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August 24, 2026

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Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent addresses the audience during opening remarks at the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism at the State Department on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Bessent spoke alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as they discussed the rise of far-left political terrorism as a transnational threat. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: August 24, 2026, 1:49 pm

US threatens sanctions on Iran’s trading partners

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries were given "defined timelines" to halt business with Iran or face US sanctions.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Oil falls 1.8% as traders await 'toughest' sanctions on Iran

Traders are awaiting details about new US measures sure to further disrupt Iranian oil flows.

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

Latest News

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

Win McNamee/Getty Images

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

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

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.

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: German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a welcoming ceremony during the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey, November 15, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo - RTX30909

What is Merkel's Mideast role in Trump-Putin era?

Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s nationalistic policies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is being viewed by many as the new leader of the free world and a future key player in the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTSXJL3

The colonels shaping Trump's Middle East policy

Who’s who in the Trump NSC: The retired military intelligence officers who helped David Petraeus with the surge in Iraq are now shaping policies for a president who says the United States should have never invaded Iraq.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami waits to make a keynote speech to an audience at a university in Melbourne March 26, 2009. REUTERS/Mick Tsikas (AUSTRALIA POLITICS) - RTXD85S

How Trump could spark 'national reconciliation' in Iran

Former President Mohammad Khatami, sensing that the threat from US President Donald Trump is real, called for national reconciliation.

Mike Pompeo waits to be sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTSX1LZ

All eyes on Pompeo as CIA chief arrives in Ankara

Though Turkish hopes for a closer US alliance are soaring as CIA Director Mike Pompeo meets with top Ankara officials, it's unlikely that the US administration will agree to weaken its ties to the Kurdish groups it depends on badly in Syria.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) yields the briefing room podium to National Security Adviser Michael Flynn February 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn said the White House is "officially putting Iran on notice" for a recent missile test and support for Houthi rebels in Yemen. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Why Iran-US war of words won't turn physical

Despite their escalating rhetoric, neither Iran nor the United States has the incentive nor the ability to take the new cycle of tension to a military confrontation.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands alone on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street as he arrives to visit Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in London, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls - RTX2ZTWJ

Is Netanyahu counting on Israel's High Court to save him?

Turkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing to avoid his and his party's responsibility for the Regularization law, is hoping the High Court will strike it down.

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to impose tighter vetting of travelers entering the United States, at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. The executive order signed by Trump imposes a four-month travel ban on refugees entering the United States and a 90-day hold on travelers from Syria, Iran and five other Muslim-majority countries. Picture taken January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTSXWM6

Trump urged to name religious freedom envoy to smooth out bumpy Mideast policy

Former ambassadors say Donald Trump is in dire need of an expert to "school" him on Islam.

Why Turkey’s approach to Syria may again push it to sidelines

Diplomats fear that Ankara may have decided to play a reactive and obstructive role in the Syrian peace talks, rather than a positive and proactive one.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 12: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the blast site outside the Besiktas FC's Vodafone Arena Stadium on December 12, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. At least 44 people were killed and 160 other wounded in twin explosions outside Vodafone Arena Stadium and in nearby Macka Park a few hours after the night's soccer match on 10 December. The bombs apparently targeted police officers who were securing the match. The Kurdish nationalist group Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which

Trump, Erdogan discuss Syria cooperation in first presidential call

In their first call since Donald Trump became president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for an end to the US alliance with the Kurdish People's Protection Units.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY STUART WILLIAMS Iranian Hossein Shariatmadari, director of the hardline Kayhan (Universe) newspaper group for the past 15 years, looks on during an interview with AFP at his office in Tehran, 16 September 2007. Ridiculing the latest US threats against Tehran and advocating the need to expose traitors, Shariatmadari remains one of the most ardent champions of Iran's Islamic system. Appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, few in Iran can match Shariatmadari's autho

Iranian hard-liner slams Trump for not tearing up nuclear deal

A prominent hard-liner in Iran has expressed his anger over US President Donald Trump going back on his words about tearing up the nuclear deal.

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the Jewish settler outpost of Amona in the West Bank, during an event organised to show support for Amona which was built without Israeli state authorisation and which Israel's high court ruled must be evacuated and demolished by the end of the year as it is built on privately-owned Palestinian land, October 20, 2016. The Palestinian village of Silwad is seen in the background. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2POW2

Does Trump signal golden age for Israeli settlements?

Some are convinced that Israel's right-wing government and the new US administration under Donald Trump offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legalize all West Bank settlements.

A Syrian refugee mother puts her baby to stroller in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSU1P6

Syrians in Turkey baffled by Trump’s safe zones plan

A state of confusion and uncertainty prevails among Syrians living in Turkey, after the announcement by US President Donald Trump at the end of last month of his decision to create safe zones for civilians in Syria.