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Samia Nakhoul

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, right, greets Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)
July 30, 2026, 6:31 pm
Frustrated with the US, Gulf states look to China for help reining in Iran
Beijing has avoided challenging Tehran’s Hormuz blockade, and Gulf concerns could end up taking a backseat to superpower politics and China’s reliance on Iranian oil, analysts say
By Samia Nakhoul and Timour Azhari
A handout picture obtained from Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah Media Center shows what they say is their targeting of CHIOS LION, a Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker, by unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea on July 15, 2024. (ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTRE / AFP)
July 16, 2026, 5:24 pm
Iran tells Houthis to close Red Sea oil route if US hits power network, sources say
Source close to the Yemeni group says it is ready to launch missile and drone attacks on shipping near Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a move that would exacerbate the global energy crisis
By Parisa Hafezi, Samia Nakhoul and Jonathan Saul
Yemeni soldiers patrol the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Yemen, April 5, 2026 (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
July 14, 2026, 8:32 pm
After blocking Hormuz, Iran signals it could ramp up pressure and shut Red Sea gateway, too
Analysts say Tehran looking at ‘nuclear option’ of ordering Houthis to close Bab el-Mandeb Strait, extending the threat to global trade and energy supplies beyond the Gulf
By Samia Nakhoul
Israeli military vehicles and personnel seen at a border crossing into Lebanon, June 28, 2026. (Ayal Margolin/FLASH90)
June 30, 2026, 10:30 am
Israel-Lebanon deal may entrench stalemate rather than end war, analysts say
Disarmament of Hezbollah is unattainable because Lebanon can’t enforce it amid sectarian tensions, experts say, which means that IDF troops could stay in the country indefinitely
By Samia Nakhoul
An Iranian worshipper wears a banner showing portraits of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, bottom, late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, top right, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during Friday prayers ceremony at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, on April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
April 28, 2026, 8:30 pm
IRGC shores up wartime power in Iran, blunting supreme leader’s role
Experts assess it’s the Revolutionary Guards, not Mojtaba Khamenei, who dominate deliberations, as ‘painfully slow’ process yields uncompromising stance
By Samia Nakhoul, Parisa Hafezi and Asif Shazhad
Iranians hold flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran beneath a large billboard reading 'The Strait of Hormuz remains closed,' as people gather in Tehran's Revolution Square after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, April 8, 2026. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
April 9, 2026, 10:35 am
As Trump claims victory, Iran emerges bruised but resilient, with leverage over Hormuz
Islamic Republic retains missile capabilities and uranium stockpiles, after worried Gulf states press for maritime freedom
By Samia Nakhoul
A flag of Hezbollah flutters at the site of destroyed buildings following airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs of Ghobeiry neighborhood, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
March 21, 2026, 11:53 am
How Iran’s IRGC rebuilt Lebanon’s Hezbollah to be ready for war
Iranian advisers filled the gaps in Hezbollah’s decimated leadership, shifted terror group from a hierarchical command to small decentralized units
By Laila Bassam, TOM PERRY, Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily
FILE: A fire and plume of smoke rise after, according to authorities, debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
March 17, 2026, 8:09 am
With their economies on the line, Gulf states press US to neutralize Iran for good
After initially opposing the US-Israeli war, Washington’s allies now realize that stopping too soon could allow Tehran to keep holding the region to ransom
By Samia Nakhoul
FILE: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends the annual anti-Israeli Al-Quds, Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
March 9, 2026, 5:45 am
More hardline than his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment signals defiance and revenge
Successor and son of Iran’s slain supreme leader will expand repression even if war ends, official says, warning of his ‘iron fist’ and predicting world ‘will miss the era of his father’
By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) greets Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (C) next to King Philippe of Belgium (R) during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
January 23, 2026, 4:18 pm
Lebanese PM: International Monetary Fund demanding changes to economic rescue bill
Rescue law is aimed at hauling Lebanon out of its worst financial crisis on record and giving depositors access to savings frozen for six years
By Samia Nakhoul
Protesters burn images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-regime protesters in Iran, in central London, January 11, 2026. (Carlos Jasso/AFP)
January 13, 2026, 11:24 pm
Why the massive Iran protests haven’t toppled its clerical establishment
Protests have gone on for weeks, but unless street unrest and foreign pressure can prompt defections at the top, the regime, though weakened, will likely hold, analysts say
By Samia Nakhoul
Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
July 23, 2025, 6:49 am
US envoy denies Syrian regime forces were involved in atrocities against Druze
Tom Barrack urges Sharaa to be ‘more inclusive quicker’ or risk his country’s fragmentation; says IDF strikes added to ‘confusion,’ offers to be ‘honest intermediary’ between Israel, Syria
By Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily
US President Donald Trump, right, meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, July 8, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
July 9, 2025, 3:40 am
After strikes, Israel and US diverge on how to further pressure Iran
While Trump says his priority is diplomacy, source familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking says the premier wants to use more force to compel fundamental concessions from Tehran
By Samia Nakhoul
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (L) meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome before nuclear talks, on April 19, 2025. (Handout / ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)
May 2, 2025, 4:14 pm
‘JCPOA 2’: New US-Iran nuke deal said shaping up as largely similar to one Trump ended
Agreement being negotiated ‘preserves the core’ of 2015 deal, sources say; may impose constraints on uranium enrichment but not dismantle nuclear facilities or address Iran’s ballistic missiles
By Samia Nakhoul, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, hosting a meeting of top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe to discuss Syria, poses for a picture with the participants in Riyadh on January 12, 2025. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)
February 14, 2025, 5:46 pm
Arab countries scramble to offer Trump an alternate proposal for post-war Gaza
Egyptian plan would see terror group Hamas sidelined in governance of coastal enclave; issue to be discussed at end of month in Riyadh
By Pesha Magid, Samia Nakhoul, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan
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