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April 22, 2026

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How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

At least 19 Iran-linked tankers have passed through the US blockade on the strait to exit the Gulf while at least 15 have entered, according to the cargo-tracking group Vortexa.

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel sees chance of US-Iran deal as almost 'non-existent,' readies for war

As US President Trump makes contradictory statements regarding his intentions toward Iran and the ongoing negotiations, Israel is preparing for the possibility of resuming military operations.

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

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 14: A US Navy Seahawk helicopter takes off from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan on July 14, 2017 in Townsville, Australia. USS Ronald Reagan is a 1,092- foot aircraft carrier which carries a crew of 4,539 around 60 aircraft. Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest combined military exercise undertaken in Australia. The biennial exercise is the principal Australian and U.S. military training activity. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

US boards Iran-linked tanker in Indian Ocean, vows pursuit of 'ghost fleet'

The Pentagon said that "international waters are not a refuge" for vessels under US economic sanctions.

Olmert

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Al-Monitor that Israel will only be able to defang Hezbollah if it reaches an agreement with the Lebanese government.

Latest News

Trump says Iran deal could happen 'quickly' as Pakistan readies talks: What to know

US Vice President JD Vance (C) walks with Pakistan's Chief of Defense Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir (L), and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials on April 11, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Could UAE tap US currency swap line as Iran war strains Gulf economies?

Haruna Furuhashi /Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Oil rises, Gulf stocks slide after Iran ship seizure throws truce into doubt

A man walks past a screen displaying stock indices at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange in Dubai, March 4, 2026.

'The reach is global': Pentagon vows pursuit of ships tied to Iran trade

STRAIT OF HORMUZ - NOVEMBER 19: In this handout photo provided by the US Navy, The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits the Strait of Hormuz as an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the Nightdippers of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5 lifts off from the flight deck November 19, 2019. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the M

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

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

The Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom activists hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Saudi Embassy to mark the anniversary of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday evening in Washington, U.S., October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger - RC1156AFC4B0

Democrats prepare legislation forcing Trump to declassify report on Khashoggi murder

Democrats are drafting new legislation that would force the Donald Trump administration to declassify a report on Khashoggi’s murder, potentially implicating the crown prince.

TOPSHOT - Relatives of farmer Hamad al-Ibrahim clean his damaged land in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz on March 13, 2020, a year after the fall of the Islamic State's (IS) caliphate. - A year after the last black flag of the Islamic State group was lowered in the Syrian village of Baghouz, traces of the jihadist group are still all around this small and remote village near the Iraqi border, where Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition declared the IS proto-state defeated in March 2019 after a bli

Coalition airstrike kills Islamic State leader in eastern Syria, Iraq says

Mu'taz Numan 'Abd Nayif Najm al-Jaburi was killed in a coalition-led airstrike, Iraq's intelligence services said.

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) arrives at Trump Tower to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York, U.S., November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC17792FFC10

Intel: Congress advances trans-Sahara security bill as Pentagon mulls Africa troop drawdown

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week unanimously advanced long-stalled legislation to formally institutionalize a counterterrorism partnership with numerous North African and Sahel states.

SOREK, ISRAEL - May 20: Hertzel, a security guard at the IDE Technologies Sorek Project Desalination Plant, looks out over the water treatment facilities on May 20, 2015 in Sorek, Israel. The plant, commissioned in 2013, uses reverse osmosis technology to process sea water, providing 20% of Israel's domestic water consumption. Photo by Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor

China loses bid to build $1.5 billion desalination plant in Israel

Under pressure from the US administration, Israel has chosen a local company over a Chinese one to construct and operate its massive new sewage water desalination plant.

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.