In the years after 9/11, former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke warned Congress that the country needed more expansive spying powers to prevent another catastrophe. Five years after leaving government, he shopped the same idea to an enthusiastic partner: an Arab monarchy with deep pockets.

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday it was halting operational training of all Saudi Arabian military personnel in the United States until further notice after a Saudi Air Force lieutenant shot and killed three people last week at a base in Florida.

The United States on Tuesday barred from entering the country Mohammed al Otaibi, the former Saudi consul general in Istanbul in October 2018, when Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed there, the U.S. State Department said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that Tokyo is in discussions about a visit to Japan by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this month, an attempt to try to resolve Iran's nuclear impasse with the United States.

A U.S. senator has visited the home of a detained human rights activist in the Mideast island kingdom of Bahrain.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Sunday (November 24, 2019) released the following statement during his visit to Bahrain where he met with the family of Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist who is in prison for being critical of the Bahraini government:

U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy visited family of detained human rights activist Nabeel Rajab in Bani Jamra.

United Nations Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the number of air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen has dropped nearly 80% in the last two weeks.

Iran has begun enriching uranium at its underground Fordow site in the latest breach of its deal with major powers, the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed on Monday, adding that Tehran’s enriched uranium stock has continued to grow.

The U.S.-led naval coalition in the Gulf, established in response to a series of attacks on oil tankers, opened a command center in Bahrain on Thursday, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Two former employees of Twitter and a third man from Saudi Arabia face U.S. charges of spying for the kingdom by digging up private user data and giving it to Saudi officials in exchange for payment, a complaint from the Department of Justice shows.

Iran said on Monday it had launched a new batch of advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment, further reducing compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal following the withdrawal of its arch-foe the United States.

The United States said on Thursday it had imposed sanctions on the Iranian construction sector and trade in four materials used in its military or nuclear programs, even as it waived sanctions to let foreign firms continue non-proliferation work in Iran.

The United States has given the remains of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a burial at sea and afforded him religious rites according to Islamic custom after he was killed in a U.S. commando raid in Syria on Saturday, three officials told Reuters.

Donald Trump's personal attorney, has signed a new agreement to train Bahrain's police force, according to a report in the United States.

Rudolph Giuliani's personal lawyer exposed financial transactions with Bahrain when he mistakenly left two audio messages about his need for hundreds of thousands of dollars from Bahrain on a television channel.

The United States on Friday asked foreign governments to submit detailed reports on humanitarian exports to Iran, a step observers said could have a chilling effect and cast a pall over European efforts to allow trade.

A senior Saudi official said on Thursday that a policy of appeasement would not work with Iran and that the only way to get Tehran to the negotiating table was to apply maximum pressure.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, with tensions simmering between Washington and Tehran, and Russia seeking to boost its influence in the Middle East.

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it has extended by 120 days a waiver to sanctions allowing Iraq to import gas and electricity from Iran as it pushes Baghdad to make the country more energy independent.