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May 13, 2026

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025.

Analysis

Ahead of Trump-Xi summit, Iran looks to China as guarantor — but with reservations

Tehran is closely watching the Trump-Xi meeting to determine whether China will continue acting primarily as a protector or if it will gradually emerge as the power capable of pressuring Iran into a narrower strategic corner.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Artillery units are positioned near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, May 4, 2026.

Analysis

Israel’s drone dilemma: Hezbollah’s low-cost threat reshapes Lebanon front

While Israeli and Lebanese delegations are set to meet in Washington for the third time, the Israeli military faces a growing threat from Hezbollah’s cheap yet highly lethal drones.

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

Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos Hessebon meets with Marco Rubio in Washington on May 11, 2026.

Rubio hosts Ethiopia’s FM amid push to boost security ties: What to know

In response to heightening regional volatility, Ethiopia is prioritizing a strategic partnership with the Washington to secure its geopolitical standing.

Latest News

Trump calls Iran response 'piece of garbage,' set to meet military advisers

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MAY 2: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on May 2, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-A-Lago resort. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

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

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

Referendum rift unlikely to damage US-KRG ties

As the date for an independence referendum scheduled by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq approaches, the United States increases pressure on the Kurdish parties to postpone the referendum.

What Trump really wants for the Mideast

The unrealistic statements by US envoy Jason Greenblatt about the Palestinian Authority's ruling the Gaza Strip again might indicate that US President Donald Trump does not have a realistic plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The son of senior Hamas militant Mazen Fuqaha sits on the shoulders of Hamas Gaza Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar during a memorial service for Fuqaha, in Gaza City March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1570813F60

Iran plays Hamas card

Iran's improved relations with Turkey, Qatar and Hamas send a message to the region.

Are Yemeni rebels imploding?

Saudi Arabia's hope to exit the Yemen scene could depend largely on Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Yemeni rebel factions' falling apart.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stands during a reception ceremony for Jordan's King Abdullah II in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 7, 2017. Picture taken August 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC11A0A89480

Palestinians want to be called ‘state under occupation’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is preparing a UN resolution proposal that will change the definition of “Palestinian territories under occupation” into “a Palestinian state under occupation.”

Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani shakes hands with Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov after a joint news conference in Doha, Qatar August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon - RC1DD95787D0

Why Russia seeks to stay neutral in Saudi-Qatar rift

Russia's offer to mediate in the Qatar crisis is a strategic move designed to place Moscow in the catbird seat without endangering relations with either side.

An Islamic State flag flies over the custom office of Syria's Jarablus border gate as it is pictured from the Turkish town of Karkamis, in Gaziantep province, Turkey August 1, 2015. Karkamis is a Turkish town of 10,500 people that sits directly opposite the border post. Shut for more than a year, the military sealed the crossing with a breeze block wall a few months ago. Behind it, just inside Syria, the black flag of Islamic State flaps in the breeze. Karkamis lies on the northeastern edge of a rectangle o

Stranded by US airstrikes, IS fighters fleeing Lebanon retreat to Syria

The Pentagon says it will leave the militants alone if they don't try to link up with Islamic State forces on the Iraqi border.

Protesters including Murat Yusa and Lusik Usoyan testify before the House Foreign Affairs Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats Subcommittee about the attack on demonstrators by members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RC1B04368AB0

Second indictment for Erdogan guards over DC beatdown in May

A grand jury in Washington has indicted Turkish security officials accused of attacking pro-Kurdish protesters in the US capital in May, prompting worry that the Turkish president may boycott upcoming United Nations meetings just as the administration seeks to repair ties.

U.S. military and Iraqi army reinforcements deploy after the defeat of the Islamic State militants in Qayyara, Iraq, August 29, 2016. Picture taken August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - S1AETYKITNAB

US troop numbers in Iraq, Syria could surge under new accounting rules

The Pentagon wants to stop undercounting temporarily deployed fighters and allow for the deployment of more support personnel needed in the war against the Islamic State.

U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by military personnel as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RTS1D28A

Trump keeps world guessing on Iran deal’s future

Even as Iran hawks complain they are shut out from the White House, proponents of the nuclear deal are not confident they will prevail with the president.

A convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families begin to depart from the Lebanon-Syria border zone in Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RTX3DQF7

US targets Islamic State fighters leaving Lebanon after cease-fire

US airstrikes blocked the militants’ route to the Syrian war zone of Deir ez-Zor near the border with Iraq.

Rouhani: Trump lacks means to pressure Iran

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the United States is no longer able to isolate and pressure Iran.