United States - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

White House, Washington DC, United States of America

United States

July 17, 2026

Washington D.C. 5:13 pm

33°C

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, July 14, 2026.

Analysis

What Zaidi's Washington visit means for US investment in Iraq

Iraq could greatly benefit from US investment in gas capture, which could help reduce the country's dependence on neighboring Iran.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026, before the start of the election recess ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.

Analysis

Trump's ‘180-degree reversal’ on Lebanon, Syria leaves Netanyahu with few options before elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes an Israeli withdrawal from two pilot zones in southern Lebanon will help ease tensions with President Donald Trump.

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

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance says Israeli intelligence had ties to Epstein: What to know

Vice President JD Vance has grown more critical of Israel, possibly in an effort to capitalize on changing views among voters with an eye on the 2028 presidential election.

Latest News

Trump taps Russia-born investor to oversee $200M+ fund backing Armenia-Azerbaijan corridor

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 22: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) sits in between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during a signing ceremony for the “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. The US-backed “Board of Peace” is intended to administer the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after the war between Israel and Hamas. The final makeup of the board has not been confirmed. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/G

Analysis

As Trump prioritizes Hormuz, Israel fears Iran rebuilding nuclear program while preserving ballistic missile threat

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

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) yields the briefing room podium to National Security Adviser Michael Flynn February 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn said the White House is "officially putting Iran on notice" for a recent missile test and support for Houthi rebels in Yemen. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Why Iran-US war of words won't turn physical

Despite their escalating rhetoric, neither Iran nor the United States has the incentive nor the ability to take the new cycle of tension to a military confrontation.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands alone on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street as he arrives to visit Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in London, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls - RTX2ZTWJ

Is Netanyahu counting on Israel's High Court to save him?

Turkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing to avoid his and his party's responsibility for the Regularization law, is hoping the High Court will strike it down.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. The executive order signed by Trump imposes a four-month travel ban on refugees entering the United States and a 90-day hold on travelers from Syria, Iran and five other Muslim-majority countries. Picture taken January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTSXWM6

Trump urged to name religious freedom envoy to smooth out bumpy Mideast policy

Former ambassadors say Donald Trump is in dire need of an expert to "school" him on Islam.

Why Turkey’s approach to Syria may again push it to sidelines

Diplomats fear that Ankara may have decided to play a reactive and obstructive role in the Syrian peace talks, rather than a positive and proactive one.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 12: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the blast site outside the Besiktas FC's Vodafone Arena Stadium on December 12, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. At least 44 people were killed and 160 other wounded in twin explosions outside Vodafone Arena Stadium and in nearby Macka Park a few hours after the night's soccer match on 10 December. The bombs apparently targeted police officers who were securing the match. The Kurdish nationalist group Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which

Trump, Erdogan discuss Syria cooperation in first presidential call

In their first call since Donald Trump became president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for an end to the US alliance with the Kurdish People's Protection Units.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY STUART WILLIAMS Iranian Hossein Shariatmadari, director of the hardline Kayhan (Universe) newspaper group for the past 15 years, looks on during an interview with AFP at his office in Tehran, 16 September 2007. Ridiculing the latest US threats against Tehran and advocating the need to expose traitors, Shariatmadari remains one of the most ardent champions of Iran's Islamic system. Appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, few in Iran can match Shariatmadari's autho

Iranian hard-liner slams Trump for not tearing up nuclear deal

A prominent hard-liner in Iran has expressed his anger over US President Donald Trump going back on his words about tearing up the nuclear deal.

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the Jewish settler outpost of Amona in the West Bank, during an event organised to show support for Amona which was built without Israeli state authorisation and which Israel's high court ruled must be evacuated and demolished by the end of the year as it is built on privately-owned Palestinian land, October 20, 2016. The Palestinian village of Silwad is seen in the background. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2POW2

Does Trump signal golden age for Israeli settlements?

Some are convinced that Israel's right-wing government and the new US administration under Donald Trump offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legalize all West Bank settlements.

A Syrian refugee mother puts her baby to stroller in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSU1P6

Syrians in Turkey baffled by Trump’s safe zones plan

A state of confusion and uncertainty prevails among Syrians living in Turkey, after the announcement by US President Donald Trump at the end of last month of his decision to create safe zones for civilians in Syria.

Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the council on Foreign Relations Elliott Abrams (L), President of the International Republican Institute Lorne Craner (C) and Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Robert Satloff (L) testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 9, 2011 on the recent developments in Egypt and Lebanon. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Noted 'neocon' finds surprising support from Democrats in Trump's America

Iraq war cheerleader Elliott Abrams is in the running for the No. 2 spot at the State Department. Will Democrats put their misgivings behind them in order to rein in Trump?

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: President Donald Trump holds up one of the executive actions that he signed in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. The actions outline a reorganization of the National Security Council, implement a five year lobbying ban on administration officials and a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for a foreign country and calls on military leaders to present a report to the president in 30 days that outlines a strategy for defeating ISIS. (Photo by Pet

How Russia's Muslims view Trump's anti-Islam stance

Russia is home to 20 million Muslims, yet many officials and citizens are withholding judgment — at least publicly — on the US ban to keep out people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Why this Iranian conservative-turned-moderate will succeed Rafsanjani

Conservative-turned-moderate Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani increasingly appears the most suited figure to assume the influential role that was played by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei departs after casting his ballot in the parliamentary election in Tehran March 2, 2012. Polls opened on Friday for a parliamentary election in Iran that will test the popularity of the clerical establishment at a time of a standoff with the West over the country's nuclear programme. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN - Tags

Khamenei thanks Trump for 'revealing real face of US'

Iran’s supreme leader on Feb. 7 thanked President Donald Trump for revealing “the real face of the US.” Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign minister stated that the international community will not accept a renegotiation of the nuclear deal.