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Middle East

  • A motorist rides a scooter along a street near a billboard on the facade of a building depicting the Strait of Hormuz with a caption in Persian reading "Forever in Iran's Hand", at Vanak Square in Tehran on May 6, 2026. The United States and Pakistan, a key mediator in the Middle East war, expressed new hope of talks leading to a peace deal with Iran on May 6, after President Donald Trump halted a plan to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images) /
    • Live Updates
    AFP/Getty Images
    Live Updates 15 min ago US military strikes Iranian sites but says it does ‘not seek escalation’
  • In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.
    Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/Getty Images
    Iran imposes new rules for Strait of Hormuz in bid to secure wartime gains
  • Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026.
    • Live Updates
    Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/Wana/Reuters
    Live Updates 15 min ago Day 68 of Middle East conflict - Trump touts ‘very good talks’ with Iran
  • President Donald Trump speaks during a Small Business Summit in the East Room of the White House in Monday, May 4, 2026.
    • Live Updates
    Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images
    Live Updates 15 min ago Day 67 of Middle East conflict - Marco Rubio says Operation Epic Fury in Iran ‘is over’
  • A boy sits near a motorbike as ships are anchored near the shoreline of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on April 22, 2026.
    Stringer/Getty Images
    UN warns of ‘unprecedented’ crisis for seafarers in Persian Gulf as war strands crews at sea
  • A Palestinian woman in in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, places her ballot vote for municipal elections on Saturday – the first elections in two decades in Gaza.
    Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
    Gaza holds first elections in 20 years amid stalled ceasefire process – but only in one city
  • People ride motorcycles near a billboard featuring an image of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran, Iran on April 20.
    Majid Asgaripour/Wana News Agency/Reuters
    Iran is suffering in a standoff with the US – but may be betting Trump will blink first
  • maryam.Rahmanian001.JPG
    Maryam Rahmanian
    ‘Nothing feels normal anymore’: How everyday Iranians are coping with war
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  • Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush sails in the Indian Ocean in the US Central Command area of responsibility, April 23.
    US Central Command/X
    Third US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East as Trump declines to give timeline on ending Iran war
  • Israeli police detained Alex Sinclair for wearing a kippah embroidered with an Israeli and a Palestinian flag.
    Alex Sinclair
    Police in Israel detain Jewish man for kippah showing Israeli, Palestinian flags
  • US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the Iranian-flagged Touska on April 20, after it attempted to evade a US naval blockade.
    US Navy
    Who will blink first as the Iran war hits the world economy?
  • Commuters make their way past a giant billboard of slain Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026. The strategic Strait of Hormuz was again closed on April 19 in the stand-off between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker signalling a final peace deal remained "far" off despite some movement in negotiations.
    Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
    Trump claims Iran’s regime is fractured. The reality is more complicated.
  • In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)
    Hamid Foroutan/ISNA/AFP/Getty Images/File
    Iran’s new supreme leader is nowhere to be seen. That might be helping the regime to survive
  • U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office after signing an Executive Order April 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.
    • Video 5:10
    Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
    Video Trump says he will extend ceasefire with Iran 5:10
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  • IMG_0371.jpeg
    Tal Shalev/CNN
    ‘Blood only brings more blood’: Israelis and Palestinians share grief under veil of secrecy
  • A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026.
    CENTCOM/Handout/Reuters
    Iran cargo ship seized by US could become ‘spoils of war’
  • The sun rises behind tankers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran, on Saturday, April 18.
    Asghar Besharati/AP
    How 24 hours of whiplash over the Strait of Hormuz unfolded
  • U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on, December 29, 2025.
    Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/File
    With a ceasefire in Lebanon, Trump has forced Netanyahu’s hand – again
  • HOLMES.jpg
    Getty Images
    How US and Iran could reach a peace deal that both can sell as a victory
  • thumbnail shipping chairman hormuz 4.jpg
    CNN
    Why are some ships going through the Strait of Hormuz during a blockade?
  • Israel's Military Secretary to the Prime Minister Roman Gofman waits before a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the State Dining Room of the White House on September 29, 2025.
    Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/File
    Israel’s new spymaster is a Netanyahu aide who believed war with Iran would topple the regime
  • The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Michael Murphy, USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., USNS Henry J. Kaiser, USNS Carl Brashear, USCG Robert Goldman and USCGC Clarence Sutphin. Jr. sail in formation in the Arabian Sea, on February 6, 2026.
    Petty Officer 1st Class Jesse Mo/US Navy
    How the US Navy could blockade Iran’s ports and sweep mines from the Strait of Hormuz
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