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June 20, 2026

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US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

The latest ceasefire in Lebanon leaves Netanyahu squeezed between Washington and domestic pressure.

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

US President Donald Trump arrives for the G7 Leaders' Summit at the Hotel Royal, Evian Resort on June 15, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France.

Feature

Trump’s Iran deal sidesteps fate of detained Americans

The White House declined to say whether the release of the six Americans would be included in a final deal.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Achraf Hakimi #2 of Morocco shoots and misses a chance against Gabriel Magalhaes #3 of Brazil during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Brazil and Morocco at New York New Jersey Stadium on June 13, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Culture

Morocco, Egypt impress with notable draws despite winless World Cup start for Mideast teams

Several teams from the Middle East and North Africa could advance to the knockout stage under the new format, and Morocco climbed in the rankings despite a tie in its opener.

Latest News

Explainer

Sanctions relief and reconstruction: How China benefits from Trump-Iran deal

How Iran stands to win major financial relief in Trump-backed deal

A shop owner counts Iranian banknotes at a store in the capital Tehran on Jan. 7, 2026.

Explainer

Oil’s slide wavers as Trump warns US-Iran deal ‘not final’

A general view shows the Awad oil field in the eastern Qamishli countryside in northeastern Syria, on Feb. 9, 2026.

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's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) waves near the shrine (L) of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein ibn Ali at the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the grandson, in old Cairo February 5, 2013. Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The trip was meant to underline a thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state, President Mohamed Mursi, last June. But it also highlighte

Iran analyst: no accountability makes Ahmadinejad return likely

An Iranian analyst writes that the return of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely given the problems within Iran's executive branch.

An unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector disconnects the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium production at nuclear power plant of Natanz, some 300 kilometres south of Tehran on January, 20, 2014 as Iran halted production of 20 percent enriched uranium, marking the coming into force of an interim deal with world powers on its disputed nuclear programme. AFP PHOTO/IRNA/KAZEM GHANE (Photo credit should read KAZEM GHANE/AFP/Getty Images)

US experts converge on breakout formula for Iran talks

There isn’t much daylight between the Barack Obama administration’s breakout estimates for Iran and that of David Albright, a so-called gatekeeper who is influential on nuclear issues within the expert community and on Capitol Hill.

Rebel fighters gather near the front line in Ratain village, north of Aleppo February 17, 2015. The Syrian army backed by allied militia have captured several villages near Aleppo in battles aimed at encircling the northern city and cutting off insurgent supply lines, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The army also took villages including Bashkuwi and Sifat, while fighting raged in Hardatain and Ratain, said the Observatory, which tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground. It added that at le

Syrian regime, allies lose decisive battles in Aleppo

The regime and its allies have suffered heavy losses in an offensive against the opposition’s largest stronghold in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano (R) welcomes Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi in his offfice at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna February 24, 2015. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader (AUSTRIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4QWK7

Liberman, Yadlin: speech won't stop Iranian nuke

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Zionist Camp's Gen. Amos Yadlin differ on the best reaction to current negotiations with Iran, but both agree that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech in the US Congress is not the way to go.

A Palestinian policeman loyal to Hamas stands guard near burning tyres during a protest by Palestinians calling for reconstruction of their houses that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, outside a United Nations food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR4PQSX

Regional events have Hamas in political limbo

Various events and unresolved regional crises have fed Hamas' reluctance to forge regional alliances and take decisive positions on developments in the Arab world.

Iran talks reach turning point

US officials claim progress has been made as movement is reported on key issues.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gives the opening speech during Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. Rafsanjani lost his position on Tuesday as head of an important state clerical body after hardliners criticised him for being too close to the reformist opposition. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITIC

Rafsanjani: Saudi-Iran cooperation can fix regional issues

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has said that cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia can resolve some issues, but conceded that there are still many differences at the moment.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he has drawn on the graphic of a bomb as he addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 27, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR38I6N

Netanyahu has no 'smoking gun' on Iran

With his speech to Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to breathe new life into the "Iranian existential threat" to improve his chances of being re-elected as the one person who can stop the Iranians.

Sergei Kiriyenko (R), head of the Russian state nuclear monopoly Rosatom, and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi shakes hands during a signing ceremony in Moscow, November 11, 2014. Russia will build two new nuclear power plant units in Iran under an agreement signed in Moscow on Tuesday. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR4DP58

Kerry says deal not imminent as Iran, US energy chiefs join talks

Iran atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi and US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz joined Iran nuclear negotiations in Geneva, but US Secretary of State John Kerry tamped down expectations that a deal could be imminent.

Would Iran deal set new nuclear proliferation standard?

The nuclear negotiations have entered a critical stage with Iran, which for years has defended its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) rights, committed to the NPT by providing unprecedented transparency of its nuclear program.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against ISIL" on Capitol Hill in Washington December 9, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4HCK4

Lawmakers prep defense bill, Kerry defends budget

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 23.

Iranian teachers take part in a rally asking for better pay in front of a Education Ministry building in Tehran May 2, 2007. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN) - RTR1P963

Iranian teachers protest Rouhani's budget

Iranian teachers are protesting President Hassan Rouhani's budget, as their salary increase can't keep up with inflation.