Intelligence and espionage

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - MAY 16: U.S. President Donald J. Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Trump is on the fourth and final day of his visit to the Gulf to underscore the strategic partnership between the United States and regional allies including the UAE, focusing on security and economic collaboration. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

AI pivot: Trump loosens export rules, opening path for Gulf tech surge

Gulf states have been lobbying the Trump administration to loosen export restrictions on AI technology, although concerns have lingered among some within the current administration over security risks regarding China.

Jared Szuba

Samuel Wendel

By Jared Szuba , Samuel Wendel

A picture shows a view of the damage following Israeli strikes on the Syrian army and Defense Ministry headquarters in Damascus, on July 16, 2025.

Israel’s defense chief to visit Pentagon following Syria, Iran strikes: What to know

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is expected to meet in Washington with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other senior American officials to discuss the latest developments in Iran and Syria.

A poster of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

Pentagon reveals new details about strike on Iran’s Fordow: What to know

Top defense official says "no one" is on the ground at Fordow to assess the damage, as the Trump administration tries to dispel doubts about the effectiveness of the US bombing raid designed to knock out Iran’s main enrichment facility.

Jared Szuba

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

Analysis

Israel hopes for 3 'years of quiet’ under Trump even as Iran nuclear damage estimates vary

Conflicting US and Israeli assessments are casting doubt on whether Iran's nuclear sites were damaged or largely destroyed.

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

Latest News

Italy cuts ties with Israeli firm Paragon after spyware scandal: What to know

Two Israelis arrested for allegedly spying for Iran on Katz: What to know

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), accompanied by outgoing finance minister Yisrael Katz, on June 13, 2021.

Israeli Mossad retrieves entire archive of Eli Cohen from Syria: What we know

This picture taken on Jan. 25, 2000, shows a close-up of a postage stamp commemorating Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was executed by Syria in Damascus in 1965.

Meet Eli Sharvit, Trump critic and Netanyahu's outsider nominee to lead Shin Bet

Sharvit

A man walks past a mural painted on the outer walls of the former US Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Sept. 29, 2020.

Iran not backing down in Middle East, US intel report says

The Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign did not stop Tehran's ambitions in the region, ODNI report suggests.

Sarah Hekmati (R), sister of US Marine Corps veteran Amir Hekmati, speaks about her brother on May 19, 2014, during a vigil held for him in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, DC. The vigil was held on the 1,000th day of Amir's imprisonment in Iran. Amir is an Iranian-American detained in Iran while visiting his grandmother. Falsely accused of being a spy, he was detained in August of 2011, held in solitary confinement for months and hidden by the walls of Irans Evin prison. He was sen

Iranian intelligence arrests alleged Israeli spy

A man was executed last year for allegedly spying on Iranian forces for Israel and the United States.

Israeli ship sailing again following explosion

MV Helios Ray was off the coast of Oman on Wednesday. Israel blamed last week's explosion aboard the ship on Iran, which Iran denied.

Biden's CIA nominee stresses China over Iran during Senate hearing

Ambassador William Burns said that China is the biggest challenge for the United States, but that Iran and Russia cannot be overlooked.

A picture shows the scene of a twin suicide bombing on a bustling commercial street in the heart of Baghdad on January 21, 2021. - The toll in a twin suicide bombing in an open-air Baghdad market morning topped 20 dead and 40 wounded, an interior ministry official told AFP. The ministry said the first suicide bomber had rushed into the market and claimed to feel sick, so that people would gather around him. He then detonated his explosives. (Photo by Sabah ARAR / AFP) (Photo by SABAH ARAR/AFP via Getty Imag

Iraq's 'Falcon Cell' leader removed amid accusations of suspicious links

The replacing of a top intelligence official whose unit had been responsible for many key arrests signals further efforts to centralize control of Iraq's intelligence services.

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.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) and US Ambassador to China Gary Locke (C) listen while US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns speaks during an eco-partnership Event at the US Department of State July 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. Officials from the United States and China are meeting to discus the two world powers' relationships. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden taps veteran diplomat William Burns for CIA director

Burns, a former ambassador to Jordan and Russia, would bring with him decades of experience in the foreign service.

Lebanese activist sentenced to prison for collaborating with Israel

Kinda El-Khatib, a critic of Hezbollah on social media, was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court.

Iran makes arrests in nuclear scientist's killing, official says

Iranian parliamentary adviser Hossein Amir Abdollahian said some of the "perpetrators" had been identified and arrested.

'They always accuse us': Netanyahu responds to killing of Iranian nuclear scientist

Israeli Prime Minister also doesn't deny reports that he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Iran identifies perpetrators as it probes scientist’s killing

The Iranian government said it has identified those linked to the assassination of one of its top nuclear scientists and will retaliate after the investigation is concluded.

US sanctions Syria’s central bank chief, intel head

The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen Syrian officials and entities in its latest push to choke off the regime's financial network.