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Middle East

  • • Live Updates
    An Iranian flag flutters in the wind as ships remain anchored on May 16, 2026 in the Strait of Hormuz near Larak Island, Iran. Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over opening this critical waterway have largely stalled as the countries have rejected each other's proposals to end the war that began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
    • Live Updates
    Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
    Live Updates33 min ago Tehran insists on US concessions before opening Strait of Hormuz
  • Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 16, 2026.
    • Live Updates
    Stringer/Reuters
    Live Updates33 min ago August 8, 2026 – Iran demands concessions from US as it nears Strait of Hormuz deal with Oman
  • Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pose after signing a joint defense agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, August 7, 2026.
    Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout/Reuters
    Saudi Arabia turns to Muslim military heavyweights in landmark defense pact as Iran war closes in
  • People spend time at a beach as commercial vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Wednesday, August 5.
    • Live Updates
    Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/AP
    Live Updates33 min ago August 7, 2026 — Iranian-backed proxies targeted Saudi Arabia, widening conflict in Middle East
  • Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Yaroun, a Lebanese border village with Israel, in south Lebanon, Sunday December 10, 2023.
    Hassan Ammar/AP/File
    The Americans losing homes to Israel’s war in Lebanon
  • The smashed door from the attack on the Channel 12 offices in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
    Channel 12
    ‘Someone will die’: Incitement against journalists alarms Israel as elections near
  • Barbed wire frames a church in Bethlehem.
    Scott McWhinnie/CNN
    Palestinian Christians call on American evangelicals to stop ignoring their plight
  • Palestinians search among rubble, damaged tents and household belongings after an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Nasr neighborhood of western Gaza City, Palestine, on July 30, 2026. The overnight strike hit the Matter family home and destroyed the residential building and the nearby Al-Zuhour displacement camp, where local authorities said around 35 displaced families had been sheltering.
    Mohammed M. Skaik/AFP/Middle East Images/Getty Images
    Trump announces a breakthrough in Gaza - but there are major caveats. Here’s what we know
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  • A satellite image of the Caspian Sea.
    Planet Observer/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
    The Iran and Ukraine wars are colliding on the world’s biggest lake. Here’s what to know
  • Mourners weep over the body of a Palestinian man who died in the clashes at a hospital in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on July 24, 2026.
    Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
    Israel prepares major military operation in West Bank after four Palestinians and two Israelis killed
  • A satellite view shows tunnel entrances at Pickaxe Mountain, of the Natanz nuclear facility, near Natanz, Iran, June 30, 2026.
    Vantor/Reuters
    What is Pickaxe Mountain, Iran’s secretive facility Trump says the US will attack ‘pretty soon’?
  • Unesco still.jpg
    • Video 3:40
    Video 3:40
    cnn
    Video Digging for control: Archaeology in the West Bank 3:40
  • Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joins pro-settlement Israelis on a march towards the Gaza Strip under the slogan "After 21 years, we're returning home", referring to Israel's unilateral withdrawal of around 8,500 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005, near Kibbutz Zikim and Israel’s border with Gaza, in southern Israel, July 19, 2026. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
    Amir Cohen/Reuters
    Israel’s far-right openly boasts of resettling Gaza as election looms
  • <p>The US military said on Sunday that another service member was killed in action during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone. The death comes a day after the Pentagon announced the fatalities of two service members in Jordan. CNN's Julia Benbrook reports on the latest from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. </p>
    • Video 5:35
    Video 5:35
    Clipped From Video
    Video US service member killed in northern Iraq as war with Iran drags on 5:35
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  • TOPSHOT - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Israeli Parliament at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026, before the start of the election recess ahead of the October 27 general election. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images)
    Ilia Yefimovich/AFP/Getty Images
    Netanyahu buys political loyalty with controversial legislation ahead of election
  • Screenshot 2026-07-15 at 4.53.26 PM.png
    • Video 2:55
    Video 2:55
    Etihad Airways
    Video The Middle East’s new role in global logistics 2:55
  • Two US advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court, shown on March 28, that they say curb Palestinian advocacy.
    John Thys/AFP/Getty Images/File
    US nonprofits sue Trump administration over ICC sanctions that ‘muzzle Palestine advocacy’
  • Nikki Nikhbaht's two elder brothers, Hadi and Fazlollah, have been sentenced to death in Iran. While politically active, they were not involved in the protests at the turn of the year.
    CNN
    Iran ramps up execution of political prisoners amid war with US, human rights data shows
  • 22797481 - Ro Khanna 16x9 cln.00_00_00_00.Still002.png
    • Video 1:54
    Video 1:54
    Reuters
    Video Rep. Ro Khanna detained by Israeli settlers in West Bank 1:54
  • Mourners attend the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4.
    Altaf Qadri/AP
    The view from Tehran: Anger and vengeance in the air as Iran buries its longest-serving leader
  • Portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in US-Israeli airstrikes, as mourners gather on the day of his burial, in Mashhad, Iran, July 9.
    Mohammed Salem/Reuters
    Iran’s supreme leader missed his father’s momentous funeral – now what?
  • Portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, as mourners gather on the day of his burial, in Mashhad, Iran, July 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Foreign media in Iran operate under guidelines set by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which regulates press activity and permissions. 

ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL. NO ACCESS FOR ISRAELI MEDIA. NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA. DIGITAL: NO USE BBC PERSIAN. NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA.     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
    Mohammed Salem/Reuters
    Iran says millions are mourning Khamenei. That’s not the full picture
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