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April 30, 2026

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Iraq's prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, at Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office on April 28, 2026.

Trump congratulates Iraq PM-designate Zaidi in call: What to know

President Donald Trump was openly critical of previous nominee Nouri al-Maliki, who was seen as close to Iran, but is now welcoming the new candidate put forward by Iraq’s leading Shiite bloc.

This photo obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, on April 21, 2026.

Trump faces three paths ahead in Iran war as Hormuz standoff intensifies

As the Hormuz standoff intensifies, Trump must choose between military escalation, a limited diplomatic deal, or continuing a pressure campaign against Iran.

President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

Latest News

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

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

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

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

What are Jordan’s options if Israel annexes West Bank?

Jordan is considering suspending parts of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel, sources told Al-Monitor, if Israel goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

US may try to raise the stakes for Russia in Syria

The politics of humanitarian corridors; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham tries a shakedown in Idlib; Ben Caspit to interview former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Al-Monitor podcast.

Two Islamic State leaders killed in joint coalition-SDF raid in Syria

The raid comes amid a string of SDF operations against suspected IS members over the past week.

Intel: Pompeo warns against Libya weapons flows in PM call

As Libya's United Nations-backed government reclaimed parts of the capital today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed an end to the fighting with the embattled prime minister.

Intel: Congress advances key Israel military aid bill

Congress is zeroing in on final passage of a 2-year-old military aid bill for Israel.

Is Turkey on moderation path in its foreign policy?

Conciliatory messages coming out of Ankara recently may appear as an effort to moderate Turkish foreign policy vis-a-vis the United States, Europe and Israel, but they are likely to be just maneuvering to weather the many stalemates in Turkey's foreign ties.

Palestinian police stand guard near the main door of the defunct Palestinian Parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 17, 2019. - It has been more than a decade since the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) last met in Ramallah, due to infighting between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah and Islamists Hamas. The shiny new parliament building was opened in 2004 in central Ramallah, the Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of Jerusalem. Construct

Intel: Palestinian Authority to suspend cooperation with CIA over US support for Israeli annexation

The secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, says his government has suspended its contacts with the CIA over the Trump administration’s support for Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 29, 2020. Kelly Craft ,C, front, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2020. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that the Syrian conflict has changed in its nature, calling on parties concerned to heed the risk that the military escalation in northwest Syria might run out of control. (Photo by Li Muzi/Xinhua via Getty)

Intel: Trump’s UN ambassador accuses Iran of violating arms embargo

The US ambassador to the United Nations accused Iran of violating an international arms embargo as part of President Donald Trump’s push to persuade the Security Council to extend the restrictions, which are set to expire in October as the first sunset provision under the nuclear deal.

A protester shouts slogan. After U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a demonstration took place in Toulouse against this decision as other towns short before. They marched to the U.S. consulate in Toulouse. Toulouse. France. December 12th 2017. (Photo by Alain Pitton/NurPhoto)

Intel: Biden condemns pro-Palestinian boycott movement

Former Vice President Joe Biden condemned the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in a new policy page posted on his campaign website.

New U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft casts a vote during her first U.N. Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S. September 12, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC192F935A30

Intel: Russia, China holding UN ‘hostage’ on Syrian aid deliveries, US envoy says

Continued Russian and Chinese obstruction at the UN Security Council imperils the millions who depend on humanitarian aid in Syria, said US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft.

Fuel prices are displayed at petrol station of French oil giant Total in Bordeaux, France, September 17, 2019. Picture taken September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau - RC1E43667350

Global oil prices at highest since March following OPEC cuts

Oil prices have fallen significantly this year as a result of the coronavirus and the Saudi-Russia price war, but Brent crude has now risen past $36.

Inscribed stone, giving an account of the Great Flood, Epic of Gilgamesh tablet, from Nineveh, illustration from the magazine The Illustrated London News, volume LXIII, November 15, 1873.

New York court orders Gilgamesh tablet returned to Iraq

The US Department of Justice said a past seller of the tablet, infamously purchased by the US company Hobby Lobby, misrepresented how it had been acquired.