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September 4, 2026

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Israel to release 5 Lebanese prisoners ahead of next talks: What to know

Israel said the detainees are "civilians who are not members of a terrorist organization" and "were not involved in terrorism," concluding, "There is no reason to continue holding them in Israel."

ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

US airstrikes target Iran's Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island

American military forces launched their first strikes on the Iranian mainland in more than a month just days after the top US commander for the region said Iranian mines have been cleared from Hormuz shipping lanes.

missile

Analysis

Israel favors status quo as tensions in Iran's leadership fuel escalation risk

Israel would prefer to preserve the current balance of pressure — with US naval blockades and economic measures continuing without a return to active fighting — per a senior Israeli security source.

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

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Pentagon inks 7-year missile-production deal amid Iran war shortage

The Defense Department has been hammering out new agreements with top defense manufacturers as the Iran war has rapidly depleted Washington's interceptor stockpiles.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel’s Lebanon dilemma: Confront Hezbollah without angering Trump, triggering Iran

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

How Iran is readying for economic protests as Trump escalates pressure

Demonstrations in Tehran, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Trump says Hormuz mine-free as Iran, Oman agree to clear them

US President Donald Trump arrives at Myrtle Beach International Airport on Aug. 21, 2026, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

China warns US not to interfere with Iran trade: What to know

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Matt Gaetz

Man admits asking Gaetz's father for $25M to find FBI agent in Iran, denies extortion

Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent believed to have died in Iranian custody, is now wrapped up in Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz's legal drama.

In this handout provided by the U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the Sidewinders of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)on June 28, 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea.

US aircraft carrier returns to Middle East as Suez Canal opens

The USS Eisenhower arrives in the Gulf region as the Biden administration kicks off indirect talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

Abandoned former Jordanian police station in West Bank

State Department says Israel 'occupied' West Bank and Gaza

A State Department spokesman said it is a "historical fact" that Israel occupied the Palestinian Territories in 1967 following a report from the department that retained some Trump administration language on the issue that is closer to Israel's position.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: US pledges nearly $600M in humanitarian aid to Syria

The Biden administration is also calling on the UN Security Council to allow the free flow of aid to opposition-held parts of Syria.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

In rebuke to Russia, Blinken presses UN to quit politicizing Syria aid

Blinken called on the UN Security Council to reauthorize a cross-border aid operation into Syria despite Russian and Chinese opposition.

Representative Gregory Meeks, (D-NY), and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, March 10, 2021.

House committee votes to repeal Iraq war military authorization

The resolution will next head to the full House for a vote. Bipartisan support for repealing the authorization pertaining to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq gained steam following the February US airstrikes in Syria, which the president approved without consulting Congress.

Republican Presidential hopeful and US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) addresses a Newsmaker Luncheon at the National Press Club on Sept. 8, 2015, in Washington, DC. Senator Graham spoke on the Iran nuclear agreement.

Senators endorse new, broader deal on Iranian policy

A group of Democratic and Republican senators asked President Biden to reach an agreement with Iran that restricts Iran's regional and missile policies in addition to its nuclear program. Some US progressives oppose this, and it could be difficult to accomplish with Tehran.

Washington Pulse

Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Intel: US announces $15 million in aid to West Bank, Gaza

Samantha Power, nominee to be Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 23, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Power previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the Obama administration. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)

USAID nominee takes questions on Yemen, Libya, and Israel at Senate hearing

Former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, who is nominated to head the US government’s international development agency, was asked about Yemen, Libya and Israel before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Washington Pulse

Workers search through debris at a warehouse, after it was reportedly hit in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition, Sanaa, Yemen, July, 2, 2020.

As Biden reviews drone use, report highlights civilian toll in Yemen

A report by an independent Yemen-based organization details the civilian cost of US drone strikes in Yemen.

Iran’s supreme leader authorized infowar campaign during US election

Hezbollah and Russia also spread disinformation to try to influence the 2020 presidential election, a newly released US intelligence report says.

A Turkish military tank is seen in a destroyed neighbourhood of Sarmin town, about eight kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on March 10, 2020. - When protesters in March 2011 demanded their rights and regime change, they likely never imagined it would trigger a reaction that has led to the 21st century's biggest war. Nine years on, President Bashar al-Assad is still in power and there to stay, more than 380,000 people have died, dozens of towns and cities razed to the ground an

Biden leaves Syria on back burner as war marks 10 years

In his first months in office, President Joe Biden's team has signaled that Syria’s civil war won’t be among his top foreign policy priorities.