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

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

Latest News

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.

A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, March 11, 2023.

China triumphs with Saudi-Iran deal, but devil in implementation

The deal marks a turning point in Middle Eastern politics, but China may find its role undermined by failures in implementation.

Saudi-Iran-China

Analysis

China leaps into Saudi-Iran diplomacy as nuclear talks move

Iranian official says next move on prisoner exchange depends on US.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) waves to his supporters during a roadshow ahead of the BJP national executive meet in New Delhi on January 16, 2023. (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran-India ties strained by geopolitics, buoyed by economics

This decision by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to boycott a conference in India is a reminder of political, economic and military tensions between the two South Asian countries.

Barbara Leaf (L), US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Dana Stroul (C), US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence (DASD) for the Middle East, join a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

US will 'protect' its technology against China theft in Middle East: Leaf

Barbara Leaf, top Middle East official at the State Department told Al-Monitor that the Syrian government is participating in the drug trade, and blamed Iran for the failure of the nuclear deal.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 9, 2023.

In Israel, US defense chief Austin warns of heightened Iran-Russia cooperation

US defense chief Lloyd Austin said Biden administration officials are "especially disturbed" by Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, but vowed nothing would get in the way of Washington's support for Israel's security as it faces threats from Iran.

An undated image of Shahid Mahdavi.

Iran unveils warship, missile launchers amid regional tensions

With the 2,100-ton vessel added to its fleet along with nearly 100 missile-launching boats, Iran appears to be flexing its muscles at sea.

Lloyd Austin in Baghdad

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin talks troop presence in surprise Iraq visit

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is playing a delicate balancing act with pro-Iran factions as Washington keeps a low profile for its military advisers in Iraq in order to subdue the Islamic State.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami (R).

IAEA Iran visit opens window to restart nuclear diplomacy

The nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency meets Tuesday, as an EU official says an agreement could be "positive” for Iran nuclear talks.

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Family of US citizen killed in IRGC strikes sues Iran

Omar Mahmoudzadeh was killed this September in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in northern Iraq. His family's lawyer says the Biden administration downplayed his death.

US and Saudi tanks take part in the "Eager Lion" multinational military manuever, in the Al-Zarqa governorate, some 85km northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, on September 14, 2022. (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

US, Saudi Arabia to conduct first counter-drone exercise without allies

As tensions heat up with Iran, the Pentagon hopes the Red Sands exercises will convince allies in the Middle East that Western counter-drone technology is still better than China's.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley arrives to hold a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group during a two-day meeting of the alliance's Defence Ministers at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on February 14, 2023. (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Top US general visits Israel amid increasing tensions with Iran

The Pentagon’s top-ranking officer, Gen. Mark Milley, landed in Israel on Friday to coordinate with senior military officials on Iran strategy.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 2, 2023, 2:44 pm

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt

The Pentagon chief's second tour of the Middle East comes as diplomatic efforts to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to have run out of gas.