Middle East — updates

Hormuz closed — and oil went back to $77 anyway

2026-09-05T20:30:00+02:00

The largest chokepoint disruption on record moved almost no price. Five-question analysis of what that says about Iran's leverage — with sources you can check.

The nuclear program is gone — the US–Iran war isn't

2026-09-05T20:00:00+02:00

The strikes wrecked Iran's enrichment program — the war's stated aim. Then the ceasefire collapsed and the bombing resumed over shipping. A sourced analysis.

Yemen's four-year truce just broke — the Houthis are fighting for a Red Sea port

2026-09-05T12:00:00+02:00

A truce that held since 2022 collapsed in July. This week's Houthi offensive on Taiz — 129+ dead, 1,800 families displaced — is a fight for a Red Sea port.

Israel freed five Lebanese prisoners this week — the disarmament term stuck since June hasn't moved

2026-09-05T11:00:00+02:00

Israel freed five Lebanese detainees via the Red Cross this week — sidestepping the verified-disarmament term Hezbollah has rejected since June.

Iraq told Iran-backed militias: disarm by 30 September or face terrorism charges

2026-09-04T12:00:00+02:00

Baghdad gave Iran-backed militias until 30 September to disarm or face terrorism charges. A July raid shows the state can't yet enforce that threat.

The force that guarded Islamic State's prisoners has been dissolved into the state that just took its territory

2026-08-24T13:00:00+02:00

Mazloum Abdi says the SDF is fully merged into the Syrian state. Six months earlier al-Hol emptied, leaving about 20,000 people unaccounted for.

The war is over Hormuz — the contest is moving to the Red Sea

2026-08-19T16:00:00+02:00

While the US and Iran fight over Hormuz, Egypt and Washington are courting the Horn of Africa — and Djibouti's food bills already price the next chokepoint.

Iran fired missiles at the UAE — the UAE answered with an indefinite trade ban

2026-08-19T12:00:00+02:00

A peace-talks window expired, then two Iranian missiles landed near the UAE. A day later, the UAE cut off all trade with Iran — indefinitely.

Turkey joined a Saudi-Pakistan defense pact. "An attack on one" now covers 1.4 million troops.

2026-08-14T20:00:00+02:00

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a NATO-style defense pact in Mecca on 7 Aug 2026 — analysts are already split on whether it actually binds anyone.

China blamed the Iran war for its growth miss — its own exports say otherwise

2026-08-12T11:00:00+02:00

China's Q2 growth miss was blamed on the Iran war's oil shock. The same data shows exports up 27% and property investment down 18%.

El Fasher's ethnic cleansing meets a hunger crisis a Gulf war just made worse

2026-08-12T10:30:00+02:00

Amnesty documented ethnic cleansing at El Fasher. Now Hormuz disruption is squeezing the fertilizer Sudan's famine response needs, as aid funding falls behind.

Iran rearmed the Houthis — they blockaded Saudi Arabia, not Iran's war

2026-08-02T14:20:00+02:00

Iran flew arms and gold to the Houthis on 13 July. A week later they blockaded Saudi Arabia — not Iran's war — and Red Sea shipping's recovery reversed.

The Gaza ceasefire kept its one headline promise and stalled on the rest

2026-07-31T08:00:00+02:00

The hostages came home. Reconstruction, disarmament and troop withdrawal stalled — and Israel's zone of control in Gaza has grown, not shrunk, since.

Canada's customers changed — one of its two export routes exists

2026-07-30T06:30:00+02:00

Japan's biggest refiner is buying Canadian crude and Germany's Uniper has signed 20 years of Canadian LNG. One of those two things has a pipeline behind it.

The US fought Iran over enrichment — then left Saudi Arabia's door open

2026-07-23T06:30:00+02:00

The US signed a civil-nuclear pact with Saudi Arabia mid-war with Iran over enrichment — and, reports say, left the door to Saudi enrichment open.