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January 13, 2026

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This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 12, 2023, as Israel's army and Gaza militants traded heavy cross-border fire. Israel and Gaza militants traded heavy fire today as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting that have killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel holds drills, prepares missile defenses for possible Iran attack: What to know

Israel is on high alert over the possibility of an American strike on Iran, which could trigger Iranian retaliation against the Jewish state.

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (not pictured) in Tokyo, Japan, December 20, 2019. Charly Triballeau/Pool via REUTERS - RC2YYD9DLX7A

'Not the New York Gulf': US-Iran war of words heats up

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today that the United States should stay out of the Persian Gulf.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a primary night speech at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC2FHF943RPX

Intel: Key Biden adviser slams 'sheer hypocrisy' of Trump gambit to extend Iran arms embargo

The Joe Biden campaign’s chief foreign policy adviser slammed the Donald Trump administration for relying on a mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal to reinstate multilateral sanctions on Iran should the United Nations fail to extend an arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October.

A health worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a market amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sanaa, Yemen April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RC2RDG964XER

Intel: House Middle East panel spotlights Yemen in first virtual briefing

The House Foreign Affairs Committee spotlighted Yemen in its first virtual briefing, which the Middle East subcommittee held today.

Workers produce face masks as the demand for their production rapidly increased and struggles to meet orders, at a Turkish manufacturer's facility in Istanbul, Turkey, January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2EQE9GQX3A

Turkey enjoys PR win with coronavirus aid shipment to US

Turkey ships face masks and other personal protective equipment to the United States and evacuates a Turkish COVID-19 patient from Sweden.

Refugees from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, walk past tents at Nowruz refugee camp in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, August 17, 2014. Proclaiming a caliphate straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State militants have swept across northern Iraq, pushing back Kurdish regional forces and driving tens of thousands of Christians and members of the Yazidi religious minority from their homes. Picture taken August 17, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLIT

Intel: US watchdog calls on State Department to add Syria to list of religious freedom violators

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should designate Syria as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders and put Iraq, Turkey and Egypt on a special watch list, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in its annual report.

A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Netanyahu's annexation plan can't be stopped

Annexation of the Jordan Valley is a long-standing Israeli objective, going back to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.

Fighters of the Manbij military council, allied to Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), take an overwatch position in the southern rural area of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said/File Photo - S1AEUACQAIAC

Syrian Kurdish parties resume talks, in secret

Rival Kurdish parties in northeastern Syria have began US-sponsored reconciliation talks after repeated delays in the past and in the hope of joining the UN-sponsored peace process to resolve the Syrian conflict.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a news conference, a day ahead of the first meeting of the new Syrian Constitutional Committee at the Untied Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC198A0C39B0

Iran pushes back against US plan for snapback sanctions

Iran’s foreign minister said United States is dreaming if it thinks it can claim it is still a participant in the nuclear deal in order to trigger snapback sanctions.

Workers set up a natural gas pipeline during a dust storm at Iraq's border with Iran in Basra, southeast of Baghdad, April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani - GF10000380312

Iraq receives another short waiver to US sanctions on Iranian gas

The United States granted Iraq 30 more days to continue importing Iranian gas in contrast with longer sanctions waivers in the past.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS - RC2T9G9GMFQP

Intel: Pompeo links Iran satellite launch to erosion of nuclear deal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Iran’s recent launch of a military satellite into orbit last week during a phone call today with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Netanyahu notches up international blitz on West Bank annexation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was confident that President Donald Trump will let the Israeli government annex parts of the West Bank, as stated in the American peace plan.