United States - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

White House, Washington DC, United States of America

United States

June 4, 2026

District of Columbia 12:18 pm

30°C

A general view shows the reactor building at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on Aug. 20, 2010.

Iran's covert nuclear risk higher after war as IAEA access constrained: Report

Iran is estimated to possess about 440.9 kilograms, approximately 972 pounds, of uranium enriched to 60% purity, just below the 90% level considered weapons-grade.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 02: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. In his first public hearing since the start of the war in Iran, Rubio is testifying on the State Department’s FY2027 budget request. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Rubio says Mojtaba Khamenei alive, ‘increasingly engaging’ with intermediaries

The top US diplomat said Iran’s uranium stockpile and enrichment levels are “highly technical matters” that could take months to resolve.

Latest News

Analysis

‘Iranians threatened Trump and he folded’: Beirut veto leaves Netanyahu exposed

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

How Tehran's hardening rhetoric signals uneasy path for US talks

People hold portraits of the dead at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Mosque to commemorate those killed in the current US-Israeli war as well as previous wars on May 24, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

Aviation Ordnancemen assigned to "The Swordsmen" of Fighter Squadron Thirty Two (VF-32) transfer 2,000-pound Joint Directional Attack Munition (JDAMs).

US approves over $500M arms sale to Israel ahead of Netanyahu visit

The State Department has greenlit $500 million worth of JDAM guidance kits for Israeli bombs, as at least 80 people were reportedly killed by Israeli military gunfire and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Monday.

Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington, DC on March 4, 2018.

Israel weighs Gaza ceasefire, Abraham Accords expansion as Dermer heads to Washington

Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer's trip comes amid a US push for a broader regional deal linking Gaza, Iran and normalization with Arab states.

US Air Force F-35A performs during an exhibition flight demonstration as part of the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show (Salon international de l'aeronautique et de l'espace - SIAE) at the ParisLe Bourget Airport, in Le Bourget, north of Paris on June 19, 2025. (Photo by Roy ISSA / AFP) (Photo by ROY ISSA/AFP via Getty Images)

US ambassador to Turkey says F-35 issue to be resolved 'by year-end'

The new US ambassador to Ankara says that Congress is open to taking a fresh look at the F-35 issue.

MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Comeback kid: Will Netanyahu ride Iran war boost to new elections?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is well positioned to leverage the military operation against Iran and its US support to win back many Israeli voters.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2025.

Analysis

How Trump’s call to end Netanyahu’s trial is linked to broader Gaza deal

The coordinated effort, involving an agreement with Hamas and expansion of the Abraham Accords, also envisions a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump and a pardon for Netanyahu.

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

A billboard by the Coalition for Regional Security, with the Hebrew slogan which reads "A time for war, a time for settlement; now is the time for the 'Abrahamic Covenant,'" is displayed in Tel Aviv on June 26, 2025.

US envoy in Saudi Arabia to coordinate Syria support amid Abraham Accords push

Tom Barrack, who has been vocal about the need to engage the new Syrian government, said the Trump administration’s goal is to protect the country from Iran-backed groups.

KEMAL ASLAN/AFP via Getty Images

As it presses for F-35 jets, Turkey prioritizes air defense for NATO’s 5% spending target

As Turkey prioritizes boosting its air defense system to meet NATO’s new spending target, the president has revived Ankara’s push to buy fighter jets.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is briefed.

Why Netanyahu accepted Trump’s ceasefire deal with Iran

In accepting the US-brokered ceasefire with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likely weighed operational factors and American pressure alongside significant domestic political considerations.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Trump says US to meet Iran 'next week' amid strike damage doubts

The US president also doubled down on his claim that the US attack on Iran destroyed the country's nuclear program.

Analysis

Israel hopes for 3 'years of quiet’ under Trump even as Iran nuclear damage estimates vary

Conflicting US and Israeli assessments are casting doubt on whether Iran's nuclear sites were damaged or largely destroyed.

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

TOPSHOT - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas holds a placard showing maps of (L to R) historical Palestine, the 1937 Peel Commission partition plan, the 1947 United Nations partition plan on Palestine, the 1948-1967 borders between the Palestinian territories and Israel, and a map of US President Donald Trump's proposal for a Palestinian state under his new peace plan, as he speaks in the West Bank's Ramallah on September 3, 2020, as he meets by video conference with representatives of Palestinian factions

Abbas sends letter to Trump, offers to work on Israeli-Palestinian deal

In the letter, Abbas showered Trump with praise, saying the US president "can achieve what seemed impossible: a recognized, free, sovereign, and secure Palestine; a recognized and secure Israel."