Sam Metz

Stay informed with Sam Metz’s coverage and analysis.

  • Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) approaches fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) before a replenishment-at-sea during Operation Epic Fury, Mar. 10, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)Politics

    Trump says Marines have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to evade blockade after Navy blew a ‘hole in the engineroom’

    By Michelle L. Price, Samy Magdy, and others
  • President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)Politics

    Trump sends JD Vance to Pakistan again for more talks with Iran but repeats threats against its infrastructure as Hormuz stays closed

    By Michelle L. Price, Samy Magdy, and others
  • straitEnergy

    Iran closes Strait again, says it will be shut until Trump lifts blockade

    By Samy Magdy, Sam Metz, and others
  • lebanonPolitics

    Iran, U.S. close to agreeing cease-fire extension, officials say

    By Samy Magdy, Sam Metz, and others
  • trumpPolitics

    Trump’s leaky blockade: ship sneaks through and talks with Iran resume

    By Munir Ahmed, Sam Metz, and others
  • Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks during a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran as Jared Kushner, left, and Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy for Peace Missions listen, on Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)Politics

    Trump says U.S. Navy to impose Hormuz blockade after Iran ceasefire talks end with no deal. ‘No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage’

    By Munir Ahmed, Josh Boak, and others
  • U.S. Vice President JD Vance, center, walks with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, left, and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)Politics

    JD Vance begins talks with Iran in Pakistan while Trump claims U.S. has begun ‘clearing out’ the Strait of Hormuz

    By Munir Ahmed, Sam Metz, and others
  • iranPolitics

    Iran closes strait, challenges U.S. to rein in Israel: ‘the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments’

    By Bassem Mroue, Jon Gambrell, and others
  • In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s official website, black smoke rises into the air at what Iran’s state TV claimed was the site where an American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation were shot down, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)Politics

    Trump vows to strike Iran’s power plants and bridges if Hormuz isn’t open by Tuesday as Kuwait says attack put water desalination plant offline

    By Matthew Lee, Konstantin Toropin, and others
  • iranPolitics

    Iran dismisses diplomatic talks, says any U.S. troops would be ‘on fire’ as soon as they arrive

    By Sam Metz, Munir Ahmed, and others
  • Israeli security forces survey the site that was struck by an Iranian missile in Dimona, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)Politics

    After Trump threatens to destroy Iranian power plants, Tehran warns the region’s vital infrastructure, like desalination facilities, will be targeted

    By Alon Bernstein, Sam Metz, and others
  • Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)Energy

    Trump says he asked 7 countries for Hormuz help. None answered the call

    By Sam Metz, Will Weissert, and others
  • FILE -A view of the island of Qeshm, which oversees the strategic waterway of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, on Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)Politics

    Kharg Island is ‘the main node’ of Iran’s economy, and a U.S. takeover would provide leverage in any negotiations, energy expert says

    By Sam Metz and The Associated Press
  • iranPolitics

    Iran’s Assembly of Experts picks 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei as next Supreme Leader

    By Jon Gambrell, Sam Metz, and others
  • Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)Politics

    Mideast’s water supply at risk as Bahrain and Iran say their desalination plants were attacked amid expanding war

    By Jon Gambrell, Sam Metz, and others