Iran
Iraq looms as a key test of the US’s priorities for countering Iranian power in the region.About 2,500 US troops remain in Iraq with a focus on assisting partners with countering ISIS.Iran holds tremendous sway with Iraqi armed groups and government leaders.Iraq looms as a complex test for the new…
It’s been a rough year for Iran and its friends in the Middle East.Israel has degraded Tehran’s proxy forces and delivered punishing airstrikes against Iran itself.And Iran just lost one of its most important allies in the region: the Assad regime.From Gaza to Beirut, Damascus to Tehran, it’s been a…
By Maha El Dahan and Yousef Saba DUBAI (Reuters) – A sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that some experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office in 2022, five sources with knowledge of the…
By Maya Gebeily, Parisa Hafezi and Alexander Cornwell BEIRUT/GENEVA/DUBAI (Reuters) – The U.S. and the United Arab Emirates have discussed with each other the possibility of lifting sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he peels himself away from Iran and cuts off weapons routes to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, five people…
By Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio HANOI (Reuters) – Companies from Iran, Israel, China, Russia and the United States will showcase military equipment at an arms expo in Hanoi in December, Vietnam’s defence ministry said on Tuesday, a rare case of geopolitical rivals exhibiting their wares together. Communist-run Vietnam has…
By Timothy Gardner and Vivian Sequera WASHINGTON/CARACAS (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state could signal stricter enforcement of oil sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, but concerns about retaliation by China could temper any efforts, analysts said on Wednesday. Rubio, a longtime…
By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday threw out a $1.68 billion judgment against Iran’s central bank that had been won by family members of troops killed and injured in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. The 2nd U.S.…
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House could mean tougher enforcement of U.S. oil sanctions against Iran, potentially trimming global supplies, but his administration could struggle to get China, Iran’s top crude customer, to cooperate, analysts said. Cracking down on OPEC-member Iran would…
By Angelo Amante and John Irish ROME/PARIS (Reuters) -U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday he might head to Iran in the coming days to discuss its disputed atomic programme and that he expected to work cooperatively with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Grossi had previously said he hoped…
Israel carried out a series of precision strikes on military targets in Iran late last month.Iran is now vowing to retaliate for the strikes, which damaged Tehran’s air-defense network.Officials and analysts say the strikes have left Iran seriously vulnerable to more Israeli action. Iran is signaling that it will deliver…
