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October 13, 2026

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A giant electoral poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party with the slogan "no surrender" is displayed on the facade of a building in Tel Aviv on Sept. 29, 2026

Exclusive

In bid to win over Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may strike Yemen before elections

Attacks on Iran or its Yemeni proxy before the elections cannot be ruled out, but the Israeli prime minister appears more inclined to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Yemen.

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

US President Donald Trump speaks at the "Golden Age of American Innovation Summit" at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Oct. 8, 2026.

Trump offers Iran path to nuclear deal while keeping up military pressure

Iran has previously discussed compromises on enrichment.

GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA - OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up an appearance at a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on October 05, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska. Trump is campaigning for incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Gov. Jim Pillen ahead of the November midterm elections. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

Deal or war? Israel fears fallout from Trump’s next move on Iran

Israel is struggling to decipher the White House’s intentions toward Iran, given Washington's contradictions around launching a fresh military campaign.

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

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the Pnyx hill, where ancient Athenians held democratic assemblies, with the ancient Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis seen in the background, in Athens on October 7, 2026. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Rubio says Iran ‘lost’ Hormuz. Has it?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Iran has “lost complete control” of the waterway, pointing to the recovery in Gulf oil exports in September.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Trump-Xi summit did not move the China needle away from Iran

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office

Yun Sun

In Washington, DC, reporting on China-Middle East ties

Analysis

Gulf oil exports are back, but how durable is recovery?

nyse

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Turkey revives F-16 talks with US amid Israel, Greece deterrence concerns

Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Palestinian youths inspect a fallen projectile after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.

Analysis

Israel lowers expectations on Iran strikes with eye on US election

Israeli leaders insist that a retaliatory strike against Iran is on its way, but reports say the attack could be a limited one and will focus on military targets.

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

CHRISTINE OLSSON/TT/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish-American economist Daron Acemoglu wins joint Nobel Prize

Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu has become Turkey's third Nobel laureate.

Lieutenant General Lucas Schreurs of the Netherlands assumes command of the NATO Mission to Iraq (NMI) in Baghdad, May 24, 2024.

Interview

NATO deepens engagement with Iraq as US prepares to withdraw

In an exclusive Al-Monitor interview, Lucas Schreurs, commander of NATO Mission Iraq, explains the scope of his outfit's mandate.

Commander of NATO Mission Iraq

Commander of NATO Mission Iraq

Lucas Schreurs

Daniel Carde/Getty Images

After UNIFIL attacks, Pentagon urges Israel to wind down Lebanon war 'as soon as feasible'

There's no sign the Biden administration has put any time limit on the Israeli campaign in Lebanon, nor of whether the White House intends to exert leverage to limit the ground invasion.

This picture taken on Sept. 27, 2019 shows the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero as it leaves Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran.

US targets Iran oil exports with sanctions after Israel attack

The sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet of tankers follow pressure from Republicans calling for harsher penalties on Iran’s oil exports, especially to China.

A portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah sits amid debris at Beirut's southern suburb Rouweiss neighborhood on Oct. 10, 2024, following overnight Israeli strikes.

With Hezbollah battered, US seeks to break Lebanon’s political impasse

As Israeli military pressure mounts on a weakened Hezbollah, the Biden administration sees an opening to break political impasse in Lebanon and appears to have ditched its call for an immediate cease-fire there.

Members of Israel's Home Front Command and police forces inspect a crater left by an exploded projectile at a heavily damaged school building in Israel's southern city of Gedera.

Analysis

Why the US, Israel disagree over striking Iran’s nuclear sites

Israel seems to be weighing strikes that go beyond just restoring deterrence while the United States prefers to avert a region-wide war.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 4: U.S. President Joe Biden turns around to joke with a reporter as he leaves a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 04, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden made a surprise appearance, his first in the briefing room since becoming president, to tout a positive job report and take questions from reporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Biden, Netanyahu speak as Israel plans retaliation against Iran

The two leaders spoke as the region awaits the Israeli military's response to Iran's latest missile barrage.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia.

Pentagon confirms Israel defense chief Gallant's Washington visit postponed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed his defense chief's trip as Washington looks for leverage to restrain an Israeli retaliation against Iran that Biden administration officials fear could escalate into a regional war.

US President Joe Biden speaks to the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2024 as he heads to South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Ting Shen / AFP) (Photo by TING SHEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden postpones Germany, Angola trips over Hurricane Milton

The White House cited the need to prepare for the "projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton" as well as deal with the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks before planting a pomegranate tree at the Vice President's residence at the US Naval Observatory on Oct. 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Where do Kamala Harris, Donald Trump stand on Gaza war, Iran policy?

During events marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack that sparked war in Gaza, both candidates roughly outlined strategies for de-escalation.

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighbourhood of Al-Jamous in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 3, 2024. Israel kept up its bombardment of Beirut after Iran launched its second, and largest, attack on Israel in months, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Tehran would pay. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Live Updates

Israel defense chief postpones US visit as differences over Iran response grow

Israel's premier has reportedly barred the defense minister from traveling to the United States until he speaks with the US president and his security cabinet approves a response to an Iranian missile attack.