The Middle East war is widening as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launch a spate of attacks on United States’ allies and close yet another key shipping waterway.

HUSSEIN RADJY The Strait of Hormuz is, by some accounts, named for a Zoroastrian deity destined to emerge victorious after a 9,000-year standoff with an adversary. Iran’s leaders feel their own victory is

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution about the U.S. war with Iran, the increase in hostilities and what it means for the wider region

Over the past week, the conflict between the United States and Iran has gone from a simmering tit-for-tat to something that much more resembles all-out war.

The Middle East conflict isn't just widening, it's highlighting more vulnerabilities in the region.

Iran long considered its deeply buried nuclear enrichment plant at Fordo its best-protected and most advanced site. It was badly damaged, and potentially rendered inoperable, by 12 massive bombs in the June 2025 attacks, according to U.S. intelligence assessments last year.

Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become the main bone of contention between the US and Iran in their prolonged conflict. In the face of Tehran’s determination to control the strategic waterway as a critical leverage of deterrence,

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday as their battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified.

Amid a reprieve in the fighting, Iran’s leaders are betting that they can endure more pain than President Trump can, and they have leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, analysts say.

The collapse of the memorandum of understanding revealed Iran’s core priority: control of the Strait of Hormuz. But with both sides locked in an escalating battle of wills, the question is whether a lasting deal is still possible. People attend a public ...

Iran has made a concerted diplomatic push with Gulf states, warning them explicitly that Tehran will hit their oil, power and water plants unless they convince Donald Trump to end U.S. strikes on Iran and instead seek a negotiated end to the war.