Trump

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun receives Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh in Beirut on Aug. 29, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency)

Meet Nada Hamadeh, Lebanon's US ambassador set to lead Israel talks

Lebanese ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh is expected to lead the Lebanese delegation in talks with the Israeli side in Washington on Tuesday, the first such contact between the two parties in decades.

A woman walks past a digital screen displaying news of US-Iran peace talks along a road in Islamabad on April 10, 2026.

In Islamabad, US set to face a more defiant Iran at negotiating table

Iran's widening ambitions after the war include a bid to exercise permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz.

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted an area in Beirut on April 8, 2026. Israel launched a series of strikes on Beirut on April 8, the most violent attack on the Lebanese capital since the start of war. The strikes came as Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2, claimed it was close to a "historic victory". (Photo by Dylan COLLINS / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Ahead of Washington talks, Israel has little choice but to accept ceasefire in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had little choice but to agree to direct talks with Beirut as it became clear that Hezbollah is unlikely to be quickly disarmed.

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

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting regarding the situation in the Middle East on April 7, 2026, in New York City. A vote on a resolution in the Security Council introduced by Bahrain focusing on reopening the Strait of Hormuz failed after opposition from Russia and China. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Analysis

Sanctions relief, Pakistan role propel China backing of Iran-US ceasefire

The US–Iran truce boosts Pakistan — one of China’s closest partners — by elevating its role as a mediator and strengthening a regional balance that favors Beijing’s allies.

Joyce Karam

By Joyce Karam , Rosaleen Carroll

Latest News

Analysis

Trump ceasefire leaves Netanyahu flustered as Iran gains politically

TOPSHOT - Iranians react after a ceasefire announcement at the Enqelab square, in Tehran, on April 8 2026. The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday barely an hour before US President Donald Trump's deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /

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

Trump agrees to halt war for 2 weeks if Iran reopens Hormuz

President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington.

Iran threatens energy shock, ups Gulf strikes ahead of Trump deadline: What to know

A family sits against the backdrop of a dockyard in Khor Fakkan in the Gulf emirate of Sharjah, off the coast of the Gulf of Oman, on Feb. 25, 2026.

Israel, seeking wider war, hits Iranian railways, bridges as Trump deadline nears

A view of the damaged B1 bridge, a day after it was destroyed by an airstrike, on April 3, 2026, west of Tehran in Karaj, Iran.

Iranians shop at a drugstore at the Nikan hospital in Tehran on September 11, 2018. - Judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague unanimously ruled Washington should remove barriers to "the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities" as well as airplane parts. Iran produces 96 percent of the drugs it uses, according to the Syndicate of Iranian Pharmaceutical Industries, but imports more than half the raw materials to make them. (Photo by STRING

US fails to shield humanitarian trade with Iran as sanctions loom

European governments are urging the Trump administration to identify a legal means for their companies to continue to provide food and medicine to Iranians after the Nov. 5 re-imposition of secondary sanctions begins.

US warns Lebanon that Hezbollah Cabinet pick would cross ‘red line’

The Trump administration might take limited measures that are not likely to alter the fundamentals of US policy in Lebanon should Hezbollah get the Health Ministry in the new Cabinet formation.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 20, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC16218400E0

Commentary: Saudi First foreign policy comes back to bite Trump

US alignment with Riyadh’s worldview is under scrutiny after the disappearance of journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about Hurricane Michael prior to signing the "Save Our Seas Act of 2018" at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevvin Lamarque - RC14F2A7E6E0

Trump weighs Saudi Arabia’s fate in Khashoggi affair

The US president said “a lot of work” is being done on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and promised “there'll be something that has to take place.”

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office of the White House after it was announced the president had accepted the Haley's resignation in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC1E7B6A6960

Iran media: Haley resigned after failing Trump at UN Security Council

Iranian media has largely welcomed the surprise resignation of the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, and her departure from the administration of President Donald Trump.

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House after the president accepted Haley's resignation in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC1DE84AD970

What Nikki Haley’s exit may mean for the Middle East

Whoever succeeds Nikki Haley as Donald Trump’s envoy to the UN is unlikely to have the long leash and big platform that she held, especially in the first year, before John Bolton and Mike Pompeo came in.

US scraps treaty with Iran while calling for another treaty

The US withdrew from a treaty with Iran after the treaty was used in a UN court to complain about its sanctions.

US Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson (C), is seen inside a car escorted by Turkish plain clothes police officers as he arrives at his house on July 25, 2018 in Izmir. - A Turkish court on July 25, 2018 ruled to place under house arrest US pastor who has been imprisoned for almost two years on terror-related charges in a case that has raised tensions with the United States, state media said. The state-run Anadolu news agency said he was being put under house arrest, although it was not clear if he had already lef

Brunson affair becomes litmus test for Turkish-US ties

Uncertainty remains over whether the American pastor will be released from detention next week by a Turkish court.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu arrives during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - RC1D3310C070

What’s behind Netanyahu’s absence from UNESCO conference?

The announcement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the invitation to a UNESCO conference sends a clear message: Israel will indeed quit the agency by the end of 2018.

Iranian soldiers sit atop their tanks in an Iranian border province next to Afghanistan October 1. Iranian forces staged mock attacks close to the border with Afghanistan in preparation for war-games involving over 200,000 troops. - PBEAHUMFTDH

What are prospects of limited engagement between Iran, US in Afghanistan?

While tensions between Iran and the United States are escalating, their shared interest in Afghanistan’s stability could promote compartmentalized cooperation between the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC185DAD66E0

Is the Israeli-Russian honeymoon over?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turns to his close ally President Donald Trump, hoping that the US president can help Israel fix the crisis with Russia.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani departs after speaking at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit during the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - RC16B86372F0

Iran hard-liners warn Rouhani, Zarif to avoid Trump in New York

Iran's conservatives are keeping a close eye on President Hassan Rouhani's UN General Assembly visit, warning him not to engage with American officials.