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  A worker checks an oil pipeline at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, north of Basra, Iraq March 22, 2022. (photo credit: ESSAM AL-SUDANI/ REUTERS) Iraq is seeking to diversify its oil export channels and maintain flexibility in marketing its crude amid the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq's cabinet approved mechanisms for exporting Iraqi crude through specialized international and local companies and via multiple export outlets, the government said on Tuesday. The contracts under the new mechanism will run for three months starting September 1, according to a statement issued after the cabinet meeting.

  US Navy and US Marine Corps aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 are arrayed on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 10, 2026. (photo credit: US NAVY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS) CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper has been involved in the discussions, one source said, adding that he supports discussing the relocation of Gulf troops westward. The US is considering scaling back its military presence in the Middle East as a result of the war with Iran, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing several officials familiar with the matter. The Pentagon's policy office is leading the current evaluations, one source told the newspaper, adding that the Joint Staff and US Central Command (CENTCOM) are also taking part.

  Abu al-Duhur base is seen following reported Israeli strikes, Syria, August 18, 2026 (photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER) A  source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post that Israel recently provided the US with intelligence on attempts by Syria to build up its military capabilities. The Syrian government and US Envoy to Iraq and Syria Tom Barrack accused Israel on Tuesday of carrying out overnight strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, calling the attacks an unnecessary escalation that threatens regional stability. On Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister's Office released a statement on X/Twitter appearing to take credit for the strike. "Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo," the post read. "Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel's ...

  A US Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS) The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program on Tuesday announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the location of several of the people included in the charges. The US Justice Department (DOJ) on Tuesday unsealed new and updated charges against 17 individuals working with an Iranian company that it alleges carried out hacks and data theft against US universities , companies, and government agencies. The DOJ said in a statement that the individuals were working with the Mabna Institute, which carried out hacking campaigns on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government and university clients.

  Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement brandish their weapons as they rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon amid the Middle East war, in the capital Sanaa on April 17, 2026. (photo credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images) Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had attacked what they described as a Saudi military ship and four escort vessels in the Red Sea with missiles, according to a statement by the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree on Telegram. “The attack was carried out using several ballistic missiles, and the strikes were accurate and direct," the statement read. "The operation resulted in the Saudi warship catching fire completely; several of the boats escorting it sank, while the others caught fire. The armed forces continue to establish the equation of blockade for blockade and to attack all Saudi military concentrations.”  There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities on the attack.

  A symbolic mockup of an Iranian missile is displayed, amid a ceasefire between US and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 27, 2026. (photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS) Iran viewed the development of a memorandum of understanding with the United States as an attempt by Israel and the US to buy time for a larger attack, and used the opportunity to prepare for a larger fight themselves, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing Iranian and Arab officials. According to the WSJ, Arab intelligence officials picked up evidence of Iranian leaders planning potential attacks on enemy territory, broadening the scope of the war and raising the cost for the US. “There is also a widespread view in Iran that the main war has not yet begun,” Mohammad Hassan Sangtarash, a Tehran-based defense analyst close to the Iranian government, told the WSJ . “What we have seen so far is increasingly interpreted through the lens of ‘salami-slicing’ tactics - limited, incremental escalation designed ...

A drone is seen during an Iranian Army exercise dubbed 'Zulfiqar 1400', in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in this picture obtained on November 7, 2021 (photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA/REUTERS) Two drones attacked the office of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s prime minister and the residence of the head of the protection agency on Monday, the KRG announced in a security statement. The statement added that the attacks were launched from Iranian territory and that no human casualties had been reported.