Analysis As Lebanon-Israel talks drag on, can Beirut break Iran linkage? Despite efforts to continue the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon aimed to reach a permanent end of hostilities and security arrangements, outside factors, including Israeli escalation, Hezbollah’s staunch refusal to disarm and the stalled US-Iranian nuclear talks, risk hindering any tangible outcomes that would favor Lebanon. By Beatrice Farhat In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict
Analysis How Hormuz crisis is boosting IRGC and Iran’s security establishment Iran’s Hormuz strategy shows how the prolonged crisis is shifting power from political institutions toward the security establishment. By Jamshid Jamshidi
Analysis As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program. By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
US stock markets soar to new records amid Hormuz deal hopes The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average are on track for their best five-day performance since April 2025. Iran
Analysis Another US-Iran truce, same Hormuz standoff: What comes next By Rosaleen Carroll In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East
Analysis Lacking leverage over Trump, Israel stays quiet on US-Iran talks By Rina Bassist In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs
Iran denies impasse in nuclear deal diplomacy Even as a break from Vienna talks over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal continues to linger, Tehran said communication was still in progress with the American side. Iran
Israeli intel shares story of Iranian spy plot The Shin Bet and the Mossad have tightened their cooperation on Tehran in recent months, uncovering hostile actions by Iranian agents on social media. Israel
Iran’s president meets with political activists In a rare move, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi met with a group of activists to discuss their political and economic concerns. Iran
Israel's Liberman talks wheat, strategy in visit to Azerbaijan Officially, the visit of Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman to Azerbaijan focused on exporting wheat to Israel, but reports suggest that the minister also discussed strategic and energy issues. Israel
Gantz says Israel still coordinates with Russia on Syria Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz discussed Israel's delicate strategic balance between Ukraine, Russia and Iran in an exclusive podcast interview with Al-Monitor's Ben Caspit. Israel
In win for Israel, US seems to backtrack on removing IRGC from terror list Convincing Washington not to remove the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps from its terror list is not akin to halting the negotiated new nuke deal, but it is certainly a major diplomatic achievement for Jerusalem. Israel
Analysis The Takeaway: US says Iran deal still possible; breakout time is ‘few weeks’ Islamic State steps up attacks during Ramadan; Arab-Israelis call for calm at Al Aqsa; Russian oligarchs and Egypt; Egyptian Christians alarmed by killing of priest; water scarcity threatens Jordan’s oryx; the storyteller from Idlib; and more; in less than 1200 words. By Elizabeth Hagedorn , Andrew Parasiliti
Iran says nuclear talks not suspended Though progress has been halted for weeks, Iran says the talks with the United States have not been suspended. Iran
Nonproliferation experts push for Iran deal resurrection as talks stall Dozens of nonproliferation experts and former officials have warned that failure to bring Iran back into compliance with the landmark accord would be "misguided, irresponsible, and dangerous." Iran
Iran nuclear negotiations at stalemate over IRGC terror listing Iran and the United States seemingly do not want to budge over the designation of the IRGC in reviving the nuclear deal. Iran
Iranian Reformist faces backlash from hard-liners for criticizing IRGC Outspoken Reformist Faezeh Hashemi has invited furious attacks from hard-liners after suggesting that the United States should keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its terror list. Iran
Iran's Foreign Ministry calls avenging Soleimani 'basic' foreign policy principle As nuclear talks remain stalled, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry doubled down on threats to avenge the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. Iran