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January 11, 2026

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US President Donald Trump addresses a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 6, 2026 in Washington, DC.

As Iran protests swell, Trump's messages mixed on US intervention

President Trump attributed the scores of protester deaths to stampedes, even as videos show Iranian security forces are firing on protesters.

US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos (L) meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 8, 2026.

US envoy pushes for Sudan truce in meeting with UAE’s MBZ after talks in Saudi Arabia

Boulos’ meeting in Abu Dhabi follows discussions earlier this week in Riyadh, as the two Gulf countries navigate both Sudan diplomacy and a dispute over Yemen.

A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on Jan. 1, 2026.

Iran sees largest protest day as regime cuts internet: What to know

Thousands of Iranians protested across the country on Thursday evening in one of the biggest challenges to Islamic Republic rule in decades.

Latest News

Analysis

US response muted as Gulf allies clash in Yemen

A convoy of armored vehicles makes its way along a street in the port city Mukalla, southern Yemen, on Jan. 1, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

After Venezuela attack, Iran protests test Trump’s pledge of US 'rescue'

A large anti-Israeli banner portraying an image of a Palestinian fighter and the slogan in Persian and Hebrew, "Endless Voice of Resistance" is erected in Palestine Square in Tehran on Dec. 31, 2025.

Analysis

Buoyed by Trump and protests, Israel sees opportunity against Iran regime

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands amid debris outside the Soroka Hospital after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran, Beersheba, Israel, June 19, 2025.

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

For Israel, capture of Venezuela’s Maduro seen as setback for Iran, Hezbollah

A motorcycle rides past a graffiti depicting President Nicolas Maduro, Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 3, 2026.

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

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Megan Mineiro

In Washington, DC, reporting on US Congress

Intel: Congress advances key Israel military aid bill

Congress is zeroing in on final passage of a 2-year-old military aid bill for Israel.

Is Turkey on moderation path in its foreign policy?

Conciliatory messages coming out of Ankara recently may appear as an effort to moderate Turkish foreign policy vis-a-vis the United States, Europe and Israel, but they are likely to be just maneuvering to weather the many stalemates in Turkey's foreign ties.

Palestinian police stand guard near the main door of the defunct Palestinian Parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 17, 2019. - It has been more than a decade since the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) last met in Ramallah, due to infighting between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah and Islamists Hamas. The shiny new parliament building was opened in 2004 in central Ramallah, the Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of Jerusalem. Construct

Intel: Palestinian Authority to suspend cooperation with CIA over US support for Israeli annexation

The secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, says his government has suspended its contacts with the CIA over the Trump administration’s support for Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 29, 2020. Kelly Craft ,C, front, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2020. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that the Syrian conflict has changed in its nature, calling on parties concerned to heed the risk that the military escalation in northwest Syria might run out of control. (Photo by Li Muzi/Xinhua via Getty)

Intel: Trump’s UN ambassador accuses Iran of violating arms embargo

The US ambassador to the United Nations accused Iran of violating an international arms embargo as part of President Donald Trump’s push to persuade the Security Council to extend the restrictions, which are set to expire in October as the first sunset provision under the nuclear deal.

A protester shouts slogan. After U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a demonstration took place in Toulouse against this decision as other towns short before. They marched to the U.S. consulate in Toulouse. Toulouse. France. December 12th 2017. (Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto)

Intel: Biden condemns pro-Palestinian boycott movement

Former Vice President Joe Biden condemned the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in a new policy page posted on his campaign website.

New U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft casts a vote during her first U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S. September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC192F935A30

Intel: Russia, China holding UN ‘hostage’ on Syrian aid deliveries, US envoy says

Continued Russian and Chinese obstruction at the UN Security Council imperils the millions who depend on humanitarian aid in Syria, said US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft.

Fuel prices are displayed at petrol station of French oil giant Total in Bordeaux, France, September 17, 2019. Picture taken September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau - RC1E43667350

Global oil prices at highest since March following OPEC cuts

Oil prices have fallen significantly this year as a result of the coronavirus and the Saudi-Russia price war, but Brent crude has now risen past $36.

Inscribed stone, giving an account of the Great Flood, Epic of Gilgamesh tablet, from Nineveh, illustration from the magazine The Illustrated London News, volume LXIII, November 15, 1873.

New York court orders Gilgamesh tablet returned to Iraq

The US Department of Justice said a past seller of the tablet, infamously purchased by the US company Hobby Lobby, misrepresented how it had been acquired.

Venezuela's navy ships are seen during a military exercise near Punto Fijo, Venezuela July 24, 2019. Picture taken July 24, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC167D5BBE20

Venezuela military will escort Iranian fuel tankers to shore

Venezuela feels threatened by US opposition to its economic ties with Iran.

People enter the State Department Building in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC1D48272C00

Intel: US rescinds ban on British defense firm implicated in Saudi weapons fraud

The US State Department is rescinding a 9-year-old policy that barred it from doing business with the Saudi subsidiary of a British defense firm, which pled guilty to fraud in a multibillion-dollar arms deal in 2010.

WILMINGTON, UNITED STATES - MARCH 12, 2020: Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) speaks about the Coronavirus and the response to it at the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington, DE.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Michael Brochstein / Echoes Wire/ Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Michael Brochstein / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Intel: Top adviser signals Biden would keep troops in Syria as leverage

Under a Joe Biden presidency, the United States would retain a military presence in northeast Syria as leverage against the regime, the presumptive Democratic nominee’s top foreign policy adviser suggests.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli speaks at a press conference at the Ministry during the registrations for upcoming parliamentary elections, in the capital Tehran on December 1, 2019. - Iran will hold it's parliamentary elections on February 2020. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/afp/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: US sanctions Iran’s interior minister over deadly protests

The United States slapped fresh sanctions and visa restrictions on 12 Iranian officials and entities, most accused of serious human rights abuses, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday.