NPR News: 07-23-2026 9PM EDT

Speaker 10:00

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Ryland Barton· Host0:13

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The U.S. military announced a thirteenth night of strikes against Iran as clashes escalate over shipping routes. U.S. Central Command say the strikes are designed to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial vessels. President Trump announced today the U.S. would pay for any, f- Iranian attacks on cargo ships by using frozen Iranian assets. Earlier, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the conflict. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement that would allow U.S. companies to build and run nuclear power plants on Saudi soil. But just hours after that deal, President Trump wrote on social media that Saudi Arabia would first need to join the Abraham Accords, normalizing ties with Israel. Still, the development is worrying many Israelis, as NPR's Emily Feng reports.

Emily Feng1:06

There was shock when this agreement was announced, even horror. Israel, I should note, is widely believed to have nuclear weapons already itself, but it's never confirmed its nuclear arsenal, and they don't want other countries around it to have a nuclear weapon. They're worried that the slightly more flexible conditions of the U.S.-Saudi agreement could set off a nuclear arms race across the region.

Ryland Barton· Host1:26

NPR's Emily Feng reporting. The World Bank says