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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

Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran hands a letter from Iran's President Hassan Rouhani to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) at the latter's official residence in Tokyo April 3, 2014. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama/Pool (JAPAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3JQOG

Top Iran official warns of climate change

The head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization has spoken out about the impact of global warming and the water crisis in Iran.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks during a rally in Tehran university February 2, 2009. A delegation from Hamas, headed by its leader Meshaal, arrived in Tehran on Sunday as part of a regional push to reinforce support for the Palestinian group after the Israeli invasion of Gaza. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN) - RTXB5LD

Disagreement keeps Hamas-Iran rapprochement on ice

Reports that Iran is insisting on the resignation of Hamas’ political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal in exchange for the resumption of relations between the parties seems to have stalled reconciliation talks for now.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY CYRIL JULIEN
Homayoun Sameyah Najaf Abadi, head of Iran's 8,500-strong Jewish community, poses in front of a new memorial for Iran's Jewish people engraved with 10 names -five died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq, three were killed by Saddam Hussein's bombing of Tehran and the other two died in the tumultuous early days of the revolution that ended the shah's rule- at the Beheshtieh Jewish cemetery in southern Tehran, on January 9, 2015. The eight-acre space in south Tehran

Rouhani accommodates Iran's Jewish students

President Hassan Rouhani's administration has taken steps to address the concerns of Iranian Jews, who wish to observe the holy Sabbath without sacrificing their education.

EMBARGOED UNTIL FEBRUARY 12 AT 00:01 AM EST
Ali Rezaian, brother of Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian who has been detained in Iran since July 2014, speaks alongside Delphine Halgand, USA Director of Reporters Without Borders, as they discuss the World Press Freedom Index 2015 during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, February 11, 2015. Published since 2002, the World Press Freedrom Index measures the level of freedom of information in 180 countries. AFP PHOTO /

Iran MP wants Washington Post journalist 'confession' aired

A hard-line Iranian parliament member has accused the Hassan Rouhani administration of giving detained Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian access to sensitive areas.

Iran's first vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi speaks during a press conference with Turkish Prime Minister in Ankara on October 4, 2012. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Will Iran's corruption fight attract private investors?

Iran has opened a series of high-level judicial cases against former administration officials, leading some to believe that the government is cleaning up its act to attract private investment in the economy.

Students rest at a university while waiting for a final exam in Tehran January 18, 2009. As Barack Obama moves into the White House promising more engagement with Iran's rulers while threatening tougher sanctions, the radicalism of the embassy hostage-takers has given way to cautious hope among many in Iran's universities. Picture taken January 18. To match feature IRAN-OBAMA/STUDENTS REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTR23LEE

Iran's job seekers lack practical skills

While many young Iranians are now college graduates, many lack the technical and practical work experience to land a job.

U.S. President Barack Obama is flanked by Vice President Joe Biden (L), Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd R) and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (R) as he delivers a statement on legislation sent to Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State, from the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington February 11, 2015. Obama asked Congress on Wednesday to authorize military force against Islamic State that would bar any large-scale invasion by U.S. ground troops and limit operati

US optimism on Iran nuclear deal rises

The US administration believes that prospects for reaching an Iran nuclear deal have increased in recent days.

Iranian smugglers load goods at the Omani port of Khasab September 26, 2012. Until recently the Iranian boats and their fearless young skippers escorted several cargoes a day across the narrow Strait of Hormuz - loaded with everything from soft drinks to mobile phones and cosmetics - bought in the flourishing trading centres of the United Arab Emirates and sold to merchants in Iran. The proximity of Iran to the UAE and Oman and their historic trade and finance links have supported thriving trade, which in r

Billion dollar smuggling industry drains Iran's economy

Partly due to sanctions, smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and cosmetics is widespread in Iran and some question whether government organizations are implicated.

Houthi fighters stand on a truck as they secure a street where pro-Houthi protesters demonstrated to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR4P71Q

Does Iran really control Yemen?

Statements by Iranian officials about the importance of the rise of Houthis in Yemen demonstrates that Iran would like to give the perception that there is a new member of the axis of resistance.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrives to cast his ballot in Iran's Parliamentary election in Tehran March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN) - RTR1Y9QC

Khamenei agrees with Congress: no deal better than a bad deal

While there's talk of a preliminary deal in March, Iran's supreme leader says he is opposed to a multistep agreement.

U. S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrive to address a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington February 9, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4OW3R

Nuclear negotiators lean in as clock ticks on Iran deal

As the March deadline for a nuclear deal looms, Iran and the P5+1 are down to deliberating enrichment capacity and sanctions relief as well as the duration of a final deal.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks with reporters as he arrives for the weekly Senate Republican caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4P2GJ

Senate aims to set up vote on Iran deal by month's end

The Foreign Relations panel expects to soon vote on legislation that would give Congress a say over a nuclear agreement.