Next phase of US airstrike campaign in Iran to target missile manufacturing US Central Command (CENTCOM) has devised plans to prevent Iran’s remaining enriched uranium from being weaponized by remnants of the Iranian regime, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested. Iran
Iran’s communications blackout limits assessment of war’s humanitarian toll Aid groups struggle to assess humanitarian toll in Iran as blackout hampers efforts to identify needs. Iran
Middle East evacuations gather pace as explosions rattle Abu Dhabi airport Dozens of Emirati flights were forced to hold or diver after the country's Defense Ministry said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles and 125 drones. United Arab Emirates
Newsletter: China-Middle East China seeks deconfliction in Iran war regardless of regime future China’s leverage remains limited, with little influence over the US, Israel and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, so it’s left adapting to Iran’s uncertain future through economic adjustments and deconfliction. By Joyce Karam , Rosaleen Carroll
Exclusive US-backed Kurdish forces poised to enter Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan 'within days' By Amberin Zaman Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture
US sanctions Iranian Guardian Council members, holds off on UN snapback penalties The Trump administration is coming under pressure from anti-Iran deal advocates to find a way to trigger the "snapback" of UN sanctions this year. United States
Iran’s parliamentary elections a vote on Rouhani's economy Iranians head to the polls Feb. 21, with Reformists largely sidelined, to elect their 11th parliament since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran
Far-left current rises from among Iranian hardliners Iran’s ultraconservatives have given birth to their worst nightmare — a group so left-leaning that hardliners consider them would-be communists. Iran
Iran says Zarif met with US senator for ‘public diplomacy’ Iran’s foreign minister says his weekend meeting with a US senator in Germany was a diplomatic effort to get his nation’s voice heard by the American people. Congress
Intel: Why Trump is calling a Democrat’s Iran meeting illegal President Donald Trump doubled down on his accusation today that Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., violated the law by meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the annual Munich Security Conference over the weekend. United States
Report: Yemen’s Houthis now sporting deadlier drones Yemen's Houthis are using newer and deadlier drone models that discharge explosives and shrapnel, according to a report. Yemen
Khamenei tells Iranians voter turnout a religious duty Iran’s supreme leader has called on the nation to vote in the Feb. 21 general elections to serve both their country and their religion. Iran
Iran controversial director's new political drama lambasted by moderates The new film of Ebrahim Hatamikia criticizing Reformist-backed President Hassan Rouhani was warmly welcomed by radicals, but interpreted by others as an unexpected shift in the controversial director’s loyalties. Iran
Iran’s most powerful hard-line clerics to reunite in Assembly of Experts election As Iranians decide who to support in the upcoming parliamentary election, another race will be held concurrently: the midterm election for the Assembly of Experts, which chooses and oversees the supreme leader. Iran
With election rivals barred, Iran’s hard-liners resort to infighting Less than a week to Iran’s parliamentary elections, the country’s hard-liners have yet to reach consensus before finalizing a list of endorsed candidates. Iran
Egypt shows diplomatic finesse forging Gaza cease-fire Hamas' agreement to refrain from attacks, for now, puts Gaza on the back burner for Israeli elections. Palestine
Pentagon tit-for-tat with Iran goes on A Katyusha rocket strikes an Iraqi base where US troops are housed and the US Navy intercepts an apparent Iranian arms shipment for Yemeni rebels as the conflict between the United States and Iran and its proxies continues. Yemen
