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Washington Connection

Motorists drive their vehicles past a billboard depicting Iranian missiles in Tehran on April 20, 2024, a day after Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan.

US mounts diplomatic blitz to contain Iranian attack

The Biden administration is urging Iran to temper its retaliation against Israel for the assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a rally in Doral, Florida, on July 9, 2024.

Republican platform a preview of Trump’s Middle East agenda

The platform calls for standing with Israel, deporting "pro-Hamas radicals" and making college campuses "patriotic" again.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Trump calls Biden ‘bad Palestinian’ in Gaza debate jab

Former President Donald Trump accused the sitting president of not letting Israel "finish the job" against Hamas.

Washington Connection

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions 'shadow banking network' used by Iran's military

The sweeping new sanctions come days before Iran holds elections to replace its late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

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As US downplays cease-fire gap with Israel, Biden urges Qatar to secure Hamas approval

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 31: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on former U.S. President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush-money trial before speaking on the Middle East at the White House on May 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden said Trump had a fair trial and an impartial jury found him guilty on all 34 counts and added it is dangerous for anyone to say the trial was rigged. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Blinken hints at sanctions over ICC push for Israel arrest warrants

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill on May 21, 2024 in Washington, DC.

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US repatriates 11 Americans held in northeast Syria

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington Connection

As pressure mounts, US delays plan to withhold aid from Israeli military unit

Israeli soldiers of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox battalion "Netzah Yehuda" take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border on May 19, 2014. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion is a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel military which was created to allow religious Israelis to serve in the army in an atmosphere respecting their religious convictions. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

The US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla speaks at the 18th IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain's capital on November 19, 2022. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: April 12, 2023, 10:12 pm

CENTCOM eyeing artificial intelligence to counter Iran’s drones, says Kurilla

The top commander of US forces in the Middle East expressed concerns over China's inroads the region and told Al-Monitor he wants to turn up the heat at the next Red Sands exercise in Saudi Arabia to simulate more complex drone attacks.

Washington Connection

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

US to 'reevaluate' relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC move

The White House has nodded to calls among Democrats in Congress for a reappraisal of Washington's seven decades of support to the kingdom.

Washington Connection

GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images

US sanctions Iran over cyberattack on Albania

The sanctions come after Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran following a July cyberattack ahead of a conference held by the Mujahedeen e-Khalq.

Washington Connection

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani prepares to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2019, in New York City.

Qatar’s emir heads to Washington next week, report

Discussions are likely to include Iran negotiations, Afghanistan and a US effort to provide alternative energy supplies to Europe in the event Russia invades Ukraine.

Washington Connection