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August 23, 2026

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ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

Israeli officials remain skeptical of Turkish and Syrian denials over Ankara’s military ambitions in Syria, warning that a deeper Turkish foothold could threaten Israel’s security and strain its ties with Washington.

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

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Caught in the middle, Oman shrugs off Trump's latest Iran threat

For the second time in months, President Donald Trump has threatened to strike the US partner as it holds talks with Iran.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian holds a press conference on Aug. 19, 2026.

China slams Trump over economic war on Iran: What to know

China’s once significant oil imports from Iran have been impacted by the war in the region and increasing US sanctions.

Latest News

Explainer

King Abdullah visits China as region hedges against US unpredictability

King Abdullah II arrives in Beijing, Aug. 20, 2026. Photo from Xinhua/Chen Yehua.

Trump’s Iran ‘economic D-Day’ threat sends oil prices above $94

Iranians drive past an anti-US billboard at Enghelab Square in central Tehran, Aug. 3, 2026.

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, top lawyer

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

FILE PHOTO - A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency. U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency/Handout via Reuters/File PhotoATTENTION EDITORS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CL

Congress OK with Saudi missile defense sale amid warming Israel-Gulf ties

Israel seems fine with Saudi Arabia getting an anti-ballistic missile system, as does Capitol Hill.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) meets with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj in Moscow, Russia, March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTS115AB

Can Russia, West cooperate on Libya?

Moscow sees an opportunity to engage with Europe to help solve Libya’s crisis, and the US president seems ready and willing to stay out of it.

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up during a National Day of Prayer event at the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington D.C., U.S., May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTS156JI

Can US calm Turkish nerves over arming Syrian Kurds?

The United States seems aware of Turkish sensitivities, but the Americans can't guarantee the arms given to Syrian Kurdish forces won't ultimately fall into hands hostile to Turkey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem May 7, 2017. REUTERS/Oded Balilty/Pool - RTS15HS9

Netanyahu’s vision of one-state-one-people solution

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promoting neither the two-state solution nor one state for the two people, but one state on Israeli and West Bank territories, only for the Jews.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 10: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talk to reporters in the Treaty Room before heading into meetings at the State Department May 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Tillerson is hosting Lavrov to discuss Syria, Ukraine and other bilaterial issues, according to the State Department. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump and Russia's Lavrov talk Syria at White House

Shadowed by an investigation into Moscow's interference in the US election, US President Donald Trump welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the White House May 10.

TAL ABYAD, SYRIA - JUNE 19: (TURKEY OUT) A Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG fighter controls the weapons in downtown of Tal Abyad, Syria. June 19, 2015. Kurdish fighters with the YPG took full control of Tal Abyad, dealing a major blow to the Islamic State group's ability to wage war in Syria. Mopping up operations have started to make the town safe for the return of residents from Turkey, after more than a year of Islamic State militants holding control of the town. (Photo by Ahmet Sik/Getty Image

How to read Trump’s blow to Turkey on Syrian Kurds

What motivated the United States' decision to directly arm Syrian Kurdish forces?

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) head a convoy of U.S military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTS14EFX

Turkey angry, stoic with US decision to arm Syrian Kurds

Will US-Turkish relations worsen in the wake of the Trump administration’s historic decision to directly arm Syrian Kurds?

General Joseph Dunford (L), the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, walks next to Israel's Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot, as they review an honour guard in Tel Aviv, Israel May 9, 2017. REUTERS/Nir Elias - RTS15RRC

Jordan high on agenda for top US military adviser's Israel visit

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford visited Israel and met with his counterparts there to discuss the Islamic State and the effects of the Syrian war on Jordan.

A Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) gestures at a convoy of U.S military vehicles driving in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTS14EGQ

Congress unsure what's next after Trump decides to arm Syrian Kurds

Lawmakers laid the groundwork for arming the YPG back in 2014.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference following the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool - RTS14ZGN

Odds appear stacked against success of Erdogan-Trump meeting

Erdogan’s advisers are among those predicting his mission in Washington will fail.

Bullets lie next to a gun at a Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) check point, a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 30, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a leftist Kurdish organ

Sinjar on brink of major conflict between PKK, Turkey

The city of Sinjar, west of Mosul, seems close to becoming a battleground for armed confrontations between the PKK and the Turkish army, especially after Ankara called for ground intervention against PKK fighters in Sinjar to prevent them from having a new base in the north of Iraq.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech at the ruling AK Party's headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, May 2, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS14S9L

Can Ankara ever balance its policy in Syria?

Turkey, Iran and Russia sign an agreement to establish safe zones in Syria, but the United States voices its concerns.