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September 11, 2026

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US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran’s Pickaxe mountain tests limits of Trump’s military options

A secretive Pentagon innovation agency has hastened to test munitions that may penetrate deeper than the GBU-57 bombs dropped on Iran’s two main enrichment facilities.

Jared Szuba

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

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

Brent crude sails past $100 as Middle East war intensifies

The Iran war escalated this week as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked four southern Saudi Arabian cities and oil facilities.

TOPSHOT - Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that the Iranian supreme leader had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel braces for Iran attack as Trump’s economic squeeze on Tehran intensifies

Skeptical about the effectiveness of the American economic blockade on Tehran to weaken the regime, Israel is preparing for the possibility that Iran could decide to strike the Jewish state during the upcoming high holidays.

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

Latest News

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

Analysis

Could Trump’s oil push in Venezuela upend OPEC’s energy order?

A man walks past a mural depicting oil pumps and the Venezuelan flag, with portraits of Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar (L) and former late President Hugo Chavez (R), in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 3, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Who is Amir Yaryab, IRGC’s cyber commander in US crosshairs?

Amir Yaryab

Analysis

Playing for time: Despite US pressure, Israel stalls Lebanon talks until after election

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

IRGC commander denies Trump claim on Saudi missile attack

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari denied that Iran was involved in the Yemeni missile attack on Riyadh.

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool - RC1E30F1E010

Putin, Khamenei agree they need each other

Iran and Russia deepen energy cooperation; Iran has Hezbollah’s back; does the CIA have a back channel to Assad?

People walk near a Syrian national flag at the President bridge in Damascus, Syria March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - GF10000345197

Washington silent on report US official went to Damascus

The CIA declined to comment on a report that a US official went to Damascus this week to discuss US citizens believed detained in Syria.

Iran’s Khamenei has three main messages for Putin at summit

Tehran wants to strengthen existing ties with Russia and develop new areas of cooperation while isolating the United States at the same time.

US optimistic about Mideast peace deal

The US administration will soon publish guidelines for restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

People walk at the site of an air strike in the northwestern city of Saada, Yemen November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Naif Rahma - RC132DF59570

House leaders neuter anti-war Yemen bill

House leadership has watered down a resolution addressing US support for the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthis.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi attends a nuclear deal review meeting in Tehran August 9, 2015. Dozens of companies tied to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, a military force commanding a powerful industrial empire with huge political influence, will win sanctions relief under a nuclear deal agreed with world powers. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DAT

Iranian negotiator says US bad intentions not limited to Trump

The Iranian deputy foreign minister spoke to Iran’s parliament about both the benefits and challenges of the nuclear deal.

Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are seen in Zumar, Nineveh province, Iraq October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RC1E698CF530

Iran unlikely to sit idle as US targets Hezbollah, PMU

Tehran views US actions against Iran's friends in the region as nothing short of a plot to sabotage the republic's strength and restrict its area of influence.

Will Iraqi-Saudi rapprochement undermine Iran’s role in Iraq?

With US support, Saudi Arabia and Iraq are getting close to each other to minimize Iran's influence in Iraq.

Lebanon battles to get its treasures back

A marble bull’s head and a statue of a calf bearer, stolen in 1981, are due to return to Lebanon after a legal battle with private collectors in the United States.

$Leading Syrian dissident Riad Seif (L) speaks with former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, who defected from the Assad regime, during the General Assembly of the Syrian National Council in Doha November 11, 2012. Syria's fractious opposition finally put aside fierce arguments to rally behind a new leader within a new coalition that its Western and Arab backers hope can topple Bashar al-Assad and take over the country. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - GM1E8BC0UXG01$

Opposition leader implores US not to abandon Syria to Russia and Iran

The new leader of the Syrian national coalition shared with Al-Monitor his plans for lobbying the Trump administration during his first visit to Washington.

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards march during a military parade to commemorate the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran September 22, 2007. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo - S1AETZITNEAA

IRGC commander rules out war between Iran, US

The commander of the Revolutionary Guards said a war between Tehran and the United States was impossible, citing US fear of the consequences.