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May 7, 2026

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Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

China understands how badly Trump wants an exit from the conflict. But timing is critical: if no agreement is reached before Trump arrives in China on Thursday, Beijing would be better positioned to set the agenda.

Joyce Karam

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Lebanon, Israel eye third round of talks, but no Netanyahu-Aoun meeting in sight

The US appears to be pushing for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Lebanese government says it won't happen while Israel continues to launch attacks on Lebanon.

Latest News

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

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

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

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.

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

A returnee sits in a bus next to a picture of Syrian President Bashar al Assad in Qusayr, Syria July 7, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC16FEE06D50

Congress on verge of passing long-stalled Assad sanctions package

Congress is on the brink of sanctioning Syria’s Bashar al-Assad government after three years of struggling to get the legislation approved.

Electricity pylons, Oman. (Photo by Jason Larkin/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)

Intel: Why US is likely to raise concerns about China’s investment in Oman

A Chinese state-owned company has inked a deal to take over nearly half of Oman’s power transmission firm, which is valued at $2 billion.

Intel: How Iranian influence operations are receiving new scrutiny in Washington

The Senate is poised to follow the House lead in passing legislation to create a center to monitor Iranian, Russian, Chinese and North Korean efforts to sway US public opinion.

Will Libya become Turkey’s next Syria?

The recently signed Turkey-Libya military cooperation deal and maritime delimitation agreement threatened to raise tensions not only in Libya but throughout the Eastern Mediterranean with Turkey asserting the right to intervene militarily in Libya if requested and to drill for oil and gas.

Is proposed site in Gaza really a hospital, or spy station?

Some Palestinian authorities have pledged to obstruct plans to build what they fear could be a US-Israeli military intelligence camp, while Hamas says the facility will be a field hospital in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks during an event at the Concert Noble in Brussels, Belgium October 24, 2019. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS - RC1B74F188D0

Intel: Pentagon worried Turkey ‘spinning out’ of NATO orbit

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told an audience at a New York think tank he was worried that Turkey is “spinning out” of the NATO orbit.

dpatop - 28 June 2019, Japan, Osaka: Recep Tayyip Erdogan (l-r), President of Turkey, Donald Trump, President of the United States of America (USA), Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdelasis al-Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, stand side by side in the group picture at the start of the G20 summit. The heads of state and government of the 19 leading industrialised and emerging countries and the European Union will meet at the G20 summit in Osaka (Japan) on 28 and 29 June 2

White House provides lifeline to US ties with Turkey and Saudi Arabia

Turkish and Saudi leaders look to Trump to prevent relations with the United States from going bad to worse.

Israelis protest in support of the Kurdish people opposite to the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel October 13, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC17449A4DA0

Israel’s love of Kurds weaponized by their foes

Israel's support of Kurdish autonomy in Syria is not always welcomed — at least publicly — by Syria's Kurds.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo makes a statement to the press at the State Department in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC22TD9VK2L0

Intel: Lebanon aid wrangling exposes divide in Trump administration

The US Treasury Department today sanctioned one Democratic Republic of Congo-based and two Lebanon-based individuals accused of financing Hezbollah: Saleh Assi, Nazem Said Ahmad and Tony Saab.

Russiaís Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hold a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC2JSD9HZS8W

Russia, US headed for new lows over terrorism, Syria

Despite claims that the Russian foreign minister's visit to Washington was genial and productive, by the time Sergey Lavrov landed back in Moscow, some of the areas of potential cooperation had already grown more snarled.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks at a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - HP1EF9Q1CPOMH

Rouhani looks to Japan’s Abe to pick up where Macron left off

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who appears to be seeking a mediator for the US-Iranian relationship, next week will visit Japan, a country where Iran has a lot of frozen assets.

Armenian-Americans march in protest through the Little Armenia neighborhood of Hollywood, California on April 24, 2018 demanding recognition by Turkey on the 103rd anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide, which Turkey insists did not happen. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate recognizes Armenian genocide in latest black eye for Turkey

The Senate unanimously recognized the Armenian genocide today, the latest in a string of major blows against Turkey within a week.