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May 6, 2026

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EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

While President Donald Trump keeps pressuring Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Israel fears the American leader will decide to cut his losses and sideline the nuclear threat.

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

Latest News

Pentagon says Iran ceasefire continues despite UAE attack

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2026.

Macron casts doubt on Trump’s Hormuz operation as France-US gap grows

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 18: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R), French President Emmanuel Macron (L), and European leaders at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

US sanctions Iran’s shadow banking channels moving oil proceeds from China

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

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

Empty and disused Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group) containers are seen at Malta Freeport in the Port of Marsaxlokk outside Valletta February 10, 2012. The IRISL ships and containers are key parts in an international cat-and-mouse game: Iran's attempt to evade the trade sanctions tightening around it. Washington and European capitals want to stop or slow Iran's nuclear programme. They believe that IRISL, which moves nearly a third of Iran's exports and imports and is central to the coun

Road map for Iran-EU trade and investment relations

Europe is making efforts to set up a special purpose vehicle to uphold legitimate trade with Iran, but there is a need for a more comprehensive action plan for such trade and political relations.

An Airbus A340-300 of Iranian airline Mahan Air takes off from Duesseldorf airport DUS, Germany January 16, 2019. Picture taken January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RC130B90B210

France bans flights operated by Iran's second-largest airline

Iran's second-largest airline, Mahan Air, has to stop flights to Paris for what has been reported as sanctions imposed by the French government.

Mazloum Kobani, SDF commander in chief is pictured during an interview with Reuters in Ain Issa, Syria, December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC14AB5F1520

Turkish intervention could trigger Syria's 'second great war'

Mazlum Kobane, the commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, talks to Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview about how the Kurds in northeastern Syria have maintained a complicated network of alliances and why the prospect of Turkish intervention in the region could trigger another war.

Is Tehran trying to distance Qasem Soleimani from Iraq?

The recent visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq has been read as attempt to distance Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani from Iraq, replacing him with the Foreign Ministry.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign rally in Concord, New Hampshire, U.S., March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder - RC17BE4EE740

2020 Democrats vow to re-enter Iran nuclear deal

Advocacy groups are pushing to rejoin US allies in the JCPOA amid criticism of Trump’s foreign policy record.

U.S. forces set up a new base in Manbij, Syria May 8, 2018. Picture Taken May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1504520BB0

Intel: How Syria policy zigzags are confounding US allies

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the Donald Trump administration continues to walk back its pullout from Syria and is now considering leaving as many as 1,000 US troops in the country.

Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), speaks during an electoral rally for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Arbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region on April 29, 2018. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Barzani: Russia key to settlement between Assad and Syrian Kurds

Manbij leaders prefer the United States, but would rather deal with Russia and Syria than Turkey; Amberin Zaman gets exclusive access to a prison for IS terrorists; did HTS force the resignation of a Syrian opposition leader?; Syrians protest Turkish truckers; Rouhani’s meeting with Sistani is "crowning achievement" of trip to Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pauses as he speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC1A4CD7AAF0

Pompeo to push anti-Iran message in trip to Kuwait, Israel, Lebanon

In his trip to Israel and Lebanon this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will emphasize the threat from Iran and Iranian-backed proxies.

Goods wait to be loaded on dhows bound for Iran along the creek in old Dubai, United Arab Emirates November 5, 2018. Picture taken November 5, 2018. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC1B41189A80

Trump officials warn more Iran sanctions are coming

State and Treasury department experts today warned a roomful of businesspeople that trade that is legal now may not be in the near future.

U.S. military vehicles are seen in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - S1AEULMKDCAB

Intel: How the Pentagon plans to use thinned-out US presence in Iraq

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves after meeting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq, March 13, 2019 . REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RC1B33559E30

Sistani to Rouhani: Iraq's sovereignty must be respected

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Iraqi city of Najaf, where Sistani stressed the necessity of respecting Iraq's sovereignty.

Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) speak after the senate voted on a resolution ending U.S. military support for the war in Yemen on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC13D91DD370

Senate seeks to tie Trump’s hands on war powers with vote to end military role in Yemen

The vote to end US support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen deals another blow to Riyadh, but it’s also an effort by liberals to curtail the president’s war-making authority.