Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

May 2, 2026

Tehran 6:33 am

18°C

Soldiers from Iran's land, navy, air force and special forces parade on the occasion of National Army Day in Tehran, capital of Iran on April 18, 2025, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

How Iran is rebuilding its bruised military as ceasefire masks recalibration

Iran is using the fragile truce to recover by blending redeployment and reverse engineering into broader preparedness for renewed conflict.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

US sanctions Iran’s shadow banking channels moving oil proceeds from China

The latest sanctions come as the Trump administration weighs Iran's latest proposal to end the war.

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

This photo obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, on April 21, 2026.

Trump faces three paths ahead in Iran war as Hormuz standoff intensifies

As the Hormuz standoff threatens a global economic chill, Trump must choose between military escalation, seeking a partial deal with Iran, or waiting out the pressure campaign.

Latest News

In defiant message, Iran’s Khamenei threatens US but appeals to Gulf

AFP via Getty Images

US blockade tests Iran's limits, but will global pain force Trump’s hand?

QESHM ISLAND, IRAN - APRIL 28: Boats navigate the sea on April 28, 2026 on Qeshm Island, Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's latest proposal for ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz calls on the United States to end its naval blockade of Iran's ports, and sets aside questions about what to do with Iran's nuclear program. The United States has not formally responded to the latest proposal, which was delivered by Iran's foreign minister to Pakistan two days ago. (Photo by Asghar Besharati/Getty Images

Iran-linked group claims stabbing in Jewish area in London: What to know

Local residents look on from outside a cordoned off area in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London on April 29, 2026, following the stabbing to two people nearby.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Benjamin Houghton

In Durham, reporting on China in the Middle East

Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

Mehrnaz Samimi

In Washington, DC, reporting on Iranian culture

A man walks past a French-language daily newspaper stand displaying the final issue of Algerian French-language daily newspaper "Liberté" in Algeria's capital Algiers on April 14, 2022. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)

In press freedom index, Middle Eastern countries go from bad to worse

Press freedom and journalist safety remain “very bad” in the majority of the Middle East and North Africa nations, Reporters Without Borders' 2022 index shows.

A photograph of Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, stands on a table among candles during a demonstration by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran outside the German Foreign Ministry on December 12, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty)

Iran publicly executes another 23-year-old in connection to protests

Iran hanged on Monday protestor Majid Rahnavard, on charges of killing two members of the Basij force.

Iran protest

Group of Iranian artists defies hijab in taboo-breaking video

More Iranian women are beginning to post videos of themselves without the mandatory headscarves as part of the ongoing protests in the country.

Mohsen Shekari

Raging backlash as Iran executes protester

Iranians expressed horror, disbelief and anger at the ruling establishment and its judiciary, which hanged a 23-year-old protester over his participation in an anti-government demonstration.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani addresses Middle East Research Institute Workshop on ‘Iraq’s Immediate Priorities’ in Baghdad, Dec. 7, 2022.

Analysis

Iran looms large over Iraqi PM’s reform agenda

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government is seeking a fast start amid uncertainty in Iran.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iranian dissident who disappeared in Turkey resurfaces in Evin prison

Mohammad Bagher Moradi who took refuge in Turkey has ended up in Iran's notorious Evin prison, five months after he went missing in Ankara, his lawyer told Al-Monitor.

A woman holds a placard as protesters march in solidarity with protesters in Iran in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2022. - Iran has been rocked by protests since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

US issues new Iran sanctions over protest crackdown

The latest sanctions target two law enforcement commanders and the warden of an Iranian prison housing political prisoners.

A photograph of a murdered Iranian woman hangs from a tree in front of the Palacio de la Moneda placed by Iranians living in Chile, as they protest against violence against women in their country, during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Santiago, Chili, Nov. 25, 2022.

Police chief says 'no more restraint' as more die in Iran unrest

The commander suggested that his forces had so far tolerated the unrest, while rights activists counted the killings of over 470 protesters at the hands of security forces.

An Iranian woman walks past a mural showing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the capital Tehran on March 9, 2022.

Iran's Khamenei shows no sign of retreat in latest speech

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has shown no signs of relaxing the country’s cultural policies.

DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

US unveils sanctions on Turkish businessman over IRGC oil sales

The United States designated what it described as an international oil smuggling and money laundering network led by Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan.

People pose for a photo as artist JR, in partnership with For Freedoms, Vital Voices, and the Woman, Life, Freedom global coalition of Iranian women leaders.

TIME magazine names Iranian women ‘heroes of the year’

Iranian women are leading the protests in Iran that began after an Iranian Kurdish woman was allegedly beaten to death over her head covering.

People in Iran take part in a demonstration in support of Iranian protesters, on Sept. 25, 2022.

Iran's government reaches out to Reformist party as protests continue

Iranian officials have reached out to Reformists in hopes of quelling the protests.