Libyan government presses US to block Gulf support for Tripoli offensive

The UN-backed Government of National Accord is lobbying Washington to halt Khalifa Hifter’s offensive on Tripoli by denying him arms from Gulf Arab states.

Libya

Democrats slam ‘massive failure’ of Trump policy after Iran restarts nuclear activity

Democrats are blaming the Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign for Tehran’s decision to resume some enrichment activity constrained by the 2015 nuclear deal.

Congress

Intel: How Trump's 'maximum pressure' campaign is bringing Iran and Russia closer together

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's long-planned visit to Moscow today quickly turned into a grievance-sharing session with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov about the Donald Trump administration.

Russia

Trump admin vows US won’t be 'hostage' to 'nuclear blackmail' from Iran

The United States says won’t give in to Iranian threats as Iran is set to end compliance with the two conditions the US administration recently made impossible to meet.

United States

Iran seeks broader defense cooperation with Russia amid US pressure

As part of a long-term military strategy to fortify its defenses against US threats, Iran is moving closer to Russia — with a vision entailing broader defense cooperation.

Russia

Saudis’ troubled ties in region threaten Trump's anti-Iran agenda

The Trump administration is tightening the screws on Iran, but Saudi Arabia, Iran's archnemesis, may not be of help drumming up support for the US policy given the state of its current relations in the Arab world.

Legacy: Gulf

Is Erdogan’s trust in Trump in the S-400/F-35 standoff misplaced?

Turkish government officials believe that if Trump was not hamstrung by Congress and the Pentagon, he and Erdogan would have solved this matter by now.

Turkey

Lebanon’s interior minister pushes for prison reform amid calls for radical change

Unless broad, structural reforms to the administration of prisons and military detention centers are passed in conjunction with changes to the criminal justice process itself, the reforms announced by Lebanon’s interior minister so far will likely only have a moderate impact on the penal system.

Lebanon

Israel looks to Trump to halt Iranian nuke

Iran's announcement that it will resume uranium enrichment is causing great concern in Israel.

Israel

US holds its fire on Istanbul election nullification

The State Department says it is monitoring Turkey’s decision to scrap the Istanbul mayoral election results, but has so far refrained from directly weighing in.

Turkey

Interview

Yemen war 'does not serve any party' says Oman’s ambassador to US

Omani ambassador to Washington Hunaina Al-Mughairy spoke to Al-Monitor about US-Omani ties, her country's stance on Yemen, Mideast peace and the latest Washington-Tehran tensions.

How US sanctions facilitate Turkish-Iranian understanding on Syria

Faced with US pressures on multiple fronts, Iran and Turkey are likely to step up cooperation — including in Syria, where the two neighbors remain at odds over multiple issues.

Turkey