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August 3, 2026

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An Egyptian man looks at the Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" as its passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia on April 1, 2008. The vessel has a capacity of 210,100 cu.m making it one of the largest LNG carriers constructed to date. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How strike on Damietta port exposes Egypt's energy infrastructure risks

The unclaimed attack on the port of Damietta could draw Egypt further into the US-Iran conflict as experts point to growing threats to critical infrastructure in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

A possible Hamas decision to disarm would represent more than a Gaza development, testing Iran's decades-old strategy of projecting power through regional allies.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

An attempt by Iraqi government forces to seize weapons belonging to an Iranian-backed faction encountered resistance, raising questions about Prime Minister Ali Zaidi’s pledge to disarm militias by Sept. 30.

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Latest News

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Iran’s new calculus: Strike first, talk later

A woman stands next to Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles displayed at Azadi Square in Tehran on July 24, 2026.

China cuts deal with Houthis, adjusts for long US war with Iran

This aerial photo shows a tanker unloading imported crude oil at a terminal port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on June 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images) / China OUT

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Benjamin Houghton

In Durham, reporting on China in the Middle East

Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

Mehrnaz Samimi

In Washington, DC, reporting on Iranian culture

Iran offers to help Iraq reconstruct damaged archaeological masterpiece

Iran has expressed interest in helping repair the Taq Kasra, the remains of a pre-Islamic Persian palace in Iraq with a historically significant archway.

Iran’s Rouhani expects economic relief after Trump departure

Iran’s president assured his nation of economic relief “in the months to come” following the “overthrow” of his outgoing US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Mask-clad school children hold Iranian national flags as they sit distanced apart from each other in the yard of a school while attending a speech by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani by video conference, at Nojavanan school in the capital Tehran on the first day of schools re-opening on September 5, 2020, while in the background a billboard is seen showing a boy holding a flag together with Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) next to a Farsi quote by the country's s

Khamenei's vaccine ban paints dismal picture of Iranian health care

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed shortcomings in health care systems across the globe, and Iran is no exception.

Fate of seized South Korean tanker, crew out of Iran’s hands, says foreign minister

The decision is the latest in a growing financial dispute between Tehran and Seoul ignited by US sanctions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington,DC on January 12, 2021. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Tuesday that arch-enemy Iran has become a new "home base" for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan, an assertion questioned by experts. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo dubs Iran new 'home base' of al-Qaeda

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Tehran of enabling the terrorist group by providing safe havens and logistical support.

Iran says it won’t expel nuclear watchdog inspectors

Government officials stressed that international watchdog inspectors will not be expelled from Iran’s nuclear sites, rejecting a senior lawmaker’s statement that such a plan was in the pipeline if the United States failed to lift sanctions against Tehran.

Air pollution covers the Iranian capital Tehran on December 23, 2019. - Schools in Iran's Tehran province have been ordered shut until due to severe air pollution, authorities announced, extending their closure to a full week. Tehran city was cloaked by thick toxic smog for a third successive day on Monday that blanketed out landmarks like Milad Tower and the snow-capped Alborz mountains. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s capital suffocating amid blame game over pollution

For nearly a month, residents of the Iranian capital have been exposed to record-high air pollution amid the government’s confusing explanations and failure to work out a solution.

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on October 24, 2020, shows him wearing a protective face mask as he gives a speech in the capital Tehran during a meeting of the national staff to discuss the issue of the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by - / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP) / XGTY / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS === (Photo by

Iran officials defend ban on US, UK COVID vaccines

Iranian officials have said they will begin vaccinating their population in the spring and do not have confidence in Western vaccines.

People gather outside Iran embassy in France on June 13, 2019 to support Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and demand her release. - Sotoudeh has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison over a case with seven charges, but she is to only serve the longest sentence, 12 years imposed for "encouraging corruption and debauchery". She has also been convicted of espionage. Sotoudeh has also been sentenced to a total of 148 lashes for appearing in court without the hijab Islamic head covering and

Iran approves 3-day release for jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is serving a decadeslong prison sentence on charges related to her work as a human rights defender.

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Tehran reveals underground missile base near Persian Gulf

Iran has announced it built a new subterranean missile base as tension between Washington and Tehran escalates.

DESSAU, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 23: An employee holds an ampoule into which the vaccine is later filled as German Health Minister Jens Spahn tours the lab facilities of vaccine maker IDT Biologika during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic on November 23, 2020 in Dessau, Germany. IDT Biologika is currently conducting human trials for its potential vaccine against Covid-19. During the company visit, Spahn announced the planned purchase at least five million vaccine doses. (Photo by Hendrik Schmidt-Pool/G

Iran's supreme leader bans vaccines made in US, UK

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he had "no confidence" in the American or British-made vaccinations.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump, including Jake Angeli (C), a QAnon supporter known for his painted face and horned hat, enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran president: US Capitol storming shows Western democracy 'fragile'

President Hassan Rouhani also said that “those who in two weeks will have power in the White House must return America, which is a great nation, to its rightful place.”