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Politics & Security

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz

Analysis

How failing US-Iran diplomacy is giving way to fresh confrontation

Iran's dismissal of secret talks with Washington comes as diplomacy is in impasse, the Strait of Hormuz remains contested and Iranian commanders signal a potentially more aggressive military posture.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Ships are docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on July 14, 2026.

UAE halts all trade ties with Iran after missile attack

The incident follows the UAE blaming Iran for strikes on ADNOC vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

United Arab Emirates

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, top lawyer

The sanctions come a month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."

Latest News

Syria announces capture of senior ISIS official near Manbij: What to know

SANA

Jared Szuba

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

What we know about Israeli strikes on Syrian air base tied to Turkey

A tank is seen at the Abu Duhur military airport area in Idlib province, on Jan. 21, 2018.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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

After 44 years, Israel retrieves remains of soldier killed in Lebanon: What to know

Katz

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

Fenerbahce supporters cheer during the UEFA Europa League group B football match between Fenerbahce SK and Stade Rennais FC at the Ulker stadium, in Istanbul on Oct. 27, 2022.

Sports stadiums shake as fans bash Turkey's earthquake response

Public dissent is getting louder online, at sporting events and on the streets as further examples of Turkey's disaster mismanagement emerge.

Officers of the Directorate of Narcotics Control of the Interior Ministry sort through tablets of Captagon seized during a special operation and presented before AFP afterward, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2022.

UAE busts 4.5 million Captagon pills in food cans after smuggler arrest

Amphetamine fenethylline, known by its brand name Captagon, has increasingly become the drug of choice among youth in Gulf Arab states.

United Arab Emirates

Protesters clash with Israeli security forces during a demonstration against Israeli settler attacks on the Palestinian West Bank village of Huwara, Tel Aviv, Feb. 27, 2023.

Israelis donate over $300,000 for Palestinians attacked by settlers

Horrified by the sites of destruction cause by settlers at the Palestinian Huwara village, thousands of Israelis donated money for reconstruction.

Iraq Najaf

Analysis

Iraq's religious authorities stay out of Shiite conflict

Iraq's top Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, remains influential in Iraqi politics, but is remaining silent at a dangerous time for the country amid high tensions among Shiite parties.

Ali Mamouri

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

As Israel's raids grow in West Bank, so does Palestinian support for armed groups

The armed factions in the West Bank are enjoying overwhelming popular support as the cycle of violence intensifies.

An Israeli settler (R) argues with an Israeli soldier along a road in the town of Huwara.

Analysis

US urges Israel to hold settlers accountable for 'vigilante violence'

The State Department condemned the recent shootings of Israelis as well as the deadly rampage carried out by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

A woman on September 15, 2022, visits an exhibition titled 'Allo, Beirut?', that shows archives of Lebanon's troubled past fused with artistic depictions of a grim present, at the capital's Beit Beirut heritage-house-turned-museum. - Newspaper clippings, film negatives and diary entries from before Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war tell the story of government corruption, public sector strikes and student protest movements.(Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

‘A huge crime’: Archive of Lebanon's news agency since 1961 is 'stolen'

The archive belonging to the National News Agency contained photographs of Lebanon’s civil war.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, speaks with Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, during the 2023 Munich Security Conference (MSC) on February 18, 2023 in Munich, Germany. The Munich Security Conference brings together defence leaders and stakeholders from around the world and is taking place February 17-19. Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine is dominating the agenda. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Sweden, Finland NATO accession talks with Turkey to resume in days

Turkey says talks with Sweden and Finland will soon resume on Sweden's and Finland's bids to join the NATO alliance.

People displaced by conflict receive food aid and provisions to meet their basic needs.

US announces $444 million to Yemen as humanitarian needs soar

Despite the fresh US assistance, a donors conference for Yemen raised less than one-third of what the United Nations said is needed to avert further humanitarian crisis.

KONSTANTINOS TSAKALIDIS/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images

Fury in Turkey as Red Crescent sells tents following quakes

Turks' ongoing fury over the government's response to the devastating earthquakes has ramped up over reports that the Turkish Red Crescent sold thousands of tents instead of distributing them to victims.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (L) and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (R) give a press conference at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Damascus, Syria, Feb. 27, 2023.

Egypt's FM Shoukry visits Syria, Turkey in renewed earthquake diplomacy

The top Egyptian diplomat's visit to Syria and Turkey marks a first after almost a decade.

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Ukraine's Zelenskyy on first such visit to Kyiv since 1991.

Saudi Arabia signs $400 million deal for Ukraine aid in historic visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this was the first official visit of the Saudi foreign affairs minister in more than 30 years, and most senior for any Arab delegation since Russia's invasion last year.