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July 3, 2026

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People ride motorcycles past a large billboard showing portraits of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L), and slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026.

Analysis

From Beirut to Bab el Mandeb, Iran tests new deterrence strategy

Tehran views its latest clash with Israel as a watershed moment and proof that any attack on its regional allies can trigger direct and immediate retaliation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Members of Houthi security forces stand guard while supporters of Yemen's Houthi movement attend an event commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Saudi-led intervention in their country, in the capital, Sanaa, on March 26, 2026.

Exclusive

Senior Houthi official says Bab el Mandab closure an option if any Gulf states join war

Houthi Deputy Information Minister Mohammed Mansour also said the strait could be closed “should the aggression against Iran and Lebanon escalate.”

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Saudis shop for fresh products at a market in Riyadh on Feb. 18, 2026, on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Saudi Arabia.

Analysis

Alternative supply routes emerge as Iran war tests Gulf food security

Roughly 61 million people in the Gulf rely on established food supply chains, many of which have been upended since the United States and Israel launched their attack against Iran on Feb. 28.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Latest News

Analysis

In Saudi Arabia, Erdogan fosters security alignment, $30B trade push

Riyadh

Ezgi Akin

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

Yemen’s Houthis hint at Red Sea attacks as US-Iran tensions rise: What to know

Galaxy Leader

Thousands rally for South Yemen independence amid Saudi diplomatic push

AFP via Getty Images

Egypt's economy can weather more Red Sea attacks, says finance minister

Ships sail along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia on April 16, 2025.

People display fragment of shells they collected from their house amid clashes between members of the anti-Houthi Popular Resistance Committees and Houthi fighters in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz, June 15, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1GJW9

War makes its presence felt on Yemen

The war on Yemen and the internal clashes among factions have caused the country to descend into chaos and slammed the brakes on people’s most primary needs.

Saudi National Guard Minister Mutaib bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (R) meets Britain's Prince Charles in Riyadh February 17, 2014. REUTERS/Fayez Nureldine/Pool (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTX190B1

What's ahead for Saudi Arabia?

Saudi's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud has made a number of crucial changes during his first months in power, from taking military and policy risks to a reshuffling of parliament.

A fighter from the Southern Popular Resistance mans a machine gun at the front line of fighting against Houthi fighters, on the outskirts of Yemen's southern port city of Aden June 6, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1FETF

Former Iran ambassador: Saudis must accept Houthis

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Seyed Ali Asghar Ghoreishi, former Iranian ambassador to Yemen, discussed the nature of Iran's support for the Houthis, elements necessary to end the fighting in Yemen and the possibility of extremist groups seizing large sections of territory in Yemen.

Why did Saudi Arabia intervene in Yemen?

As Yemen fell into the Houthis' hands, Saudi Arabia was left with one choice: to intervene militarily, as the kingdom has long been the country's main financial supporter.

Shi'ites chant slogans during a rally following Friday's suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque, at Qatif, in east Saudi Arabia May 23, 2015. A suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers on Friday in the packed Shi'ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, residents and the health minister said, the first attack in the kingdom to be claimed by Islamic State militants. More than 150 people were praying when the huge explosion ripped through the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, witnesses said. Picture taken May 2

Shiites reel from attack in Saudi province

Saudi authorities need to curb hate speech against Shiites and take positive action to help its Shiite community, as well.

People stand by part of a Saudi fighter jet found in Bani Harith district north of Yemen's capital Sanaa May 24, 2015. Local media said that the Houthi rebels brought down a Saudi F-16 fighter jet north of Sanaa early on Sunday. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX1EAP8

Is Islamic State 'secondary priority' for Saudi Arabia?

Riyadh is preoccupied with the military campaign in Yemen; Velayati tells Lebanese officials there will be no deal on Assad; the Turkish opposition party is under attack ahead of June 7 elections.

US President Barack Obama meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (R) and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Why Saudi Arabia's Yemen war is not producing victory

Saudi Arabia is seen as having jumped into the war in Yemen without having thought out the consequences for itself, the United States and the struggle against the Islamic State.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad speaks during a news conference in Beirut March 4, 2011. Raad spoke out against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was established in 2007 to prosecute, under Lebanese law, criminal acts relating to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Lebanon. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTR2JFBJ

Senior Hezbollah official speaks out

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc in Lebanon discusses the war in Syria and the party’s role there, the Saudi war against Yemen and the presidential stalemate in Lebanon.

The Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin abstains from a vote in the United Nations Security Council attempting to halt the escalating conflict in Yemen in New York April 14, 2015. The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday imposed an arms embargo targeting the Iran-allied Houthi rebels who rule most of the country and blacklisted the son of Yemen's former president and a Houthi leader after veto-power Russia abstained. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTR4XBCA

Russia weighs in on Yemen

After Russia's shift to soft power in the Middle East, President Vladimir Putin discusses Russia's "need to abandon ‘the law of the strongest’ and ‘rule of the fist.’”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, accompanied by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, right, speaks at a joint news conference at the Chief of Mission Residence, Paris, France, Friday, May 8, 2015, following a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council. REUTERS/Andrew Harnik/Pool - RTX1C5BX

US works to assure Gulf allies

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been in Paris to try and ease tensions with Gulf allies over the prospective Iran nuclear deal ahead of the GCC meeting in Washington.

Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal (L) holds a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal following a meeting in Riyadh on Januray 3, 2010. Meshaal said that the Egyptian-led talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian Islamist movement and its rival Fatah were close to bearing fruit. AFP PHOTO/PAUL HANDLEY (Photo credit should read PAUL HANDLEY/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas courts Saudis

Hamas is seeking a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia to improve its leverage in Palestinian reconciliation talks, which might not please Egypt, which has long brokered the discussions, or Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT OF THE VIDEO FROM WHICH THIS STILL IMAGE WAS TAKEN.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks from an unknown location, in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media website June 8, 2011. Osama bin Laden's longtime lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, said the United States faces rebellion throughout the Muslim world after killing the al Qaeda leader, according to a 28-minute YouTube recording posted on Wednesday. I

Al-Qaeda emir's silence prompts suspicion

Al-Qaeda's usually outspoken emir, Ayman al-Zawahri, has remained uncharacteristically silent through the course of recent al-Qaeda successes, leading many to question what may come next.