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Politics & Security

Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, Iran

Third Sunni cleric killed in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province: What to know

Iran says it is stepping up its crackdown on armed groups in the impoverished province as Sunni clerics have been reported killed there and in the predominantly Kurdish northwest.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

CENTCOM chief meets Saudi Arabia's MBS amid Houthi gains in Yemen

The low-profile meeting between the Pentagon's commander in the Middle East and Saudi crown prince comes as Yemen's Houthis seized the high ground overlooking a vital economic waterway.

People swim next to the Russian-flagged cargo ship OMSKIY-107, which was attacked off the Black Sea coast and eventually ran aground off the shore of the Sile district, Istanbul, Sept. 3, 2026.

Why Turkey has few options to protect Black Sea shipping

The Russia-Ukraine drone war is hitting Turkish commercial interests, exposing the limits of Ankara’s ability to protect shipping while remaining outside the conflict.

Erik Marmor

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Facing the popular Gadi Eisenkot, the Together party of former premiers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is sinking in Israeli opinion polls.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

What does Houthi advance mean for Yemen’s southern separatists?

Yemeni separatists

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Analysis

Houthi gains in Yemen are testing Saudi Arabia’s security strategy

boats and a container ship near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Iran, misreading Trump’s resolve, escalates conflict in Yemen ahead of US midterms

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, arrive with their weapons to rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon, in Sanaa on April 8, 2026, following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

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

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.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis meets with Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, in Jerusalem, on March 2, 2023.

Analysis

Lithuania joins Israel's EU efforts to designate Iran's IRGC

In what could be the first true shift in the European Union's position, Lithuania’s FM is signaling support to adding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the EU's terror list.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat look on during a press conference at the prime minister's office, Jerusalem, Jan. 25, 2023.

Analysis

Far-right ministers endanger Israel's ties with US

Statements by senior Israeli officials in favor of "wiping out" the Palestinian Huwara village, as well as calls for the US "to mind its own business," are threatening the strategically important alliance between the two countries.

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

People take part in a protest against the execution of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani -sentenced to death within protests following the death of Mahsa Amini- and to demand human righst in Iran, in front of the Iranian embassy in Mexico City on December 19, 2022. - Amir Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed.(Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran on 'execution spree' of Kurdish, Baluchi minorities, Amnesty says

A total of 94 people of any background were executed in January and February, according to Amnesty International.

Rally in Jerusalem, Feb. 25 2023 Credit: Tal Kfir Shor

Handmaid's Tale inspires Israeli women battling religious coercion

Hundreds of women clad in red cloaks and sporting white bonnets have been appearing in the past few weeks in several of the anti-judicial overhaul, pro-democracy demonstrations across the country.

Kilicdaroglu and Aksener

Turkey's opposition alliance fractures, fails to agree on challenger to Erdogan

The Iyi Party will not support the opposition coalition’s top candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the presidential elections.

Algeria military

Rumblings from Ukraine war felt in western Mediterranean

The Eastern European conflict has strained the traditional Russian alliance with Algeria, while Morocco tries to use the Abraham Accords to finalize its hold on Western Sahara.

Gilles Kepel

By Gilles Kepel

This picture shows traffic in Baghdad's Tahrir Square with the iconic Freedom Monument, a 50-metre (165-foot) long bas relief that honours the 1950 revolution which overthrew Iraq's monarchy, on November 7, 2022.(Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq rolls out new plan to reduce chronic Baghdad traffic

Successive Iraqi governments have tried but failed to address the problem of traffic in the capital. Sudani's plan involves building new bridges and overpasses.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu (L), IYI Party Meral Aksener (2ndR), Felicity Party (Saadet) Temel Karamollaoglu (R), Democratic Party (DP) Gultekin Uysal (3rdL), Future Party (Gelecek) Ahmet Davutoglu (3rdR), and Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party Ali Babacan (2ndL), belonging to the Turkish opposition alliance called National Alliance, pose on stage before presenting their programme, in Ankara, on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s opposition close to naming Kilicdaroglu to challenge Erdogan

Turkey’s six-party opposition inches closer to naming main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as the common candidate, but the right-wing Iyi Party is still hesitant.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

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.

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

IAEA chief heads to Tehran, as Iran's 83.7% enrichment triggers alarm

The visit comes ahead of Grossi's trip to the US, and at the height of tensions between the nuclear watchdog and the Islamic Republic as the latter continues to ramp up nuclear enrichment toward the weapons-grade bar.

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020. - The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's oil, petrochemical trade hit with new US sanctions

The designated firms are located in Iran, China, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.