ANKARA, Turkey — Top Trump administration officials tried on Thursday to persuade Turkey’s president to accept a cease-fire in northern Syria, a position he had already rejected even before they departed Washington, as a Turkish offensive against American-allied Kurdish fighters threatened to fuel Syria’s long civil war. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State […]
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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday escalated pressure on Turkey by filing fraud and money laundering charges against the country’s second-largest state-owned bank, accusing it of helping Iran evade United States sanctions. The charges against the institution, Halkbank, came as the administration sought ways to project that it was taking a tough line with […]
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This month, six years ago, we were in the midst of secret talks with Iran that led to the comprehensive nuclear agreement. It was a moment when diplomacy carried considerable risk, and considerable promise. Today, the promise has faded, and the risk is accelerating. The consequences of the Trump administration’s foolish decision to abandon that […]
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During a contentious Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017, Rudolph W. Giuliani pressed for help in securing the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey. The request by Mr. Giuliani provoked an immediate objection from Mr. […]
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PARIS — When I first met Isadora Zubillaga in New York some 20 years ago, she was a young venture capitalist investing in Latin American start-ups, and I was an equally young reporter covering Latin America. She never mentioned politics. We soon lost touch. So I was surprised when Ms. Zubillaga emailed me out of […]
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WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials are weighing a range of options that could inflict additional economic pain on China as the United States continues looking for ways to force Beijing to change longstanding practices that have put American companies at a disadvantage. The ideas under consideration would move the White House’s negotiating tool of choice […]
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SHANGHAI — The world has largely sat by for nearly two years as China detained more than one million people, mostly Muslims and members of minority ethnic groups, in re-education camps to force them to embrace the Communist Party. Now, the Trump administration has taken the first public step by a major world government toward […]
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Vladimir O. Potanin, a Russian billionaire who made his fortune in banking and natural resources, has been a donor and board member of the Guggenheim Museum since 2002. More recently he gave $6.45 million to the Kennedy Center in Washington, which used some of the money to install the “Russian Lounge,” a meeting space, in […]
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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Sunday that it had no desire to engage in “nauseating negotiations” with the United States anymore, rejecting Washington’s suggestion that negotiators from both countries meet again in Stockholm in two weeks. In a statement issued a day after bilateral talks broke down in Stockholm on Saturday, the […]
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The telephone line had been secretly set up. President Trump waited on the other end. All President Hassan Rouhani of Iran had to do was come out of his hotel suite and walk into a secure room where Mr. Trump’s voice would be piped in via speaker. Mr. Rouhani and his aides were blindsided by […]
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President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said Friday that President Trump had offered to meet with him at the United Nations this week and then lift all sanctions, but that Mr. Rouhani declined because the “optics” of such a meeting were unacceptable. Mr. Rouhani’s assertions, reported on his website as he returned home from the United […]
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President Hassan Rouhani of Iran never met President Trump in New York this week. It was a near miss, according to European officials, who were desperately trying to avert a conflict by putting the two adversaries together in a room and hoping for the best. But in the hours before he took off on Thursday […]
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UNITED NATIONS — The United States announced new economic penalties against Iran’s largest oil customer on Wednesday, further squeezing Tehran as its president told the United Nations he would not negotiate with an “enemy who uses sanction and poverty as a tool.” The actions and statements by both countries appeared to rule out what would […]
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Day 1 of speeches at the General Assembly: Leading off the day: four bombastic presidents, bookended by Brexit’s chief advocate. ImagePrime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain during the Climate Action Summit. The summit meeting was held at the United Nations ahead of the General Assembly plenary. CreditTimothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images President Trump […]
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The annual United Nations General Assembly will unfold this week against a backdrop of crises — from the warming planet to economic uncertainty to flaring conflicts that threaten to further entangle the United States in the volatile Middle East. Trade wars, migration, energy supplies, climate change and the eradication of poverty underpin the basic themes […]
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WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday announced a new round of sanctions against the Iranian national bank, escalating economic pressure on the country as the president’s national security advisers review a list of targets for a potential strike in retaliation for recent attacks on Saudi Arabian oil fields. “Highest sanctions ever imposed on a country,” […]
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The oil rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf have relied for decades on the promise of protection by the United States military, a commitment sealed by the rollback of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and reinforced by a half dozen American military bases that sprung up around the region. Now that commitment is facing its […]
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President Trump appeared to be softening toward Iran. He had broken with his administration’s leading advocate of confrontation, signaled a willingness to meet personally with his Iranian counterpart, and reportedly considered relaxing some sanctions. But Iran, American officials say, responded with violence. The officials have accused Iran of orchestrating or even launching a major attack […]
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Saudi Arabia said Monday that Iranian weapons were used in aerial strikes over the weekend that interrupted much of the kingdom’s oil production, and that the attacks were not launched from Yemen, home of the Houthi rebel faction that has claimed responsibility for the them. The claims, made without supporting evidence, appeared to move the […]
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The Houthi rebel faction in Yemen warned on Monday of more attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, two days after strikes that interrupted much of the kingdom’s production heightened tensions between Iran and the United States and raised fears of a wider armed conflict. United States officials have said that Iran was responsible for the […]
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