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August 8, 2026

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US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025.

Analysis

Jordan shores up US lifelines as Iran targets Amman’s reliance on Washington

Already a leading recipient of US aid, Jordan has secured fresh funds from the United States as the Iran war tests Amman and Washington's partnerships.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program.

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

Latest News

Explainer

Iran-Oman deal spurs Hormuz hopes as Red Sea threats evolve

Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images

US stock markets soar to new records amid Hormuz deal hopes

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Benjamin Houghton

In Durham, reporting on China in the Middle East

Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

Mehrnaz Samimi

In Washington, DC, reporting on Iranian culture

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the New York University (NYU) Center on International Cooperation in New York April 29, 2015. Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday offered assurances that Tehran is committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of the seizure of a commercial ship by Iranian forces a day earlier. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - RTX1AUQZ

Zarif: Iran seeks to reduce regional tensions

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says that if and when a nuclear deal is finalized, Iran will focus on resolving regional issues before thinking about resuming diplomatic relations with the United States.

Supporters of residents of the Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) camp, which houses Iranian dissidents in western Baghdad, rally on Pennsylvania Avenue as U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi at the White House in Washington April 14, 2015. The dissidents, who call for the overthrow of Iran's clerical leaders and fought on Iraq's side during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, occupy "Camp Liberty", located in a former U.S. military compound in Baghdad, but is no longer welcome in

MEK uses congressional spotlight to push regime change in Iran

The Iranian dissident group's leader told lawmakers that Tehran's mullahs are an inspiration for Islamists everywhere.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Lawmakers mingle after a parliament session in Tehran January 29, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2X0Z7

Iran minister apologizes for comment on 'dirty money' in politics

After coming under criticism, Iran's interior minister apologizes before an open session of parliament over "misunderstandings" about comments he made regarding dirty money in politics.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, April 3, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4W06S

US restates positions as Israeli government takes shape

Senior Obama administration officials have reiterated the president's commitment in a 2009 Cairo speech to the two-state solution, reinforcing the US stance to Netanyahu's new government.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SIAVOSH GHAZI
A Spanish tourist walks past an Achaemenid griffin at the ancient Persian city of Persepolis near Shiraz in southern Iran on September 26, 2014. At the foot of Persepolis, the giant sun-dried brick ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid and first Persian empire, foreign tourists pour out of buses and gaze in wonder. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's tourism industry scrambles to catch up with demand

As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani improves relations with the West, Iranian officials announce they will build more hotels to meet the expected demand of foreign tourists.

Maryam Rajavi (2nd R), president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, attends an international meeting in Rome December 19, 2013. The meeting organised by the Italian committee of parliamentarians and pro-democracy Iranian activists was held to discuss the nuclear talks in Geneva, organisers said. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16ORH

Congressional invite to MEK sparks furious backlash

Former State Department officials are refusing to testify alongside Mujahedeen-e-Khalq leader Maryam Rajavi.

Young Iranian women carry jugs of water, filled at water distribution point, to their village outside Zabol in south eastern Iran, July 17, 2001. Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province is suffering from a third consecutive year of drought which the United Nations says has cost the country $2.6 billion in dammages this year, up from $1.7 billion last year. Local officials say without rain remaining water sources will dry up by December. - RTXKN5I

Iran official warns water crisis could lead to mass migration

The adviser for water, agricultural and environment to Iran’s vice president warns that if Iran doesn't cut its water exploitation in half, the country could see a mass exodus.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
A view of the inside of a shopping mall is seen in northwestern Tehran February 3, 2012. With just a month to go before a parliamentary election, Iran has been hit hard in recent months by new U.S. and European economic sanctions over its nuclear programme, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West says is aimed at making a bomb. Picture taken February 3, 2012. REUTERS/Mor

US CEOs find crowded field in Iran

A group of American executives found a warm welcome in Iran and plenty of company from other foreigners investigating post-sanctions business opportunities.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addresses the Opening Meeting of the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at United Nations headquarters in New York, April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX1AJ89

Will Iran nuclear deal lead to rapprochement with Cairo?

The pending nuclear agreement with Iran could provide some much-needed balance for Egypt's shifting foreign policy in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L), meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jason DeCrow/Pool - RTX1AJNA

Kerry, Zarif meet at Iranian envoy's residence

The US secretary of state visits an Iranian diplomatic property in New York in a historic move related to the Iranian nuclear negotiations.

Morality police show examples of unacceptable women's clothing to the media during a crackdown on "social corruption" in north Tehran June 18, 2008. Picture taken June 18, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAN) - RTX73ZM

Rouhani: Police should not enforce Islam

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been criticized by conservative clerics for saying the police should enforce the law rather than Islam.

Abdulrahman Al-Banyan (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, arrives to the Arab League headquarters to attend an Arab defence ministers meeting in Cairo April 22, 2015. The talks are expected to focus on the war in Yemen, Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East and security threats from Islamic State. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

Should Saudi Arabia test Iran’s offer of diplomacy on Yemen?

Iranian officials offer diplomatic initiative and warnings on Yemen; book burning in Giza; Kremlin ignored Israeli objections on missile system sale to Iran; Russian "soft power" in the Middle East.