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September 1, 2026

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US airstrikes target Iran's Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island

American military forces launched their first strikes on the Iranian mainland in more than a month just days after the top US commander for the region said Iranian mines have been cleared from Hormuz shipping lanes.

missile

Analysis

Israel favors status quo as tensions in Iran's leadership fuel escalation risk

Israel would prefer to preserve the current balance of pressure — with US naval blockades and economic measures continuing without a return to active fighting — per a senior Israeli security source.

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

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Pentagon inks 7-year missile-production deal amid Iran war shortage

The Defense Department has been hammering out new agreements with top defense manufacturers as the Iran war has rapidly depleted Washington's interceptor stockpiles.

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel’s Lebanon dilemma: Confront Hezbollah without angering Trump, triggering Iran

Israeli sources point out that the pilot project for Israel's withdrawal and the Lebanese military taking control over the area is not working because of the government's reluctance to search for Hezbollah's weapons in private homes.

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

Latest News

Analysis

How Iran is readying for economic protests as Trump escalates pressure

Demonstrations in Tehran, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Trump says Hormuz mine-free as Iran, Oman agree to clear them

US President Donald Trump arrives at Myrtle Beach International Airport on Aug. 21, 2026, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

China warns US not to interfere with Iran trade: What to know

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

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

Intel: Trump’s religious freedom envoy ‘pleased’ with Iran’s release of Bahai’s

President Donald Trump’s envoy for international religious freedom welcomed the release of some Baha’i political prisoners by Iran and by Yemen’s Houthi rebels while also noting concerns about Iran's treatment of the religious group.

JERUSALEM - MAY 13: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "KOBI GIDEON / GPO / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) after traveling abroad for the first time amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in West Jerusalem on May 13, 2020. (Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

China calls top US diplomat's comments in Israel 'absurd'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China was not being forthcoming about the coronavirus and critiqued Israel-China ties in Jerusalem this week.

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea in this handout photo March 19, 2011. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines that targeted about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and contr

Intel: US contracts Boeing to build new cruise missiles for Saudi Arabia, Qatar

The US Navy awarded Boeing a nearly $2 billion contract Wednesday to provide Saudi Arabia with 650 new land attack cruise missiles, as well as to upgrade existing ones by the end of 2028.

Iranian soldiers take part in the "National Persian Gulf day" in the Strait of Hormuz, on April 30, 2019. - The date coincides with the anniversary of a successful military campaign by Shah Abbas the Great of Persia in the 17th century, which drove the Portuguese navy out of the Hormuz Island, after which is named the waterway which separates the Gulf from the Sea of Oman. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

US military calls Iranian navy friendly fire incident 'tragic' in statement

The US military offers its condolences to Iran, but also criticizes the Islamic Republic for holding the training exercise in a high-traffic body of water, the Gulf of Oman.

REFILE - CORRECTING GRAMMAR Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca - RC1770F4BD80

Iranian tanker on way to Venezuela despite US pressure

The tanker passed through the Suez Canal on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Israeli Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz in Jerusalem May 13, 2020. Sebastian Scheiner/Pool via REUTERS - RC2ONG9Y03BM

Pompeo forges ties with Ashkenazi as Israeli government diversifies

The US administration knows that the new government in Israel means that the days of working only with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are over.

A military truck carrying a missile and a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen during a parade marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2015. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMAATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE

Why is US pushing unworkable plan to renew Iran arms ban?

Two years after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, the administration is looking extend the UN ban on conventional arms sales to and from Iran, a strategy designed to kill the deal for good and benefit President Donald Trump whether it succeeds or not.

The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw - RC14D4234680

Intel: 331 lawmakers take International Criminal Court to task over Israel investigation

Hundreds of US lawmakers have signed onto two letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to continue his “vigorous support of Israel as it faces the growing possibility of investigations and prosecutions by the International Criminal Court” over potential war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

An Israeli F35 aircraft is seen in mid-flight during "Blue Flag", an aerial exercise hosted by Israel with the participation of foreign air force crews, at Ovda military air base, southern Israel November 11, 2019. Picture taken November 11, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC2R9D9XBJG2

Intel: How Turkey’s expulsion from F-35 program has hampered production

A report by the US Government Accountability Office said Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program has complicated the Joint Strike Fighter’s already troubled production chain.

---ISRAEL OUT---
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem. Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO

Netanyahu leaves annexation on back burner in talks with Pompeo

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of annexation in his press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focusing instead on the pandemic, the US peace plan and Iran.

U.S. special envoy for Syria and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Jim Jeffrey speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi - RC28BD9QFAZ9

Intel: US sanctions squeezing Iranian forces in Syria, says US envoy

Cash-strapped Iran is reining in some of its forces in Syria as a result of American sanctions, US envoy James Jeffrey said today.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israeli Public security Minister Gilad Erdan during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool/File photo - RC17175E03C0

Netanyahu appoints senior Likud member as his right-hand man in US

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, appointed to be Israel’s new envoy to both the United States and the UN, is a true Likud ideologist and ardent supporter of annexation.