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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 3:39 pm

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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

anti-death penalty exhibit Trafalgar Square

Iran, Egypt lead Middle East in executions in 2020

Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounted for 88% of executions last year outside of world leader China, according to Amnesty International.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (L) arrives to address parliament in the capital, Tehran, on Sept. 3, 2019.

Iran's Rouhani says nuclear negotiations have progressed 60 to 70%

President Hassan Rouhani said the nuclear negotiations with the United States are moving at a positive pace.

Iranians steps on the US, Israeli and British flag during a parade marking Quds Day, Tehran, Iran, May 31, 2019.

Iran cancels Quds Day for second year in a row

The pro-Palestine solidarity event was again canceled as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Iran.

Abbas Araghchi (C), political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, is leaving the Grand Hotel Wien after the closed-door nuclear talks in Vienna on April 16, 2021, where diplomats of the EU, China, Russia and Iran hold their talks.

Iran opposes interim deal in 'complicated' Vienna talks

The Iranian negotiators appeared dogged in their demand for a full removal of US sanctions, rejecting reports that an interim deal is in the making.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) attends with Revolutionary Guards commander Yahya Rahim Safavi (R) and Basij senior official Mohammad Hejazi (L) a parade held by the Islamic volunteer Basij militia at the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Nov. 26, 2006.

Iranian commander’s death sparks speculation

High-ranking Quds Force deputy commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hejazi has died.

Iranian pharmaceutical factory

Surprising economic upside seen for Egypt, Morocco and Iran

Reports this month by the IMF and the US intelligence community also underscore troubling trendlines.

Zarif and Lavrov

Taliban, Assad continue to unite Russia, Iran

While Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed ways to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal in his visit to Tehran this week, the topics of Syria and Afghanistan also featured prominently on the agenda.

Russia’s governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mikhail Ulyanov, is interviewed as he leaves after the Iran nuclear talks on April 6, 2021, in Vienna, Austria. Representatives from the United States, Iran, the European Union and other participants from the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are meeting both directly and indirectly over possibly reviving the plan.

Russia describes latest Iran nuclear talks as 'positive'

The talks in Vienna come less than a week after a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian nuclear facility.

In this handout provided by the EU Delegation in Vienna, Representatives of the European Union, Iran and others attend the Iran nuclear talks at the Grand Hotel on April 15, 2021, in Vienna, Austria.

Iran says it's capable of enriching uranium with 90% purity

The Iranian president said his country possesses the know-how to enrich uranium at the weapons-grade 90% level, but he declared that Tehran is not in pursuit of nuclear bombs.

A man walks past a mural painted on the outer walls of the former US Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Sept. 29, 2020.

Iran not backing down in Middle East, US intel report says

The Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign did not stop Tehran's ambitions in the region, ODNI report suggests.

Men view the covers of local newspapers laid out at a stall in the Shemiran district of Iran's capital, Tehran, on April 14, 2021. Iran warned it would start enriching uranium up to 60% purity after an explosion it blamed on archenemy Israel hit its key nuclear facility in Natanz.

Iran says 60% uranium enrichment an answer to attack

President Hassan Rouhani says the recent decision to enrich uranium to 60% is in response to the alleged Israeli attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.

Britain's Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State Dominic Raab (R) walks from the Foreign Office toward 10 Downing Street in central London on Jan. 6, 2020. The leaders of Germany, France and Britain on Sunday urged Iran to drop measures that go against the 2015 nuclear deal after Tehran announced it would no longer abide by a limit on enrichment.

European powers voice 'grave concern' over Iran's uranium enrichment plan

Following the alleged Israeli attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, Tehran has announced it will enrich uranium to 60% purity.