#Middle East
91 articles
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
-29a1a43aba23f9bb779a1ac8b98d2121.jpeg "Photo of Illia Kabachynskyi")
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
![A portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears next to a Russian flag before a news conference at the Vahdat Hall in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 10, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)]( "A portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears next to a Russian flag before a news conference at the Vahdat Hall in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 10, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)")
![Map highlighting Russian oil export hubs in the Baltic region, including Ust-Luga and Primorsk, with visualized maritime flows and strike locations. (Source: UNITED24 Media/Oleksandr Manukians)]( "Map highlighting Russian oil export hubs in the Baltic region, including Ust-Luga and Primorsk, with visualized maritime flows and strike locations. (Source: UNITED24 Media/Oleksandr Manukians)")
![Ukrainian representative shaking hands with his Saudi Arabian colleague after signing a defense cooperation agreement, March 27, 2026. (Source: Ukrainian President’s press service)]( "Ukrainian representative shaking hands with his Saudi Arabian colleague after signing a defense cooperation agreement, March 27, 2026. (Source: Ukrainian President’s press service)")
![A motorist rides past the dummy models of Iranian missiles installed along the roadside at the Valiasr Square, in Tehran on March 22, 2026. (Source: Getty Images)]( "A motorist rides past the dummy models of Iranian missiles installed along the roadside at the Valiasr Square, in Tehran on March 22, 2026. (Source: Getty Images)")
![Three batteries of the US-made Patriot anti-missile missiles are lit up by the sunset on 25 January 1991 in the Saudi Arabian desert during the Gulf War against Iraq. (Source: Getty Images)]( "Three batteries of the US-made Patriot anti-missile missiles are lit up by the sunset on 25 January 1991 in the Saudi Arabian desert during the Gulf War against Iraq. (Source: Getty Images)")
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
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The oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf have built one of the most advanced air and missile defense networks on the planet—but recent combat experience suggests even this layered shield may struggle against a sustained Iranian drone and missile assault, raising urgent questions about the security of US forces and allies across the region.![A gas station operated by OAO Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, May 20, 2012. (Source: Getty Images)]( "A gas station operated by OAO Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, May 20, 2012. (Source: Getty Images)")
