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August 29, 2026

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Abbas Araghchi and Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani

Qatar PM meets Pezeshkian, Rezaee as Doha seeks US-Iran mediation

Iran has recently signaled a desire to re-engage with the US but is hampered by internal divisions, said one expert.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani

Qatar PM heads to Tehran amid flurry of regional diplomacy

The visit by Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani to Tehran follows Pakistan and Oman sending senior officials to the Islamic Republic.

Latest News

Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Reve Chaaban

In Doha reporting on culture

A baby from Syria lies on lifejackets moments after Syrian refugees arriving on a dinghy on the island of Lesbos, Greece, August 23, 2015. Greece, mired in its worst economic crisis in generations, has been found largely unprepared for a mass influx of refugees, mainly Syrians. Arrivals have exceeded 160,000 this year, three times as high as in 2014. The crisis has exposed massive shortages in Greece's available facilities, but also striking discord within the European Union on how to handle the humanitaria

Security Council: Syria 'largest humanitarian crisis in the world'

UN, Russia and Iran coordinate new diplomatic effort on Syria; what did Zarif tell Nasrallah?; Egyptian government rejects mediation with Muslim Brotherhood; did US-trained force coordinate with Jabhat al-Nusra?

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) welcomes Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Damascus January 15, 2014, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. AN UNPROCESSED VERSION W

Zarif presses diplomacy on Syria

Iran brokers humanitarian cease-fires in Syria; Yair Lapid discusses “dreadful gamble” in US-Israel relations; Turkey’s Stone Age temple may predate Stonehenge and Egyptian pyramids by thousands of years.

Lobbying 2015: Qatar crawls in from the cold

Qatar is coming in from the cold in Washington as the gas-rich emirate falls into line with its Gulf neighbors’ stance against rebellious Islamist.

A view shows the Qatar Petroleum headquarters, which is under construction, in Doha April 8, 2013. Bankers and politicians touting their countries' wares have to work hard to get the attention of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, such is the range of its interests, from banks to cars to soccer clubs, and its exacting requirement for returns. With estimated assets of about $200 billion, and more than a dozen potential deals on its radar every week, the state-run firm has no time for less than compelling investm

Qatar opens doors to help Palestinians escape 'painful reality' of Gaza

Qatar and Palestine have been working together to bring a larger number of Palestinians to work in Qatar, where the market is in need of skilled labor.

Palestinian fighters from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, are seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR42YJR

Fight against IS draws Hamas, Egypt closer

Relations between Hamas and Egypt, strained since the 2013 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, appear to be improving with Saudi mediation.

Police officers walk during the Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai May 6, 2013. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: CRIME LAW TRAVEL BUSINESS) - RTXZCAO

How security forces keep critics quiet in 'progressive' UAE

The enigmatic UAE security forces have perfected the art of silencing critics and created an environment in which nearly everyone is afraid to say anything remotely resembling criticism of the government.

United Arab Emirates

Defense bill could keep sanctions pressure on Iran

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of June 8.

Turkish soldiers salute during a ceremony marking the 91st anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Ankara August 30, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX131DP

What are Turkish troops going to do in Qatar?

Per a security cooperation agreement between Turkey and Qatar, Turkey will set up a permanent military facility in Qatar.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends the opening of the Geneva-2 peace conference in Montreux January 22, 2014. Syria's government and opposition, meeting face to face for the first time at a U.N. peace conference, angrily spelled out their hostility on Wednesday as world powers also restated contrasting views on the future of President Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17PGV

The Turkey-Saudi axis against Damascus

Will the US support the gains of Islamist opposition in Syria?

Turkish soldiers monitor the border line as they stand guard near the Akcakale border crossing in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, where Islamic State militants control the Syrian side of the gate, January 29, 2015. An audio message purportedly from a Japanese journalist being held by Islamic State militants said a Jordanian air force pilot also captured by the group would be killed unless an Iraqi female prisoner in Jordan was released by sunset on Thursday. The message appeared to postpone a previ

Turkish military puts brakes on Syrian intervention

While a Turkish military operation against Syria is unlikely, Mosul is another story.

Members of Libyan pro-government forces, backed by locals, walk with weapons during clashes in the streets with the Shura Council of Libyan Revolutionaries, an alliance of former anti-Gaddafi rebels who have joined forces with Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, in Benghazi April 1, 2015. Picture taken April 1. REUTERS/Stringer - RTR4W1LK

Libya looks to Russia for arms

Disillusioned with the West, the Libya government is exploring opportunities in Russia and says it is willing to accept limited participation by Islamists that agree to play by the rules.

Palestinian workers clear the rubble of a school that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the east of Gaza City December 3, 2014. According to housing minister Mufeed al-Hasayna, Gaza needs 8,000 tonnes of cement a day to meet demand. A new system set up with the United Nations to comply with Israeli requirements lets through at most 2,000, he said. At that rate, reconstruction would take more than 30 years, said Hasayna, one of four

Will Qatar-Israel relations threaten PA’s relevance in Gaza?

Qatar’s engagement with Hamas and Israeli officials on Gaza reconstruction projects has provoked fears in the Palestinian Authority of a usurpation of its power.