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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 2:56 am

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Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

Latest News

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

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.

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

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

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says Israeli attacks on nuclear sites must stop

Iran has suggested that the International Atomic Energy Agency's access to its nuclear facilities will resume once Israel's attacks on them stop.

MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says Israel FM's visit left 'stain' on Bahrain

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the damage could not be undone by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s recent visit to Bahrain.

A man enters a Samsung store on June 2, 2014 in Isfahan, Iran.

Iran's supreme leader issues ban on Samsung, LG appliances

Khamenei's directive came after the two South Korean giants were about to make a comeback into their lucrative Iranian market following their brief sanctions-triggered departure.

Borrell

EU's top diplomat says Iran nuclear talks to resume 'soon'

The European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said he expects a seventh round of negotiations in Vienna would to resume "within an acceptable period of time.”

Iran's President's Ebrahim Raisi remotely addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021, in New York.

The Takeaway: What will it take to jumpstart Iran nuclear talks?

Jihadi spat in Idlib; Palestinians’ fashion feud; Lapid pivots left; Palestinians reject Armenian land sale in Jerusalem; Turkey’s generals and Syria; Qatari artist bemoans plastic pollution; and more! In less than 1,200 words.

A picture taken on May 3, 2019, shows boats off the coast of the island of Sir Abu Nuair island between the Gulf emirate of Sharjah and Iran's territorial waters

Iran, UAE rehash tensions over contested islands

The UAE deputy foreign minister’s address to the United Nations stirred up the territorial dispute, which has long been at the very core of tensions between the Arab state and the Islamic Republic.

A picture taken on Nov. 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility.

Iran, IAEA spar over access to Karaj nuclear site

The International Atomic Energy Agency claims that Iran has limited its access to the Karaj nuclear facility, where surveillance cameras have been damaged.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran introduces own version of maximum pressure

Iran may return to the table in a few weeks, but expect it to continue waiting for the United States to make concessions.

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's foreign minister says nuclear talks to restart 'very soon'

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that Iran plans to return to the negotiating table after suspending its participation at the end of June.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says 'remarkable progress' made in Saudi Arabia talks

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said significant progress had been made during direct talks in Baghdad between the rival powerhouses.

A man holds a portrait of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari during a demonstration on the Dam Square in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Sept. 13, 2020.

Iran admits ‘witness to torture’ died in custody

The prisoner had defied pressure from intelligence authorities to withdraw his shocking statements after he blew the whistle on “medieval-style torture” of executed political prisoner Navid Afkari.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows a member the US forces walking past a drone in the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

Are Iranian threats to escalate in Iraqi Kurdistan more hot air?