Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty meets with his Turkish, Saudi and Pakistani counterparts to discuss stability in the region following an interim deal between the U.S. and Iran, at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2026.

Can a New Initiative Help the Gulf Region Escape the U.S.-Israel-Iran Trap?

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye are trying out an informal consultative framework that could give these countries a larger role in shaping the future of the Gulf region. Its first challenge will lie in shaping the outcome of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

War in the Middle East

Read more on the war

On 8 July, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Washington’s mid-June deal with Tehran is “over”. Yet he left the door ajar for further negotiations. In this Q&A, Crisis Group examines how an agreement designed to end the war became another arena for coercive bargaining.

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In The News

23 Jul 2026
The tangled web of tensions in the Horn of Africa is pushing Egypt towards a much more active policy in the region. Il Sole 24 Ore

Riccardo Fabiani

Project Director, North Africa
21 Jul 2026
The message from Iran is: Don’t assume our leverage is limited to the Strait of Hormuz. We also have an ally [the Houthis] that can threaten the Bab al-Mandab if needed. NYT

Ahmed Nagi

Senior Analyst, Yemen
16 Jul 2026
[Haitian gangs] already put children on the frontlines. That will be extremely problematic for the Haitian security forces and the foreign forces. The Guardian

Diego Da Rin

Analyst, Haiti
15 Jul 2026
Algeria is strategically central for Europe, above all for Germany, if it is to get its industry back on its feet in the next three to five years. Frankfurter Rundschau

Michaël Béchir Ayari

Senior Analyst, Tunisia
14 Jul 2026
Some [in Iran’s leadership] want to cash in on battlefield gains through diplomacy and some believe the ceasefire came before Iran had inflicted enough pain on the US. BBC

Robert Malley

President Emeritus and Program Director, MENA
13 Jul 2026
It would be a mistake for ASEAN to accept Myanmar back into the fold without getting anything meaningful in return. Reuters

Richard Horsey

Senior Adviser, Asia

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