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April 12, 2026

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) walks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Inside Turkey’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire

Turkey used its intelligence networks and rare access to both Washington and Tehran to quietly facilitate the US-Iran ceasefire while advancing its own regional security priorities.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

NABATIEH, LEBANON - APRIL 08: Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the city center on April 08, 2026 in Nabatieh, Lebanon. Israel has stepped-up its attacks on Lebanon following President Donald Trump's announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, conditional on shipping being allowed to resume through the Strait of Hormuz. Israel says it will observe the ceasefire with Iran but insists Lebanon was not included in the deal, and has since launched the "largest coordinated strik

Analysis

In talks with Lebanon, Israel seeking guarantees to contain Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would seek to disarm Hezbollah and advance normalization with Lebanon in its talks with Beirut, though both goals appear highly ambitious at present.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted an area in Beirut on April 8, 2026. Israel launched a series of strikes on Beirut on April 8, the most violent attack on the Lebanese capital since the start of war. The strikes came as Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2, claimed it was close to a "historic victory". (Photo by Dylan COLLINS / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Ahead of Washington talks, Israel has little choice but to accept ceasefire in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had little choice but to agree to direct talks with Beirut as it became clear that Hezbollah is unlikely to be quickly disarmed.

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

Latest News

US to host Lebanon-Israel talks next week in first such meeting

Israeli military vehicles drive along a road in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border on April 8, 2026. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had carried out a surprise attack on April 8 targeting hundreds of Hezbollah members across Lebanon. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images) /

Exclusive

'King of Iraq': Top judge Zaidan played key role in Shelly Kittleson's release

An undated image of Shelly Kittleson.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Trump ceasefire leaves Netanyahu flustered as Iran gains politically

TOPSHOT - Iranians react after a ceasefire announcement at the Enqelab square, in Tehran, on April 8 2026. The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday barely an hour before US President Donald Trump's deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire, with Tehran to temporarily reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /

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

Trump agrees to halt war for 2 weeks if Iran reopens Hormuz

President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington.

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

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Memebers of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) stand near an old Israeli tank as they look toward the Syrian governorate of Quneitra from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on February 4, 2021. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Golan 'forever' part of Israel, Netanyahu says after Blinken comments

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to question the previous administration's controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

US to continue defensive intelligence support to Saudi Arabia on Yemen

'We are not a party to Yemen's civil war,' CENTCOM commander says

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on November 11, 2020. - Turkish President promised on November 11, 2020 to adopt painful reforms and threw his full support behind a new economic team installed after his powerful son-in-law resigned. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

New page for US, Turkey reads like fantasy

Hope for a reset in Turkish-American ties under the Biden administration will remain unrealistic until Ankara addresses its democratic issues and human rights record.

A member of security forces loyal to Yemen's Huthi rebels stands guard as supporters attend a rally denouncing the United States and the outgoing Trump administration's decision to apply the "terrorist" designation to the Iran-backed movement, in the Huthi-held capital Sanaa on January 25, 2021. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)

US calls on Yemen's Houthis to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted four armed drones launched toward the kingdom by the Yemeni rebels.

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on October 24, 2020, shows him wearing a protective face mask as he gives a speech in the capital Tehran during a meeting of the national staff to discuss the issue of the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by - / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP) / XGTY / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS === (Photo by

Iran, US spar over nuclear deal return

Iran and the United States are clashing over which country will return to its commitments under the nuclear deal first.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts after a German-French Security Council video conference with German Chancellor, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on February 5, 2021. (Photo by Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP) (Photo by THIBAULT CAMUS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

France, not US, offers to involve Israel in talks with Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not react publicly to the statement by French President Emmanuel Macron over the need to involve Israel and Saudi Arabia in talks with Iran.

US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) listens while US President Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19 relief from the State Dining Room of the White House February 5, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudis praise Biden after president draws line on Yemen, arms deals

During a speech promising to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with allies, Biden announced the end of US support for Saudi-led operations in Yemen.

An activist of the human rights NGO Amnesty International takes part in an action in front of the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Brussels on January 8, 2021, calling for the release of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi. - Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia temporarily releases two US-Saudi political prisoners

Dual citizens Salah al-Haidar and Bader al-Ibrahim still face trial on terror-related charges.

US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner (L) poses with Ambassador David Friedman (R), and his wife Tammy (C), after the unveiling of a plaque at the embassy grounds in Jerusalem on December 21, 2020. (Photo by Maya Alleruzzo / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress votes to make US Embassy move to Jerusalem permanent

The measure, an amendment to the COVID-19 relief bill, passed the Senate easily on Thursday night.

Egypt's interim prime minister Hazem Beblawi gives an interview to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse at his office in Cairo on November 24, 2013 as Egypt's interim president approved a controversial law regulating demonstrations. "It is not a law that limits the right to demonstrate, but it aims at protecting the right of protesters," Beblawi said. AFP PHOTO/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (Photo credit should read GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images)

US citizen’s torture suit to test Egypt relations under Biden

The Joe Biden administration may take a position on the immunity of Egypt’s former prime minister in a lawsuit brought by an American human rights activist.

A woman gestures as Turkish Police detain activists supporting Bogazici University students protesting against the appointment by the Turkish government of a new rector in Ankara on February 2, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

State Department condemns Turkey's anti-LGBT rhetoric against protesters

Turkey's president and other officials have used inflammatory anti-gay rhetoric to describe the student-led protests in Istanbul.

An Iraqi cleric walks on a US flag painted on the ground as people gather to pay respects by the grave of slain commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at the Wadi al-Salam ("Valley of Peace") cemetery in the holy city of Najaf, on January 4, 2021, marking the first anniversary of his killing alongside Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike. (Photo by Ali NAJAFI / AFP) (Photo by ALI NAJAFI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran says 'best response' for US forces to leave Iraq

Officials in Tehran renewed calls for an end to the American military presence in neighboring Iraq as a response to the US killing of Iran’s top commander Qasem Soleimani.