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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 4:18 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

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (L) hold a joint press conference in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 12, 2021.

Iraq’s Kadhimi meets with Iranian president

In meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi acknowledged "deep relations" between the two countries.

People push carts loaded with coffins of Afghan nationals who died in Iran after receiving them at an Afghan-Iran border crossing in Zaranj on Sept. 8, 2021.

Afghan crisis exposes rifts across Iran's political spectrum

At the two ends of Iran's political spectrum angry voices are being heard in a fierce battle over the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, and especially the question of support for resistance forces in Panjshir Valley.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s permanent representative to International Organizations in Vienna, mets with US Iran Envoy Robert Malley in Vienna, Austria, May 16, 2021.

The Takeaway: Iran nuclear diplomacy creeps forward in Moscow and Paris

Also: Taliban’s success inspires Syrian jihadis; Russia’s delicate diplomacy in Syria and Turkey; Nile dam parley peters out; IDF snared in political rift; Egypt’s Avenue of the Sphinxes; and more … in only about 1,500 words.

Iranian Quds force commander Esmail Ghaani speaks during a ceremony on the occasion of the first anniversary of death of former Iran's Quds force commander Qasem Soleimani in Tehran, on Jan. 1, 2021.

Quds Force commander says Iran will take 'realistic' approach in Afghanistan

Iran must strike a balance between accepting the reality of the Taliban and supporting Shiite and other ethnic groups.

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) sprays red paint on holes in a wall made by shrapnel from a rocket attack days earlier.

Iranian commander warns Iraqi Kurdish government about harboring opposition

The IRGC's rare warning has fueled fears about civilian casualties in the Kurdish villages stretching on the Iran-Iraq border.

Zahra Nemati of Team Iran celebrates her gold medal in the Women's Individual Recurve gold final on day 9 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field, Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 2, 2021.

Iranians set records at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics

Iran is currently leading Middle Eastern states in medals won at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

An exterior view of the building of US Department of the Treasury is seen on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

US sanctions four Iranians over plot to kidnap New York activist

The newly designated Iranian intelligence operatives were charged in July with conspiring to kidnap a New York-based activist and journalist.

A man walks past some of the thousands of photos of people killed in Iran during the 1988 massacre of political prisoners.

Iranian man 'lashed to death' over alcohol possession

While the family released videos of the victim's body with lash marks, authorities claim his death was caused by deteriorating health.

This courtroom sketch shows Iranian defendant Hamid Noury (2ndL) sitting in the District Court of Stockholm with his defense attorney Daniel Marcus (3rdL) on the opening of his trial for "war crimes and murder" on Aug. 10, 2021.

Iran opens 'drug-trafficking' trial of two Swedish nationals

The drug-smuggling trial comes as Sweden prosecutes a former Iranian official linked to the mass killing of dissidents in 1988.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi speaks before parliament in the capital, Tehran, on Aug. 25, 2021.

The Takeaway: Iranian foreign policy under Raisi takes shape

Also: Shapiro appointment welcomed in Israel; Gantz meeting doesn’t help Abbas’ popularity; "Saudization" of labor gets slow start; Turkey’s targeted killings in Syria; Sextortion in Egypt; More … in about 1,300 words.

An Iranian health worker inoculates a young man against the coronavirus, at a vaccination centre set up inside the Iran Mall in the capital Tehran, on Aug. 14, 2021.

With new Iranian president comes new promises of vaccines

The new administration has made a number of promises on vaccines.

A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on January 31, 2021, shows Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2nd-R) meeting with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (2nd-L) of the Taliban in Tehran.

Iran-Afghan trade has murky future under Taliban

While the chaos that followed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan will present challenges to trade, resulting geopolitical shifts could provide some opportunities for Tehran.