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May 16, 2026

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US President Donald 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.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Jag Vasant, an Indian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that transited through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, remains docked at an offloading terminal along the coast in Mumbai on April 1, 2026.

Uptick in Chinese tankers transiting Hormuz amid Trump-Xi summit

President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, a meeting closely watched in Iran.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Analysis

Iran looms large over Trump’s China visit, but breakthrough unlikely

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump (C) is escorted by China's Vice President Han Zheng (R) upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Iran's IRGC holds anti-helicopter drills in Tehran: What to know

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

In first, Lebanon files formal UN complaint against Iran: What to know

FADEL Itani / AFP via Getty Images

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Benjamin Houghton

In Durham, reporting on China in the Middle East

Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

Mehrnaz Samimi

In Washington, DC, reporting on Iranian culture

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron hold hands at a news conference after a Syria summit, in Istanbul, Turkey October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC16134E6CB0

Putin pivots to Europe for next play on Syria

Russian president intensifies diplomatic push; Erdogan goes "big" to leverage the Khashoggi murder with the Trump administration; Oman emerges as Israeli-Palestinian broker.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L to R) pose for a grou

Iranians and the nuclear deal

President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal is not merely undermining his moderate Iranian counterpart but also the longer-term prospect of US engagement with Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a bilateral meeting during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC1720F3A620

Israel pins hopes on American sanctions against Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman pin their hopes on the American sanctions against Iran to destabilize the Tehran regime and force it to renegotiate the nuclear agreement.

Saudi Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer Al-Sabhan (L) speaks with Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev during a Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RC19F177B570

Russia braces for new diplomatic push on Syria

Russia's frenzy of diplomatic and military activity around Syria in recent days suggests Moscow is pushing its own initiatives before a new UN envoy on Syria takes the reins and before Democrats take control of the House in the United States.

An Iranian man works 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

US sanctions hit Iranian patients once again

The US reimposition of sanctions is once again disrupting ordinary Iranians’ access to vital medicines and medical equipment.

Hamas, Palestinian factions back Iran against US sanctions

Hamas and other Palestinian groups have reaffirmed their solidarity with Iran since the United States reimposed more sanctions on Tehran.

Israeli celebration of ties with Gulf states premature

The visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Oman is Sultan Qaboos’ way of signaling to Israelis what peace could look like, should they end the occupation of the Palestinians.

United Arab Emirates

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference after a Syria summit, in Istanbul, Turkey October 27, 2018. Cem Oksuz/Pool via REUTERS - RC1C2A6030C0

Erdogan plays big: A grand bargain in Syria with Trump and Putin?

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plays a big gambit with American and Russian counterparts, but can he win?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) makes remarks a day after the Midterm Elections, in which the Senate Republicans retained their majority as the House saw Democrats sweep into control, and a possible return as Speaker for Pelosi, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 7, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Theiler - RC1CC87E23E0

Iran says not pinning hopes on Dems winning midterms

Despite Democrats winning the US midterm vote, Iran says it makes no difference who takes over Congress, citing decadeslong hostility by Democrats and Republicans alike.

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh talks to journalists at the beginning of an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria, June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader - RC19312B8670

Iran’s plan to sell oil on local energy exchange could boost economy

Iran’s plan to develop an alternative channel to monetize its oil through a local energy exchange faces many obstacles but holds real potential of boosting domestic capacities.

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey October 30, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC11D7974300

Iranians deride US 'gaffes' in sanctions list

While reimposed US sanctions on Iran must be biting economically, defiant Iranians, including their foreign minister, found relief of sorts in a US Treasury list that banned a sunken oil tanker.

A police barrier is seen before the Great Belt Bridge, Denmark September 28, 2018. Ritzau Scanpix/Claus Bech via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. DENMARK OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN DENMARK. - RC1C5531B000

Terror plot accusations undermine Iran-Europe engagement at worst possible time

Iran’s alleged involvement in bomb and assassination plots in Europe is putting pressure on the Rouhani administration as well as on Iranian engagement with Europe more broadly.