Iran-US tensions

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on June 18, 2026, vessels are seen anchored in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysis

How competing visions over Hormuz strait threaten fragile Iran-US deal

Iran's latest measures in the strategic waterway expose widening gaps with the US and Gulf states, which could complicate the durability of recent diplomatic breakthroughs.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

In this US Navy released handout, an F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 14, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 1, 2026 at Sea.

Breaking | Last Updated: June 26, 2026, 5:44 pm

US carries out strikes in Iran after vessel attack

US forces struck Iranian coastal targets after Tehran was accused of attacking a commercial cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Iran vows to respond to Israeli military using neighboring airspace: What to know

Iran’s military headquarters said it “considers responding to these dangerous actions as its right” after alleging that Israeli jets have been operating in the airspace of neighboring countries near Iran.

President Donald Trump speaks during a Rose Garden Club dinner at the White House on June 25, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Trump calls Iran’s drone attack on cargo ship 'foolish violation' of ceasefire

The US president stopped short of issuing new threats, but called Thursday's drone attack "foolish."

Jared Szuba

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Analysis

Vance turning us into 'punching bag': Israel fumes over alleged IRGC-CENTCOM channel in Doha

Vance

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

As US talks stall, Hezbollah chief defiant, says Israel to leave Lebanon ’humiliated'

brahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Iran attacks cargo ship off Oman, testing Trump’s Hormuz Strait deal

The Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC Tasman VI and the Singapore-flagged container vessel Wan Hai 353 are docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on June 19, 2026.

Jared Szuba

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

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, January 21, 2020. (Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 4.0)

Iranian senior cleric Soleimani killed in attack

The shooting occurred as anti-clerical sentiments are high in Iran amid the popular protests, but the motive behind the attack is not yet known.

Men walk past a mural in the Iranian capital Tehran, on October 11, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

In Iran, hardliners successfully orchestrate takeover of state TV

Iran's state TV has been taken over by hard-line figures who use it to transmit ideological and hard-line views targeting the Reformists and opposition, including in entertainment shows.

Son of late Iranian Shah Reza Pahlavi with Israel's Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel at the opening ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, April 17 2023. Curtsy of Israel's Intelligence Ministry.

Iran hard-liners lash out at shah Pahlavi's son over Israel visit

Reza Pahlavi's trip to Israel and his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be part of his campaign to garner support for regime change in Iran, as the opposition camps were scrambling for unity.

The USS Florida sails during "Giant Shadow," a Naval Sea Systems Command/Naval Submarine Forces exercise to test the capabilities of the Navy's future guided missile submarines Jan. 22, 2003 off the coast of the Bahamas.

US Navy denies Iran's claim on harassing submarine in Gulf waters

The Iranian navy said it forced a US-guided missile submarine to surface as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz.

A US Black Hawk helicopter takes off from Britain's RFA Cardigan Bay landing ship in the Gulf waters off Bahrain stand next to a rigid-hull inflatable boat during the International Maritime Exercise (IMX), on November 5, 2019. - IMX is a joint military exercise involving assets and personnel from more than 50 partner nations and seven international organisations. The US has pushed for the creation of a US-led operation dubbed the International Maritime Security Construct to safeguard trade and the flow of o

CENTCOM hires first-ever AI adviser as it fields new tech in Middle East

US CENTCOM became the first combatant command to appoint an AI, machine learning and robotics adviser this week as the Pentagon looks to keep ahead of China’s technological advances.

Washington Pulse

US Treasury Department

UK sanctions Lebanon art dealer accused of financing Hezbollah

Already sanctioned by the United States back in 2019, Lebanese art dealer Nazem Said Ahmad was sanctioned by the British government on Tuesday.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi watches combat drones alongside high-ranking officials and commanders during a military parade marking the country's annual army day in Tehran on April 18, 2023.

Iran flaunts military hardware on Army Day as it threatens Israel

At a moment of escalating war of words, Iran's president said Israel will face destruction should it strike his country, which the Jewish state has long considered as an existential threat.

A woman walks with an umbrella at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital Tehran on December 5, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

China's Saudi-Iran deal clouded by uncertainty on protests, nuclear talks

The evolution of the Saudi-Iranian agreement hinges the factors that led to it: Iran’s nuclear program and political unrest, future of Russia’s war in Ukraine, US-China relations, and whether these will lead to a new world order.

A Taliban security personnel take pictures of his colleague using a mobile phone at the Wazir Akbar Khan hilltop overlooking the Kabul city on April 4, 2023.

Iran, Russia, China FMs meet, see opportunity in post-US Afghanistan

The summit in Uzbekistan brought together regional powers who have been competing in the vacuum left by the US departure from Afghanistan.

The US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla speaks at the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain's capital on November 19, 2022. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: April 12, 2023, 10:12 pm

CENTCOM eyeing artificial intelligence to counter Iran’s drones, says Kurilla

The top commander of US forces in the Middle East expressed concerns over China's inroads the region and told Al-Monitor he wants to turn up the heat at the next Red Sands exercise in Saudi Arabia to simulate more complex drone attacks.

Washington Connection

Alinejad

Breaking | Last Updated: April 10, 2023, 4:59 pm

Iranian-born US woman sentenced in plot to kidnap Masih Alinejad

Niloufar Bahadorifar, sentenced to prison, had pleaded guilty in December for unknowingly supporting an alleged Iranian plot to kidnap activist Masih Alinejad.

The USS Florida sails during "Giant Shadow," a Naval Sea Systems Command/Naval Submarine Forces exercise to test the capabilities of the Navy's future guided missile submarines January 22, 2003 off the coast of the Bahamas.

US Navy sends guided-missile submarine to Middle East amid Iran tensions

US show of force comes as Pentagon extends aircraft carrier deployment following last month's lethal attack by Iran-backed militias on US personnel in Syria.