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September 16, 2026

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US Republican Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas gestures after speaking during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024.

Meet Wesley Hunt, Trump's pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia

The Texas Republican previously served for two years in the kingdom as a diplomatic liaison officer.

VTB Bank in Moscow

US hits major Russian bank VTB with Iran-linked sanctions

State-controlled VTB becomes one of the most prominent global names yet caught up in Washington’s ongoing effort to squeeze Iran's economy.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

CENTCOM chief meets Saudi Arabia's MBS amid Houthi gains in Yemen

The low-profile meeting between the Pentagon's commander in the Middle East and Saudi crown prince comes as Yemen's Houthis seized the high ground overlooking a vital economic waterway.

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Analysis

Why Trump is in no rush to join Yemen war as Houthis seize Bab al-Mandeb

The Houthis' capture of Mokha and Perim Island has dealt a major credibility blow to Yemen's Saudi-backed forces while granting the rebels a clear line-of-sight to launch missiles into one of the Middle East's most important shipping lanes. As long as they don't interfere with international commerce, Washington is likely to withhold its fire.

Jared Szuba

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

Latest News

CENTCOM chief in Saudi Arabia as Yemen's Houthis seize Bab al-Mandeb

Admiral Charles Bradford "Brad" Cooper II, Commander of US Central Command speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, at US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran’s Pickaxe mountain tests limits of Trump’s military options

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

Jared Szuba

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

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Brent crude sails past $100 as Middle East war intensifies

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

A billboard by The Lincoln Project is seen in Times Square on October 25, 2020 in New York, depicting Ivanka Trump presenting the number of New Yorkers and Americans who have died due to Covid-19 along with her husband Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, with a Vanity Fair quote. - The Lincoln Project, is defending its right to erect billboards in Times Square critical of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner,after an attorney for President Trump's daughter and her husband threatened to sue. (Photo by T

Netanyahu rival hires Lincoln Project for March election

Former Likud senior Gideon Saar hopes the veteran American strategists can help him win the next elections and topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Blinken: 'Vitally important' to engage with Israel, Gulf on Iran nuclear deal

Antony Blinken also said the administration would immediately review the terror designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Bahraini king receives award from Trump

US President Donald Trump reportedly gave the prestigious Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Intel: Biden’s pick for top intelligence official vows to report to Congress on Jamal Khashoggi murder

Avril Haines says the Biden administration will release to lawmakers an unclassified intelligence assessment on who was behind the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist.

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE - JANUARY 16: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an announcement January 16, 2021 at the Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware. President-elect Joe Biden has announced key members of his incoming White House science team. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Iran denies informal talks with Biden team

Tehran claims there have been no informal preliminary talks with the incoming US administration, but signs of economic relief are already appearing in Tehran’s forex market.

Houthi terror designation could set off Yemen’s oil tanker 'time bomb'

Experts say the terrorism label will complicate efforts to secure a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea that could rupture at any moment and unleash another humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wears a face mask against Covid-19, bearing the US and Israeli flags, during a meeting with US special representative for Iran at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu lays out campaign for US to maintain course on Iran

Israel is hoping that the new US administration will conduct an intimate strategic dialogue with Israel’s allies in the region before making a final decision on the Iran nuclear issue.

Egypt dodges Trump’s ire as White House orders massive last-minute aid cuts

The outgoing president briefly sought to freeze all US military aid to Egypt over its purchase of Russian military hardware, but the White House revised the decision before notifying Congress, Al-Monitor's sources said.

Trump orders US Central Command to include Israel amid strategic shift

The decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.

Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers a foreign policy statement on Iran at Chelsea Piers in New York on January 7, 2020. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

To stop Iran’s advances toward nuclear weapons, restore JCPOA

The best way to de-escalate tensions is for both Washington and Tehran to comply with the Iran nuclear deal — and go from there.

Workers transport food aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) before distributing rations to displaced Yemenis in the northern province of Hajjah, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by ESSA AHMED / AFP) (Photo by ESSA AHMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Houthi terror designation 'death sentence' for Yemenis, UN officials warn

United Nations officials took aim at the US plan to label Yemen's Houthis a foreign terrorist organization that relief groups say will imperil aid deliveries to the war-torn country.

Rouhani compares Trump to Shah of Iran

President Hassan Rouhani said in a recent speech that despite all the pressure, US policy toward Iran has failed.