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June 19, 2026

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US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

The latest ceasefire in Lebanon leaves Netanyahu squeezed between Washington and domestic pressure.

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

Explainer

Sanctions relief and reconstruction: How China benefits from Trump-Iran deal

It is no exaggeration to say that every provision of the 14-point deal favors China.

Latest News

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun to visit White House this month, Trump says

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during a government meeting at the Presidential Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 5, 2025.

Analysis

Why Trump’s push for Syria to confront Hezbollah is an unlikely bid

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is welcomed by Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on April 24, 2026, on the sidelines of a European summit.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Culture

Turkey’s Erdogan meets Orthodox patriarch amid push for reopening Halki Seminary

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Orthodox Patriarch of Bartholomew at the presidential complex, Ankara, Turkey, June 16, 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

U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC19027566C0

Trump’s pick for top general plays down Iran war talk

A day after Iranian boats reportedly attempted to seize a British tanker in the Gulf, President Donald Trump’s pick to become the military’s top officer downplayed the potential for conflict with Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC18FCCF2B90

Rouhani out of time, support for revised nuclear deal

US sanctions and Europe's failure to come up with a satisfactory substitute for the nuclear deal are weakening the moderates in Iran's government while inflaming the hawks.

Royal Navy vessel HMS Montrose at sea during Baltic Operations in this photo taken June 15, 2014. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Adam C. Stapleton/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1E7A174850

IRGC denies it tried to capture British tanker

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has denied they attempted to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

France's top diplomat Emmanuel Bonne meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, Iran July 10, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC12F4E624A0

Tehran says it will stick to phased reduction of nuclear deal commitments

Iran told a French envoy that it will continue to scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal unless the other signatories honor their end of the deal.

Turkish soldiers stand on a watch tower at the Atmeh crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border, as seen from the Syrian side, in Idlib governorate, Syria May 31, 2019. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1525F30880

Turkish-US talks on northern Syria stall as S-400 crisis peaks

US envoy for Syria Jim Jeffrey tells the German Marshall Fund that a residual force of US troops will be staying in northeastern Syria for an "indeterminate time"; this decision appears to have been made in part to protect the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units from Turkey.

Is Lebanon caught in the crossfire of the current US-Iranian standoff?

With Iranian-backed Hezbollah playing a role in Lebanon's government, how much might the country suffer in case of a military confrontation between Washington and Tehran?

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves his hand during a welcome ceremony at Salam Palace in Baghdad, Iraq March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily - RC1D812E2710

Is Iran’s influence in Iraq waning?

Iran is formalizing its relationship with Baghdad as a strategic step in lessening the negative economic effects of US sanctions, but the pro-Iran PMU integrating into Iraqi armed forces leave some Iraqi leaders uneasy.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint statment, at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, July 19, 2018. Debbie Hill/Pool via Reuters - RC15A2D3CB00

Is Netanyahu concerned about anti-Semitic rulers?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu befriends far-right leaders, such as Hungary’s Victor Orban, and keeps silent when his close ally, President Donald Trump, invites to the White House an anti-Semitic cartoonist.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose on the West Wing colonnade in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC1AE2447D80

Will Trump follow suit if Israel attacks Iran?

Ahead of the 2020 US presidential elections, President Donald Trump might decide to back Israel militarily, if it decides to attack Iran.

Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz sets sail in Izmit Bay, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, off the port of Dilovasi, Turkey, June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC17D18454C0

Eastern Mediterranean crisis balloons as Turkish drill ships multiply

Disputes over oil and gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean have caused a spike in tensions between Ankara and Turkish Cypriots on the one side, and the EU and Greek Cypriots on the other.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of a meeting at the Prefecture of Caen, on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the World War II Allied landings in Normandy, France, June 6, 2019. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS - RC13F1587560

Trump, Macron talk Iran as French envoy heads to Tehran to try to defuse crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron mediates to try to defuse Iran crisis.

Abbas Araqchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs (R), Behrouz Kamalvandi, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman (L) and Iran's government spokesman Ali Rabiei attend a news conferenece in Tehran, Iran July 7, 2019. Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC188882BBC0

Iran raises nuclear enrichment to 4.5%

Iran officially announced it has taken its second step in reducing nuclear commitments and warned that unless the others fulfill their side of the nuclear deal, Iran would take the third step as well.