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May 9, 2026

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Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

Getty

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Strikes on Iranian tankers and fresh exchanges in the Gulf escalate tensions as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a deal proposal.

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

Latest News

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

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Will Europe be there when Israel needs it?

If the Israeli government expects the international community to heed the “serious threat” posed by Iranian activity in the region, it must be prepared to discuss the serious threat posed by Israeli activity in the Palestinian territories it occupies.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC1AD2229B60

Palestinians turn to Turkey

The Palestinians are hopeful that Turkey’s promises of increased financial aid will make up for the losses resulting from the United States reducing its aid to UNRWA.

Syrian men work on reconstructing a damaged building in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, on January 16, 2018 after a huge military operation led on the ground by Kurdish fighters and in the air by US warplanes defeated jihadists from the Islamic State group but also left the city completely disfigured.
Once home to around 300,000 people, Raqa's neighbourhoods were empty when it was declared retaken in mid-October. Three months on, despite the lack of infrastructure and the lingering threat of unexploded mi

Assad, Turkey hamper US assistance for Syria

The Assad regime’s territorial gains and the Turkish offensive in Afrin are conspiring to keep the world’s largest aid donor on the sidelines.

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

US troop drawdown seen as boosting Iraq’s Abadi

The US decision to withdraw troops from Iraq could help the Iraqi prime minister’s re-election campaign.

Will Hamas’ call for national conference be heeded?

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh recently called for a national conference of all Palestinian political forces, but Fatah is wary of such a move, believing it to be an attempt to sideline or replace the PLO.

Rouhani: Iran has no need to negotiate over its defense

In a speech at an event for the Iran-Iraq War, President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran has no need to negotiate over its defensive capabilities.

How Iran sees Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria

A complex series of considerations — including the ignition of blowback from Kurdish groups elsewhere in the region — has caused Iran to remain muted in its response to Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria.

Sochi conference casualty of Turkey’s military offensive in Syria

Syrian opposition meeting reveals extent — and limits — of Russian-Turkish collaboration.

US adds Hamas political leader to terrorist list

By designating the head of Hamas’ political arm, Ismail Haniyeh, on the American list of global terrorists, the US State Department added another obstacle to Palestinian reconciliation.

Trump radicalizes US Mideast policies

After US President Donald Trump’s statements in Davos, Europeans and Palestinians fear radicalized US policies on the Middle East.

Hamas chief's inclusion on US terror list will further derail peace efforts

By adding moderate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to its terror list, the United States is signaling further escalation in the political brinkmanship game that aims at imposing a political solution to the Palestinian conflict rather than negotiating one.

A Syrian man shows remnants of rockets reportedly fired by regime forces on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on January 22, 2018.
At least 21 cases of suffocation, including children, were reported in Syria in a town in eastern Ghouta, a beleaguered rebel enclave east of Damascus, an NGO accusing the regime of carrying out a new chemical attack said. Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, the government of Bashar al-Assad

US warns of renewed Syria gas attacks

The White House has warned it could take action against Damascus if reported gas attacks continue.