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Politics & Security

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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

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

Explainer

'A claim to be tested': Can Saudi Arabia-Turkey-Pakistan defense pact deter Iran?

The pact commits the three countries to collective defense, bringing together NATO's second-largest army, the Muslim world's only nuclear power and the guardian of Islam's holiest sites.

Latest News

Iran-Oman deal over Hormuz takes shape as war-weary US looks on

A couple watch oil tankers

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Turkey’s Erdogan heads to Saudi Arabia for talks with MBS, Pakistan’s Sharif

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on June 22, 2022.

Syria's Shibani updates Turkey on Kurds' integration, slams Israel during Ankara visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meets with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara, Aug. 6, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

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

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma walk in a street of Paris on December 10, 2010. Al-Assad is on a two-days official visit to France. AFP PHOTO MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Paris court upholds France's arrest warrant for Assad: What we know

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is wanted in France for his alleged involvement in a 2013 chemical attacks in Ghouta and Douma that left as many as 1,000 people killed.

ABDEL GHANI BASHIR/AFP via Getty Images

Iran claims Saudi Arabia won't let Iranian pilgrims vote

Iranian worshippers resumed Umrah pilgrimages to holy sites in Saudi Arabia in April after the two countries resumed relations last year.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 29: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to supporters at his party’s Istanbul mayoral candidate Murat Kurum's campaign rally on March 29, 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey will hold municipal elections on Sunday March 31, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party aiming to reclaim cities lost in 2019, including the country's largest city of Istanbul and the capital Ankara. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Turkey's Erdogan warns Israel against Lebanon war, calls Netanyahu 'mentally ill'

The Turkish president's comments have reignited the war of words between Turkey and Israel.

A Sudanese girl who have fled from the war in Sudan with her family carry a box with some of her belongings after arriving at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, on February 13, 2024.More than 550,000 people have now fled from the war in Sudan to South Sudan since the conflict exploded in April 2023, according to the United Nations. South Sudan, that has itself recently come out of decades of war, was facing a dire humanitarian situation before the war in Sudan erupted and it is feared to not have the re

Sudan war death toll over 40,000 as 2 million face imminent starvation

New figures on Sudan’s crisis show conditions deteriorating as fighting expands in scope between warring generals.

A man gestures as he holds up a small election flag during a campaign rally for reformist candidate Massoud Pezeshkian at Afrasiabi Stadium in Tehran on June 23, 2024 ahead of the upcoming Iranian presidential election. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Does China have favorite in Iran's presidential election?

The question of whether Iran's next president will maintain the country's current anti-West, anti-US position while pursuing improved relations with Beijing is foremost in China's mind.

Pictured are participants of the 19th Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting held June 24, 2024, in Tehran.

US cautious on Iran’s Bahrain frozen funds claims, warns of sanctions

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Monday that officials from Iran's and Bahrain’s central banks held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the release of Iran's “foreign exchange resources in Bahrain.”

An Iranian woman without wearing mandatory headscarves walks past electoral posters in Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2024. Iran is holding snap presidential elections to choose the next president after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. People in Iran are increasingly showing less interest in casting their vote in the snap presidential election scheduled on June 28 after the disqualification of several candidates by the country's religious Guardian Council. Voter turnouts have hit historically lo

Iran’s Reformist, hard-liner candidates clash over foreign policy in last debate

Masoud Pezeshkian fiercely attacked his hard-line rivals in an intense live debate over their support behind the takeovers of the Saudi and British embassies and their sabotage against the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Radical Palestinian group, Hamas chief, Khaled Meshaal (2nd R) introduces his deputy Moussa Abu Marzouk (L) to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Hamas official in Russia, talks hostages, seeks Moscow mediation in cease-fire

Russia is seeking the release of two of its citizens who are still being held in Gaza. The country hosted Palestinian reconciliation talks earlier this year.

View taken on April 15, 2009 shows Turkey's Dogu Kapi border gate to Armenia, in Kars, Akyaka province on April 15, 2009. Dogu Kapi border gate closed by Turkey during the Azerbaijan and Armenia war in 1993. AFP PHOTO / MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Fidan, Armenia’s Mirzoyan hold call as normalization momentum grows

The phone call between the two top diplomats comes amid increasing diplomatic traffic between Ankara and Yerevan.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets Zhang Youxia.

Saudi defense chief in China in bid for help with Houthis, boost military ties

China was a major participant in the World Defense Show in Riyadh earlier this year, and Saudi Arabia signed $4 billion in arms deals with the People’s Republic in 2022.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stand during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia.

Pentagon hosts Gallant as US seeks to avert Israel-Hezbollah war

Washington's defense chief is warning of "terrible consequences for the Middle East" as Israel and Hezbollah inch toward all-out war, but Israel's defense minister is making no commitments.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions 'shadow banking network' used by Iran's military

The sweeping new sanctions come days before Iran holds elections to replace its late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.