Iran protests

Small boats loaded with merchandise sail past the St Kitt's and Nevis-flagged container ship Marsa Victory in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Khasab in the northern Musandam Peninsula, Oman, June 25, 2025.

Iran’s IRGC begins naval drills in Strait of Hormuz on eve of US-Iran talks

The drills come as a second US carrier is heading to the region amid US President Trump’s threats to use military force if Tehran does not agree to restrictions on its nuclear program during indirect negotiations mediated by Oman.

Iranian protesters block a street as a slogan against Iran's supreme leader is spray-painted nearby during a demonstration in Shiraz, Iran, on Jan. 10, 2026.

Analysis

How Iran harnesses digital repression, China tech ties to quash dissent

Though Iran’s street protests have largely subsided, the struggle has shifted to the digital front, where a complex infrastructure of servers, satellites and centralized controls is being used to stifle dissent.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Analysis

Netanyahu 'skeptical' as Trump doubles down on Iran diplomacy

President Trump says he’d prefer a deal but warns of "traumatic” consequences for Iran if diplomacy fails.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

TOPSHOT - An Iranian crosses a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote reads in Persian 'Sing Oh Iran' at the Enqelab Square in Tehran on July, 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran fires TV director over 'Death to Khamenei' blunder: What to know

Iranian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on journalists who covered the recent anti-regime protests.

Latest News

Iran’s Larijani in Qatar, meets Hamas leadership: What to know

A handout photo made available by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office shows Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani (C) arriving in Muscat, Oman, on Feb. 10, 2026.

Analysis

Moving Iran talks from Turkey to Oman deepens Ankara’s PKK concerns

A man holds a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, Turkish-jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Nowruz celebrations in Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, on March 21, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

From 'help is on the way' to nuclear talks, Iranians wary of Trump's shift

An Iranian man walks past an anti-US and anti-Israel banner hanging on a building in Palestine Square in Tehran on Jan. 27, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Iran formally allows women to drive motorcycles: What to know

Iranian instructor Maryam Ghelich stands with student Narghes as they look at Elham (3rd R), Leila and Mona, posing on their motorbikes before their lesson at a training center in northern Tehran on Dec. 7, 2025.

The Tahbaz and Shargi families demonstrating in front of the White House on May 3, 2023.

Prisoners’ families appeal to Biden as Iran tensions heat up

Their families’ pleas come as tensions between Iran and the United States remain high over Tehran’s rapidly accelerating nuclear program, its violent protest crackdown and supply of armed drones to Russia.

A woman walks past a mural in the Iranian capital Tehran, on October 11, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran steps up hijab crackdown on women, shuttering businesses

In Iran's capital Tehran, some 150 such shops have been forced to close by authorities in the past two weeks alone.

This photograph taken on Feb. 8, 2023, shows a large banner with a portrait of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele.

Belgium looking into Iran's request for prisoner swap

Belgium and Iran seemingly advance toward a prisoner exchange deal, though Brussels is warning that contrary to Tehran’s statements this could take time.

Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, January 21, 2020. (Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 4.0)

Iranian senior cleric Soleimani killed in attack

The shooting occurred as anti-clerical sentiments are high in Iran amid the popular protests, but the motive behind the attack is not yet known.

SANA/AFP via Getty Images

EU slaps Captagon sanctions on relatives of Syria's Assad

The European Union adopted new restrictive measures today against Syrian individuals and entities accused of trafficking narcotics and supporting the oppressive Syrian government.

Men walk past a mural in the Iranian capital Tehran, on October 11, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

In Iran, hardliners successfully orchestrate takeover of state TV

Iran's state TV has been taken over by hard-line figures who use it to transmit ideological and hard-line views targeting the Reformists and opposition, including in entertainment shows.

A woman walks with an umbrella at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital Tehran on December 5, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

China's Saudi-Iran deal clouded by uncertainty on protests, nuclear talks

The evolution of the Saudi-Iranian agreement hinges the factors that led to it: Iran’s nuclear program and political unrest, future of Russia’s war in Ukraine, US-China relations, and whether these will lead to a new world order.

Iranian Armenian schoolgirls walk home after class in the Julfa neighbourhood in the historic city of Isfahan, some 400 kms south of the capital, Tehran on April 21, 2015. Julfa neighborhood in Isfahan is where the biggest Armenian community in Iran resides and was established as an Armenian quarter by Persian Safavid King Shah Abbas I in 1606. Some 180.000 Armenians were living in Iran before the Islamic revolution in 1979, compared to some 60000 today, according to official figures. Most of the community

Fury in Iran as officials fail to address schoolgirls' poisonings

Iranian authorities either looked the other way or blamed the students, failing to soothe the public rage at the fresh suspected gas attacks on schoolgirls.

Marines

Setback for Iran as US court orders $1.68 billion payout for 1983 Beirut bombing

One analyst told Al-Monitor that the families of the US Marines killed in the attack could finally receive compensation following years of legal battles.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 20, 2023, 4:57 pm

US outlines Iran abuses including torture in annual report

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the international community to confront Iran's violent clampdown on protests.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani (L).

Iran, Iraq sign security deal boosting border cooperation

The deal follows the Islamic Republic escalating its attacks on Kurdish groups in Iraq amid the ongoing protests in Iran.

An Iranian man walks past banners at a street exhibition by Iran's army and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard force to celebrate "Defence Week", marking the 41th anniversary of the start of 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, at the Baharestan Square in Tehran, on September 25, 2021. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

EU, UK slap new sanctions on Iran's IRGC leadership

Shortly after the British Foreign Ministry announced more sanctions against Iranian officials, the European Union added its own new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities.