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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 5:34 am

21°C

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

European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Secretary-General Enrique Mora (C) looks on as Iran's newly elected president, Ebrahim Raisi, speaks.

European powers blast Iran's 'troubling' nuclear violations

The United Kingdom, France and Germany urged Iran to return to the negotiating table following reports the country has accelerated its nuclear program.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's official COVID-19 death toll surpasses 100,000

Iran's Health Ministry has also recorded more than 4 million cases, although experts believe the figure is deceptively low.

Taliban fighters stand guard in Herat

The Takeaway: Iran can live with Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Also: Israel, the United States and Afghanistan; Turkey’s "remorse clause" and the Islamic State; Turks rally around trolled Olympian; Israeli-Palestinian fault lines; Gaza rocks out; and more … in just over 1,500 words!

A Taliban fighter walks past a beauty saloon with images of women defaced using a spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul on Aug. 18, 2021.

IRGC says Afghanistan exit a ‘lesson’ not to rely on US

An official from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says the US exit from Afghanistan is a lesson for regional leaders.

Rafael Grossi

Iran ramps up uranium enrichment as nuclear talks stall

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency also has concluded that Iran is continuing to produce uranium metal in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

Afghan chaos further incentive for India’s efforts to strengthen ties with Iran

The recent rise of the Taliban in Kabul has expedited New Delhi's efforts to boost ties with Iran, which is positioned to be India's main corridor to Afghanistan, yet major challenges remain.

Afghan people line up outside the Iranian embassy to get a visa in Kabul on Aug. 17, 2021, after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Iran's Kabul embassy 'operational' despite Taliban takeover

The statement suggested the Islamic Republic's apparent willingness to work with a new Taliban-led government as opposed to the Iranian public's fury against the extremist group's fast-paced takeover.

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.

US blasts Iran's uranium metal production as 'unconstructive'

The State Department condemned Iran's violations of the deal following a UN watchdog report that found Tehran has produced 200 grams of uranium metal enriched up to 20%.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Whither US policy toward Iran?

The election of Iran's new president and the Taliban's stunning takeover in Afghanistan have somewhat shaken up the Iran nuclear deal talks, but the United States and Iran clearly know reinstating the deal is in both their favor.

Iran's Raisi calls US 'defeat' in Afghanistan opportunity for peace

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's comments came as the deteriorating security situation forced Tehran to draw down its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.

Iran maintains cautious calm as Taliban rises

Iran has been quietly watching the rise of the Taliban on its eastern border.

Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan's meeting with the new head of the British diplomatic mission in Iran Simon Shercliff on the historical stair, where the 1943 Tehran conference was held

Russian, UK envoys ignite fury in Iran with 'inappropriate' restaged photo

A restaged version at the Russian Embassy in Tehran of the historic 1943 photo showing Soviet, American and British "Big Three" leaders at the then-Soviet Embassy angered many Iranians, who have historically seen the 1943 Tehran Conference as a bitter symbol of subordination to world powers.