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August 8, 2026

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif in Mecca after signing the defense pact, Aug. 7, 2026.

Analysis

How Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact puts Iran's regional strategy to test

The defense agreement is not an anti-Iran bloc, but it may reflect a deeper regional adjustment to years of Iranian asymmetric warfare as well as uncertainty over US security commitments.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

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

Iranians shop for Noruz, the Persian New Year, at a market in Tehran on 19 March 2014. Iranians are preparing to celebrate Noruz, an ancient Zoroastrian feast starting 21 March, by buying flowers, green plants and goldfish. Noruz is calculated according to a solar calendar, this year marking 1393. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Khamenei calls for greater domestic production

In his New Year's speech, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the Iranian supreme leader, urges greater national economic cooperation and says the country needs more domestic capacity building as part as being an "economy of resistance."

Southern Movement militants man a weapon in the Jabal al-Ierr area of Yemen's southern Lahej province, as they prepare to secure the area against Shi'ite Houthi fighters, March 7, 2015. Most of Yemen has been left without state services or authority, and deadly violence is a daily occurrence as Houthis, state security forces, tribesmen, southern separatists and al Qaeda militants clash with each other. REUTERS/Stringer (YEMEN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4SG0C

Saudi anguish over Iranian gains

The withdrawal of the remaining US military personnel from Yemen only adds to Riyadh's desperation, with Riyadh worried that Washington's priority is a nuclear deal with Tehran, not stopping Iranian subversion in the Arab world.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a welcoming ceremony in Kiev March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - RTR4U5UG

Turkey sidelines itself in US-led coalition against IS

Turkey prefers to be a "reluctant subcontractor" rather than active participant in the international coalition against the Islamic State; US envoy seems to contradict Kerry on Syria diplomacy; Israel faces possible "diplomatic siege" after election; majority of Americans back US negotiations with Iran; Al-Monitor endorses new global standards to protect freelance journalists.

Representative Steve King (R-NY), Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), U.S. President Barack Obama and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny walk down the step of the House of Representatives after having lunch to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 17, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4TQH7

Iran's past nuclear activities come under scrutiny

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of March 23.

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka meets with Shahindokht Molaverdi, Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs of Iran.

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Iranian VP works for change from within

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Shahindokht Molaverdi, vice president for Women and Family Affairs, talks about her role advocating for women's rights and the importance of working from within the administration for change.

Iran's former judiciary chief Mohammad Yazdi attends a session of the Assembly of Experts in the capital Tehran on March 10, 2015, before being appointed as the new head of the Assembly. The Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, picked the ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi as their new chairman in a surprise appointment. AFP PHOTO / BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Did Rafsanjani lose today to win tomorrow?

Hashemi Rafsanjani lost in the Assembly of Experts election for the chairmanship, but was it a gambit to bring voters out next year?

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Motorists travel on a highway in Tehran as the city is covered in dust July 6, 2009. The government closed private educational centres, state offices, industrial units and military bases for two days and raised its pollution alert status due to the dust, which an official from Tehran's environment office attributed the source to dust from dried marshland in Iraq blown towar

Iran may turn to biofuels amid worsening pollution

As pollution increases in Iran, Iran may finally turn to biofuels, despite previous failed attempts to do so.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani uses a walkie-talkie at the frontline during offensive operations against Islamic State militants in the town of Tal Ksaiba in Salahuddin province March 8, 2015. Picture taken March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR4TU0N

Will Qasem Soleimani enter politics?

With all of the media attention Qasem Soleimani is getting, it raises the possibility the Quds Force commander will go into politics.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd L) holds a negotiation meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) over Iran's nuclear programme in Lausanne March 18, 2015. Also at the negotiating table is political director of the European Union's External Action Service Helga Schmid (4th L). REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4TU76

Iran, P5+1 tackle final hurdles to accord

While progress has been made, Iran negotiators are looking to resolve differences with the P5+1 on the issues of research and development and lifting of UN Security Council resolutions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov take part in a joint press conference following their meeting in Ashgabat on March 11, 2015. Hassan Rouhani is on his first state visit to Turkmenistan. AFP PHOTO / IGOR SASIN (Photo credit should read IGOR SASIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Does Iran have a 'bridge' to Central Asia?

If Iran maintains its policy of not pushing an Islamist agenda on the secular Central Asian countries, there is potential for increased economic and political cooperation.

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces launch a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants on the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCBR

Rouhani adviser summoned over Iraq comments

Despite clarification by Pesident Hassan Rouhani's adviser, conservative critics of Ali Younesi are asking him to step down.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) holds a meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (front R) over Iran's nuclear program in Lausanne March 17, 2015. Also at the negotiating table is U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (C). REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4TMTE

'Roller coaster' Iran talks show progress

US officials expect talks may have to resume next week to conclude a political accord on an Iran nuclear deal by the end of the month.