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Politics & Security

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) walks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Inside Turkey’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire

Turkey used its intelligence networks and rare access to both Washington and Tehran to quietly facilitate the US-Iran ceasefire while advancing its own regional security priorities.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

NABATIEH, LEBANON - APRIL 08: Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the city center on April 08, 2026 in Nabatieh, Lebanon. Israel has stepped-up its attacks on Lebanon following President Donald Trump's announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, conditional on shipping being allowed to resume through the Strait of Hormuz. Israel says it will observe the ceasefire with Iran but insists Lebanon was not included in the deal, and has since launched the "largest coordinated strik

Analysis

In talks with Lebanon, Israel seeking guarantees to contain Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would seek to disarm Hezbollah and advance normalization with Lebanon in its talks with Beirut, though both goals appear highly ambitious at present.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

People gather under a large portrait of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during a memorial to mark the 40th day since his father, Ali Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli joint strikes, on April 9, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Ceasefire without relief: How Iranians are grappling with post-war repression

Despite the ceasefire, pressure is mounting inside Iran: arrests are rising, the internet remains largely shut down, and millions face deep economic uncertainty.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun receives Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh in Beirut on Aug. 29, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency)

Meet Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon's US ambassador set to lead Israel talks

Lebanese ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh is expected to lead the Lebanese delegation in talks with the Israeli side in Washington on Tuesday, the first such contact between the two parties in decades.

Latest News

In Islamabad, US set to face a more defiant Iran at negotiating table

A woman walks past a digital screen displaying news of US-Iran peace talks along a road in Islamabad on April 10, 2026.

Lebanon boosts army presence in Beirut as Hezbollah slams Israel talks: What to know

A Lebanese army vehicle is parked at the departures area of Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport on April 10, 2026. Israel's military on April 9 warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, long a stronghold of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, of imminent strikes and called for them to evacuate. While Israel regularly issues evacuation warnings before bombing the southern suburbs, the announcement also included the outskirts of Lebanon's only international airport. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Iran

Iran claims to foil mass assassination of IRGC figures, Sunni clerics

Iran has been working hard to portray its intelligence apparatus as a formidable force that is busting one terror network after another, pointing to Israel as the mastermind.

(D-NY)

Breaking | Last Updated: September 29, 2023, 7:05 pm

Meeks urges pause on US military aid to Egypt in wake of Menendez indictment

Rep. Gregory Meeks on Friday sought a hold on more than $200 million in Egypt's military financing over human rights concerns.

Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attend a preliminary vote on a bill to dissolve parliament and call an early election at the Knesset, Jerusalem on June 22, 2022.

Analysis

Will Israel’s opposition back Netanyahu on Saudi peace deal?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that his far-right coalition partners oppose a Saudi deal requiring concessions to the Palestinians, but can he gain the support of the opposition instead?

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

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Senegal's President Macky Sall (L).

Analysis

Niger, Morocco turn their backs on France as Macron withdraws troops

In the Sahel region and in North Africa, post-colonial France is rapidly losing its influence.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Poster featuring jailed businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Turkey’s appeals court upholds life sentence for Osman Kavala, four others

The trial and ensuing sentences have turned into a symbol of Turkey’s democratic backsliding and erosion of judiciary independence.

Rescue teams attend to the scene of devastation after an Iranian military plane crashed into a residential building in a heavily built-up suburb on December 6, 2005 in Tehran, Iran. A huge explosion was reported as the plane, carrying 94 people, crashed into a 10-storey block killing all on board. Many deaths are also feared on the ground after the C-130 plane encountered a technical problem shortly after take-off from Mehrabad airport. (Photo by Hossein/Getty Images)

Mysterious fire at Iran's Defense Ministry site north of Tehran

The second such fire in less than a week comes amid high tensions between the United States and Iran, though details surrounding the incident remain unclear.

US Army helicopter crew from the 101st Airborne Division prepares the Apache attack helicopter at the the Camp Udairi airfield in preparation for a mission to Iraq 20 March 2003.

US accuses Iran’s IRGC of harassing helicopter over the Gulf

The first reported tense interaction between the US Navy and Iran's naval forces comes just days after Bahraini soldiers were killed in a drone attack attributed to Yemen's Houthi rebels, who receive arms from Iran.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 19: Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel (L) greets Senate Finance Committee members Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) (R) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) before a hearing about the Biden Administration's proposed budget request for FY2024 and the 2023 tax filing season in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on April 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. Confirmed by the Senate in March of this year, Werfel is tasked with overseeing the IRS's $80 billion overhaul to modernize i

Sen. Cardin 'looking at options' as calls grow to block US military aid to Egypt

Sen. Ben Cardin told reporters on Thursday he expects to make a decision soon on whether to use his new authority as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman to hold up a fraction of Egypt's annual military assistance.

China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning (R), arrives in Hong Kong waters on July 7, 2017.

Saudi Arabia and China to hold joint naval training as ties deepen

With energy and business ties rapidly improving between Saudi Arabia and China, the two countries have agreed to a second joint naval exercise.

Israel, Germany sign $3.5B Arrow 3 deal

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a letter of commitment in Berlin for the sale of the advanced Arrow 3 air defense system, signaling a strengthening of ties between Israel and Germany.

Refugees sit in a bus near a Red Cross registration centre in Goris, on Sept. 27, 2023.

Turkey’s Fidan holds call with Armenia’s FM amid exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh

The phone call marks the first high-level contact between Ankara and Yerevan following the Azerbaijani offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region last week.

General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Hifter (L).

Why is Libya's commander Hifter visiting Russia?

The visit comes amid the aftermath of the Wagner Group’s ill-fated mutiny and the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in Russia.