• February 22 2026
  Iran protests

  Iranian students mount further anti-regime protests

  Slogans chanted on campuses in Tehran as new academic semester begins amid clashes with pro-regime groups

  
• February 22 2026
  Syria

  Isis vows new phase of Syria attacks in rare recording

  Militant group calls Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa a western ‘puppet without a soul’

  
• February 21 2026
  US ambassador Huckabee sparks outrage across Middle East over Israel comments

  Diplomat tells Tucker Carlson it ‘would be fine’ if Israel took over a swath of the region

  
• February 20 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Iran preparing proposal for US, says foreign minister

  Donald Trump warns Tehran to make a ‘fair deal’ after Abbas Araghchi expresses optimism over a swift agreement

  
• February 20 2026
  FT Swamp Notes

  We need to talk about the Gulf

  The last thing the Middle East needs is a showdown between its two wealthiest countries

  Premium content

  
• February 19 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Trump gives Iran 15 days to strike a deal or ‘bad things will happen’

  President heaps pressure on Tehran as US amasses biggest force in Middle East since 2003 Iraq invasion

  
• February 19 2026
  News in-depthUS-Iran tensions

  The race to avert a US-Iran war

  Military build-up and fraught rhetoric leave a narrow path to securing a deal that would allow both sides to save face

  
• February 19 2026
  Syria

  How thousands of people linked to Isis went missing

  Women and children flee Syrian facilities holding alleged members of extremist group after Kurdish forces lose control

  
• February 18 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Iran and US report ‘progress’ in nuclear talks

  Vice-president JD Vance cautions Tehran not yet ready to work within Trump administration’s ‘red lines’

  
• February 16 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Iran launches naval drills as tensions with US rise

  Revolutionary Guards’ exercises in Strait of Hormuz come a day before talks set between Tehran and Washington

  
• February 13 2026
  News in-depthIran protests

  The campaign to bring back the Shah of Iran

  Reza Pahlavi, son of the former monarch, has spent years seeking to build support

  
• February 12 2026
  Saudi Arabia

  Saudi Arabia appoints new investment minister

  Riyadh seeking to attract increased foreign capital as part of modernisation plan

  
• February 12 2026
  Iran nuclear deal

  US and Iran showing flexibility on nuclear deal, says top Turkish diplomat

  Hakan Fidan tells FT that broadening talks to ballistic missiles would bring ‘nothing but another war’

  
• February 11 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Trump-Netanyahu meeting ends with no agreement on Iran strategy

  US president backs talks with Tehran while building up military presence in Middle East

  
• February 11 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Iran’s president says it will open nuclear sites for ‘verification’

  Pledge comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Donald Trump

  
• February 11 2026
  US foreign policy

  Netanyahu set to urge Trump to get tough with Tehran in Washington visit

  Israeli prime minister wary of a possible US-Iran deal as president continues to waver on threats of military action

  
• February 10 2026
  Gaza

  Indonesia prepares to deploy thousands of troops to Gaza

  Jakarta makes biggest commitment yet to Donald Trump’s international peacekeeping force

  
• February 10 2026
  News in-depth

  ‘Where are the police?’: Israel’s Arab towns gripped by mafia violence

  Country’s Palestinian minority suffers deadly year as organised crime surges but most killings are unsolved

  
• February 9 2026
  West Bank

  Israel expands powers in occupied West Bank

  Ultranationalist finance minister says measures intended to bury ‘idea of a Palestinian state’

  
• February 8 2026
  Iran protests

  Iran arrests leading reformist politicians

  Tehran faces growing pressure over its brutal crackdown on recent unrest as talks with US are set to continue

  
• February 7 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Trump praises ‘very good’ talks with Iran but warns of ‘steep’ consequences

  US president says Tehran seems to ‘want to make a deal very badly’

  
• February 6 2026
  News in-depth

  The fake Saudi prince who fooled a nation’s elite

  Lebanon’s MPs and aspiring politicians appear to have been duped in an audacious scam that has stunned the country

  
• February 5 2026
  Gaza

  Israel charges troops with smuggling iPhones and cigarettes into Gaza

  Prosecutors accuse domestic spy chief’s brother of working with ring that made millions selling goods into besieged strip

  
• February 4 2026
  US-Iran tensions

  Iran should prepare for ‘meaningful’ negotiations with US, Rubio says

  Tehran seeks to limit talks to nuclear aims as Washington pushes for concessions on missiles and proxy programmes

  
• February 4 2026
  News in-depthIran protests

  ‘The game is over’: critics of Iranian regime seize on killings to push for change

  Domestic dissidents call for end to Islamic republic, while moderates back reforms within the system