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Politics & Security

A billboard with the image of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wraps the front of a building in Tehran on May 5, 2026.

Analysis

Iran's Gulf gambit: Attacking the UAE to shift US calculations

Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Parker Song / Getty Images

Iran’s Araghchi heads to China as US presses Beijing over Hormuz: What to know

The visit comes ahead of President Donald Trump's long-awaited trip to Beijing next week.

A picture taken near Kars on Feb. 28, 2024 shows the ruins of a bridge over Arpacay river, the natural border between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey, Armenia agree to restore medieval bridge in normalization push

Ankara is pursuing normalization with Armenia ahead of June parliamentary elections in a thaw also positioned to advance its broader Middle Corridor ambitions.

Latest News

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

Ethiopia rejects Sudan's strike claims, accuses Khartoum of backing Tigray rebels

The charred remains of a tank from clashes between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) lie on a road near Gereb Agew, Southern Tigray, on March 3, 2026.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

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

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

A member of a "joint security cell" made up of various military and security services affiliated with Sudan's army takes part in a parade in Gedaref in the east of the war-torn country, on July 28, 2024.

Russia investigates downed aircraft in Sudan: What we know

A plane allegedly shot down by a Sudanese paramilitary group has shined a light on the web of foreign influence affecting the ongoing war in Sudan.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein leaves after his meeting with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker (not pictured) in Beirut on August 14, 2024, amid regional tensions during the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoy Hochstein’s document for Israel-Lebanon cease-fire: What we know

According to a report by the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, the US envoy presented a document that includes several amendments to UN Resolution 1701 as a proposal to end the war in Lebanon, which Lebanese officials have repeatedly refused to change.

Qatari candidates register to run in the country's upcoming election as members of its top advisory panel, known as the Shura Council, in the capital, Doha, on Aug. 22, 2021.

Qatar to vote on ditching legislative council elections as Gulf states balk at representative rule

Qatar's first legislative council election was held in October 2021, a year before it hosted the FIFA World Cup, but the Gulf state now looks poised to roll back citizens' involvement in the legislative process.

The Pentagon again postponed a key test of its troubled "THAAD'''' anti-missile defense rocket, seen this file photo, due to a commercial power failure, the Defense Department said. (photo by Lockheed Martin)

Exclusive

Inside US-Israel understanding to reward Netanyahu for not targeting Iran’s oil fields

The Israeli government might agree to refrain targeting Iranian oil sites in exchange for a security package offered by the Biden administration.

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

Supporters of the Kurdish community demonstrate with flags and banners on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the arrest of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan (portrait on the placard at C) on the banks of the Rhine river in Cologne, western Germany, on February 17, 2024. Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) nearly half a century ago and has languished in solitary confinement on a prison island since 1999, is hailed as an icon by some Kurds but denounced by m

In shift, Erdogan's top ally says Ocalan’s life sentence can be reassessed if PKK disbands

Devlet Bahceli also suggested that the conditions of the militant leader’s life sentence without parole be reconsidered if he agrees to make such a call.

A voter holds his proof of Kuwaiti citizenship upon arriving at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Kuwait City on June 6, 2023.

Analysis

Kuwait's citizenship law changes reflect growing restrictions under new emir

Kuwait, having one of the more rentier economies, is seeing citizenship laws tightened and dissent quieted under the regime of its new emir.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Ambulances and paramedics carry people wounded in an Israeli bombing of Beirut to Sahel Hospital.

Lebanon evacuates Beirut hospital as Israeli strikes expand

Lebanon on Monday evacuated its Sahel Hospital after the Israeli military alleged that Hezbollah stores cash and gold amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in a bunker beneath it.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

How death of Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan's nemesis, could impact US-Turkey ties

The death of the infamous US-based preacher will likely impact US-Turkey relations after years of extradition disputes.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a moderated conversation with Former US Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, at People's Light performing arts theater Malvern, Pennsylvania, on October 21, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Kamala Harris calls Palestinian deaths 'unconscionable' as Michigan race tightens

The vice president has faced criticism from some Arab and Muslim voters over the Biden administration’s support for Israel, including in the key battleground state of Michigan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, on Oct. 12, 2023.

Blinken to push for elusive Gaze cease-fire in latest Mideast trip

The top US diplomat’s 11th mission to the Middle East since the Oct. 7 attacks comes as Israel plans retaliatory strikes on Iran, while waging war in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Palestinian security forces close off the entrance of a building housing the offices of Saudi broadcasters MBC, Al-Arabiya, and Al-Hadath in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 21, 2024, during a protest calling for their closure against the backdrop of their descriptions of Hamas leadership which the protesters reject. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

What's behind Algeria's suspension of Saudi-owned Al Arabiya?

Algeria suspended the press license of Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya news channel just one day after Iraq suspended the license of Saudi-owned TV channel MBC.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel arrests 7 nationals suspected of spying for Iran: What we know

Israeli authorities are saying the affair is one of the most serious espionage cases in recent Israeli history.