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Middle East

Rendering of Planet Labs' Tanager. (Planet Labs PBC © 2022, all rights reserved)
April 5, 2026, 8:11 am
Satellite firm says it’s indefinitely withholding Iran war images at US request
Planet Labs tells clients it’s switching to case-by-case ‘managed distribution’ of images, expanding on 14-day delay it imposed in March to prevent Iranian attacks on US and allies
By Ismail Shakil
Pilgrims gather at the shrine of Imam Reza in the city of Mashhad, northeastern Iran, on October 1, 2023. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
March 27, 2026, 4:44 pm
187 years after deadly Iran pogrom, Mashhad crypto-Jews are focus of Jerusalem exhibit
Now at Israel’s National Library, display shows how the Jewish community of Iranian city outwardly acted as Muslims for over a century after a massacre on March 26, 1839
By Zev Stub
US President Donald Trump (left) speaks to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
March 19, 2026, 1:54 pm
Amid Iran war, US State Department operating with fewer experts after deep job cuts
Trump administration cut 80-plus staffers from Near Eastern Affairs bureau, slashed office budget; career diplomats say decision-makers are uninterested in analysis and advice
By BYRON TAU
Journalists stand atop a fuel tanker as they cover a nearby ongoing fire following an overnight airstrike on the Shahran oil refinery in northwestern Tehran on March 8, 2026. (AFP)
March 10, 2026, 8:58 pm
Tightened restrictions stifle press across Middle East, fogging coverage of war
Iran warns those caught filming damage may be considered Zionist agents; hundreds arrested in Gulf for sharing videos, info; IDF censor shuts down live skyline views during attacks
By AFP
A US security alert issued on March 2, 2026, urging Americans to immediately leave over a dozen Middle East countries, including Israel.
March 3, 2026, 4:51 am
‘Depart now’: US tells its citizens to urgently leave almost all Mideast countries, including Israel
Highly unusual directive, issued on third day of US-Israel war against Iran, affects hundreds of thousands of Americans, including over 200,000 in Israel; comes as Iran widens retaliatory attacks, Trump vows larger strikes
By Jacob Magid, Emanuel Fabian and Agencies
Screen captures from videos said to show smoke billowing from the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia after an Iranian drone strike, March 2, 2026. (X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
March 2, 2026, 9:57 am
Saudi Aramco shuts down Ras Tanura refinery, its biggest, after Iran drone strike causes blaze
Defense ministry says two drones intercepted, shrapnel fell, no injuries; social media videos show flames and smoke billowing from oil facility, one of the world’s largest
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Passengers stranded by the closure of Dubai International Airport await assistance in the airport parking lot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 1, 2026. (AP/Altaf Qadri)
March 1, 2026, 6:12 pm
Global flights in chaos as Iran’s strikes on Gulf shut down world’s busiest air hub
Thousands stranded across world as Dubai, Doha airport closures cause cancellations and rerouted flights, in one of the worst aviation disruptions in years
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Arab leaders attend a multilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss the situation in Gaza, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. (Reuters)
September 30, 2025, 5:04 am
Arab, Muslim nations pledge to realize Trump’s Gaza plan; Hamas examining it ‘responsibly’
Palestinian Islamic Jihad decries proposal as ‘formula for igniting the region’; Palestinian Authority welcomes it, commits to carrying out necessary reforms
By Jacob Magid, Nava Freiberg and Agencies
A barn owl at the Attica Zoological Park, near Athens, on January 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stravrakis)
January 29, 2025, 3:40 pm
An unlikely symbol of cooperation, the barn owl unites Jordanian and Israeli scientists
Experts from 12 countries convene in Greece for project that began as Jordanian-Israeli collaboration to protect rodent-eating bird of prey that is boon to farmers across Mideast
By Derek Gatopoulos
A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus' Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
January 23, 2025, 8:14 pm
US air force seeking to upgrade Cyprus airbase as Mideast humanitarian staging post
Cyprus has been transit point for repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflicts in Middle East and for delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza amid Israel-Hamas war
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
People walk along a market alley in the old city of Damascus, Syria, on January 18, 2025. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
January 19, 2025, 4:18 pm
Nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned since Assad regime fell, UN says
Hundreds of thousands more came back earlier in 2024 from Lebanon, fleeing Israel-Hezbollah conflict; Turkey allowing 3 round trips per refugee family to prepare for resettlement
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Syrian children play on an damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
January 14, 2025, 4:10 pm
Unexploded ordnance in Syria killing children at ‘alarming’ rate, UN warns
Over 100 kids killed or injured in last month, UNICEF reports, as explosives litter country after almost 14 years of civil war; tens of millions of dollars needed to clear them
By AFP
View of a Wizz Air flight taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, September 3, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
December 24, 2024, 5:40 am
Airline pilots, crews voice concerns about Middle East routes
Safety debate about flying over Mideast — a key air corridor to Asia — is playing out in Europe, where pilots are protected by unions, unlike in other parts of the world
By Joanna Plucinska and Lisa Barrington
Iranian banknotes are displayed by a street money exchanger at Ferdowsi square, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, in downtown Tehran, Iran, December 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
December 18, 2024, 7:44 pm
Iranian rial falls to record low amid war, energy crisis, and anticipation of Trump
Currency’s value has dropped more than 10% since US election, while an energy crisis at home, exacerbated by sanctions, shutters schools and government offices amid cold winter
By Agencies and ToI Staff
US President Joe Biden walks over to speak with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, July 15, 2024, as he heads to Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
October 17, 2024, 4:01 pm
Biden to visit Germany for talks with Scholz, Macron and Starmer on Ukraine, Mideast
US president will make whirlwind trip after original meeting postponed due to Hurricane Milton
By Frank Zeller
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