of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

US Senator John Kennedy, R-LA, speaks during a full committee markup to vote, on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2022.

Analysis

GOP senators warn Biden against taking Iran's IRGC off terror list

The Republican letter comes as nuclear talks remain at a standstill over Iran's insistence that the United States delist the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Right-wing Israeli supporters hold signs and flags as they protest against the Israeli government on April 6, 2022, in Jerusalem.

Israeli coalition’s left, right wrangle after terror attacks

Faced with a terror wave, the Israeli government, composed of right, center and left, finds its harder and harder to operate in unison.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says deal on prisoner release, foreign funds imminent

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed reports that an Omani delegation will travel to Iran to help finalize a deal concerning the country's frozen funds and certain foreign prisoners.

Gaza military parade

Hamas stops Islamic Jihad from military escalation with Israel in Gaza

Hamas and Islamic Jihad are coordinating policies and activities, stepping up attacks in the West Bank while trying to avoid direct confrontation in Gaza.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses media representatives during a press conference at an European Union (EU) summit at EU Headquarters in Brussels on March 24, 2022.

Erdogan's Saudi visit to mark vital step in Turkey's regional realignment

The Turkish president is expected to travel to the kingdom during Ramadan following the end of the Khashoggi case in Turkey.

Arab Joint List leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin at the president's residence, Jerusalem, April 5, 2021.

Arab Israeli politicians consider joining efforts to topple current government

Some of the Arab-Israeli politicians who are in the opposition might opt against serving as a political security net for the very destabilized government of Naftali Bennett.

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the mayoral elections rerun, Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2019.

Turkish opposition stumbles on united platform

Turkey’s opposition parties have so far been unable to gain traction among large segments of the Turkish public ahead of the 2023 elections.

Israel planes

Republican lawmakers urge Biden to hurry warplane sales to Israel

Republicans have been voicing increasing concern as the Biden administration approaches a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.