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July 3, 2026

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Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Israeli officials believe the US failure to attain the kind of agreement with Iran that it originally sought stems from the strategic mistakes made during and after the recent war.

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

Crude oil tankers, bulk carriers and vessels sit anchored around Qaboos Port on June 22, 2026, in Muscat, Oman.

Oil falls below $71 as US-Iran talks continue, Gulf exports rebound

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an X post on Wednesday that Iran and the United States had made "positive progress."

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Explainer

Saudi FM concludes China visit amid Trump-MBS friction: What to know

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud before a family photo for the attendees of a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim-majority nations at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on November 20, 2023. The international community must take urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations on Novembe

Analysis

For Israel, Lebanon deal 'historic' despite fears Hezbollah will rebuild

Shia Muslim devotees gather for a mourning ritual near the shrine of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah who was killed in a 2024 Israeli-airstrike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 26, 2026 at the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

United Arab Emirates signs deal to buy F-35s, drones just before Biden sworn in

President Joe Biden has suggested his administration might review or impose conditions on arms sales, but it is not yet clear he will oppose the deal.

United Arab Emirates

Marine One helicopter, with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump aboard, flies over the National Mall in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)

As Trump departs, Iran says 'ball in Washington’s court' to reinstate nuclear deal

President Hassan Rouhani appeared more upbeat on the prospects of the Iran nuclear deal on the day that Donald Trump departed from the White House.

A billboard by The Lincoln Project is seen in Times Square on October 25, 2020 in New York, depicting Ivanka Trump presenting the number of New Yorkers and Americans who have died due to Covid-19 along with her husband Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, with a Vanity Fair quote. - The Lincoln Project, is defending its right to erect billboards in Times Square critical of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner,after an attorney for President Trump's daughter and her husband threatened to sue. (Photo by T

Netanyahu rival hires Lincoln Project for March election

Former Likud senior Gideon Saar hopes the veteran American strategists can help him win the next elections and topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blinken: 'Vitally important' to engage with Israel, Gulf on Iran nuclear deal

Antony Blinken also said the administration would immediately review the terror designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Bahraini king receives award from Trump

US President Donald Trump reportedly gave the prestigious Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Intel: Biden’s pick for top intelligence official vows to report to Congress on Jamal Khashoggi murder

Avril Haines says the Biden administration will release to lawmakers an unclassified intelligence assessment on who was behind the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist.

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - JANUARY 16: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an announcement January 16, 2021 at the Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware. President-elect Joe Biden has announced key members of his incoming White House science team. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Iran denies informal talks with Biden team

Tehran claims there have been no informal preliminary talks with the incoming US administration, but signs of economic relief are already appearing in Tehran’s forex market.

Houthi terror designation could set off Yemen’s oil tanker 'time bomb'

Experts say the terrorism label will complicate efforts to secure a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea that could rupture at any moment and unleash another humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wears a face mask against Covid-19, bearing the US and Israeli flags, during a meeting with US special representative for Iran at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu lays out campaign for US to maintain course on Iran

Israel is hoping that the new US administration will conduct an intimate strategic dialogue with Israel’s allies in the region before making a final decision on the Iran nuclear issue.

Egypt dodges Trump’s ire as White House orders massive last-minute aid cuts

The outgoing president briefly sought to freeze all US military aid to Egypt over its purchase of Russian military hardware, but the White House revised the decision before notifying Congress, Al-Monitor's sources said.

Trump orders US Central Command to include Israel amid strategic shift

The decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers a foreign policy statement on Iran at Chelsea Piers in New York on January 7, 2020. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

To stop Iran’s advances toward nuclear weapons, restore JCPOA

The best way to de-escalate tensions is for both Washington and Tehran to comply with the Iran nuclear deal — and go from there.