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July 31, 2026

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This aerial photo shows a tanker unloading imported crude oil at a terminal port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on June 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images) / China OUT

China cuts deal with Houthis, adjusts for long US war with Iran

China is cutting its own deals and gaining wartime leverage as the Trump administration scrambles to contain the war and reopen Hormuz.

Houthi soldiers stand guard on a missile carrier during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21, 2023.

Exclusive

Saudi Arabia to announce Red Sea coalition to counter Houthi threats

Around 50 countries have been invited to join the Saudi-led initiative aimed at countering Houthi threats to Red Sea shipping and preventing a repeat of recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Amberin Zaman

Jared Szuba

By Amberin Zaman , Jared Szuba

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Analysis

Katz riles Iran, US as Netanyahu-Trump meeting raises questions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to settle for a brief meeting with President Donald Trump, while his defense minister, Israel Katz, appeared intent on provoking Iran by publicly disclosing sensitive intelligence.

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

Latest News

On eighth visit, Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to repair ties with Trump

Trump Netanyahu

Trump says Iran seeks talks after strikes halted

US President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1EB24996A0

Why Egypt matters — maybe more than ever

The US-Egyptian partnership deepens in Sinai, but human rights issues won’t go away.

Policemen stand atop military armored vehicles after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - LR1EC7G0KXRL2

How 2016 coup attempt led Turkey to buy Russian air defenses

Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defense systems comes as part of Ankara’s efforts to obtain security and reassurance from Russia against the United States, which, it believes, was behind the 2016 coup attempt.

Why Moscow is ignoring US cyberattacks on Iran

Despite Russia's partnership with Iran, Moscow turns a blind eye to American cyberattacks on key Iranian targets.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on August 08, 2019, shows armoured vehicles of the US-led coalition driving in the town of Ras al-Ain in Syria's Hasakeh province near the Turkish border on July 28, 2019, and a convoy of Turkish armoured vehicles driving towards Bab al-Hawa crossing point between Syria and Turkey on a highway in the northern countryside of the Syrian province of Idlib on June 20, 2019. - A top Syrian Kurdish official gave a guarded welcome Thursday to a US-Turkish agreement to e

Turkey, US agree to coordinate on Syrian buffer zone

A deal to jointly control a strip of territory now held by Syrian Kurds could reduce friction between Turkey and the United States after Ankara threatened a unilateral military intervention, but some human rights advocates say Turkey will use it to put Syrian refugees back in harm's way.

REFILE - REMOVING AND ADDING INFORMATION A U.S. Marines UH-1Y Venom helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, near a Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS) counter-unmanned aircraft system mounted on a vehicle parked at the bow, during its transit through Strait of Hormuz in Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, July 18, 2019. Picture taken July 18, 2019. Dalton Swanbeck/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS- THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A T

Iran says US-led maritime coalition will create instability

Iran’s defense minister has told regional defense officials that the US-proposed military coalition in the Persian Gulf would lead to instability.

US sanctions on a Christian militiaman reignite conflict among Iraqi Christians

As the United States imposes sanctions on a Christian militiaman, conflict among Iraqi Christians flares up.

Chinese construction workers work during a media tour of the construction of a new port in the southern city of Ashdod, Israel April 12, 2016. The new port in Ashdod together with another one in Haifa are both under construction and are planned to start operating at the end of 2021. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - D1AESXYHZNAA

Pentagon repeats warning to Israel on Chinese port deal

The Donald Trump administration is repeating warnings to Israel to cancel a potentially lucrative port deal with China.

Turkish Army tanks are seen near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1F815A6580

US warns Turkey on Syria amid last-ditch talks to resolve buffer zone dispute

The United States says it will prevent a unilateral incursion into Syria by its NATO ally, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s patience is running out with protracted talks on removing Kurdish fighters from Turkey’s border region.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov - RC18D8234850

Iran's Rouhani eases conditions for talks with Trump

Iran's president says sanctions removal alone could initiate a Tehran-Washington dialogue, marking a departure from his earlier position where he strictly demanded the US rejoin the nuclear deal before any negotiation.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives at the EU council in Brussels, Belgium May 15, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman - RC1873ED5BB0

Tehran issues deadline for bypass to US sanctions

Iran is stepping up its pressure on Europe to devise a successful workaround that will provide economic relief from US sanctions.

Itamar Ben-Gvir from the Jewish Power party, attends a hearing at Israel's Supreme court in Jerusalem March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC1D8390EA30

Legitimization of racist party sullies Israel’s reputation

Israel’s reputation has been sullied by the courting of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a disciple of the racist Rabbi Meir Kahane, by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Right leader Ayelet Shaked in the run-up to Knesset elections in September.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives to attend a news conference in Tehran, Iran August 5, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC16176AD180

Zarif says he was sanctioned for refusing to meet Trump

Iran’s foreign minister claims he was warned in New York that if he refused to meet Trump at the White House he would be sanctioned.