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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 10:26 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

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his first press conference in the Islamic republic's capital Tehran, on June 21, 2021.

Iran's new president rules out meeting with Biden

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi suggested he would continue President Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policies.

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi speaks during his first press conference in the Islamic Republic's capital, Tehran, on June 21, 2021.

Iran’s president: No talks with US on militias, ballistic missiles

President-elect Ebrahim Raisi called on the United States to rejoin the nuclear deal.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Raisi says Iran will prioritize improving regional relations

The president-elect said Iran wants "interaction with the world" and called on US President Joe Biden to lift all sanctions.

A woman holds a poster of newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi, with text in Persian reading "Government of the people, strong Iran," as supporters celebrate his victory in Imam Hussein Square, Tehran, Iran, June 19, 2021.

Iran's Iraq policy unlikely to change under Raisi

Despite his hardline credentials, Iran's foreign policy is likely to remain unified under the new president.

Iranian ultraconservative cleric and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi gives a news conference after voting in the presidential election, at a polling station in the capital Tehran, on June 18, 2021.

Hard-liner Raisi wins Iran presidency amid record low turnout

Ebrahim Raisi's win came as little surprise amid widespread voter apathy, in a race already tilted to his favor by a powerful supervisory body.

A worker prepares a campaign banner of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi at a print shop in the Iranian capital Tehran on June 7, 2021.

Iranian citizens in US vote in presidential election

Iranians are voting for their next president in 133 countries worldwide.

Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold posters of him during an election campaign rally in the capital Tehran, on June 10, 2021.

Apathy shadows Iran vote but that doesn’t mean change won’t follow

Even if hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi wins, reviving the nuclear deal with the West could gain traction.

An Iranian woman walks past banners of ultraconservative cleric and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran, on June 17, 2021, on the eve of the Islamic republic's presidential election.

Iranians set to vote for president amid turnout concerns

After preparing everything to guarantee a victory for its preferred candidate, the ruling establishment is now attempting to draw the largely apathetic electorate to the ballot box.

US President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to a plenary session of a NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

The Takeaway: Pragmatism is the new watchword in US-Turkey relations

Plus: A fresh start for Israel; Iran’s hard-line front-runner on the issues; Egypt’s faltering Palestinian mediation; Saudi-Syria talks; Golani’s makeover.

Siamak Nazami (L) and Baquer Namazi (R) are seen in images provided by their family.

Biden urged to secure release of Americans left behind in Iran

Amid intensifying speculation over a prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran, the family of Siamak and Baquer Namazi is appealing to President Joe Biden to secure their release.

Iranians walk past banners encouraging people to vote hung on a fence at Tehran university in the eponymous capital, on June 14, 2021, ahead of the June 18 presidential elections.

Iran's conservative candidates step aside to support Raisi

Two conservative candidates have stepped aside to support front-runner Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi supporter holds his picture

Does hard-line front-runner for Iran's president have foreign policy plan?

Although Ebrahim Raisi has been generally mum about his potential foreign policy focus, some recent comments offer clues to the approach his administration could take if he wins the elections June 18.