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Iran

May 8, 2026

Tehran 12:56 am

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In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

The establishment of an entity seeking to control maritime transportation in the Strait of Hormuz is the latest sign that Iran wants to formalize authority in the strategic waterway.

Popular Mobilization Forces

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

The Trump administration is cautiously sizing up Iraq’s new prime minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, as a potential partner in pushing back on Iranian influence.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

China understands how badly Trump wants an exit from the conflict. But timing is critical: if no agreement is reached before Trump arrives in China on Thursday, Beijing would be better positioned to set the agenda.

Joyce Karam

An Iranian woman holds up an image of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Iran president says he held official meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei: What to know

The president’s announcement marks the first public confirmation of a meeting between a senior official and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since the start of the war.

Latest News

Iran, China discuss Hormuz reopening amid potential US-Iran talks

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, talks to his Iranian Counterpart Abbas Araghchi, left, during the bilateral meeting in Beijing, Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

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

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises behind houses after shelling in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region's main city of Stepanakert on October 7, 2020, during the ongoing fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran protests spillover shelling from Armenia-Azerbaijan war

Shells and rockets from the conflict from Nagorno-Karabakh region have reportedly landed in northwestern Iran, which does not back either side.

An Iranian youth, wearing a protective mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, checks the currency exchange rates in Tehran on June 22, 2020. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian currency dips to historic low amid sanctions, pandemic, foreign policy decisions

Iran has seen the rial’s value fall by almost half this year as the currency now stands at a record low against the US dollar, triggered by ongoing sanctions, coronavirus restrictions and, according to some experts, Iran's foreign policy adventures since the 1979 revolution.

US Daniel Levinson (L) shows a picture of his father, ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, holding his grandson Ryan during a press conference with his mother Christine at the Swiss embassy in Tehran, 22 December 2007. The wife of the former agent missing in Iran since March said today she has received "no answers" about his fate at the end of her trip to the Islamic republic in search of her husband, who Washington says went missing on a visit to the Iranian island of Kish. The Tehran government reiterated earlie

US judge orders Iran pay $1.45 billion to family of ex-FBI agent presumed dead

Iran has been ordered to pay Robert Levinson's family $1.35 billion in punitive damages and $107 million in compensatory damages.

Iran criticizes Turkey’s role in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

A top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has called on Turkey to help resolve the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia rather than "add fuel to the fire."

A Russian S400b4 anti-aircraft rocket system roll past during the second night of rehearsals in preparation for the WWII Victory Parade in front of a banner informing of a national vote on constitutional changes in Moscow on June 18, 2020. - Russia's President Putin on June 24 will preside over a massive military parade to mark Soviet victory in World War II, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The banner read as "Our decision". (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTS

Russia may sell S-400 to Iran after UN embargo expires, ambassador says

Russia’s ambassador to Iran said Saturday that the Kremlin may sell its S-400 missile defense system to Tehran after the UN arms embargo expires later this month.

Mask-clad school children have their body temperatures measured, as part of new COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic school precautions, as they enter Nojavanan school in Iran's capital Tehran on the first day of schools re-opening on September 5, 2020. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran hits highest coronavirus death toll since July

Officials in Iran are scrambling to address the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020. - The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Third, final Iranian tanker arrives in Venezuela

Iran sent three tankers carrying more than 800,000 barrels of fuel to the South American country, successfully evading US sanctions in the process.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: U.S. President Donald Trump look on during a ceremony to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired four-star Army general Jack Keane in the East Room of the White House March 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. Gen. Keane currently works as an analyst on Fox News. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Iranians call COVID-19 diagnosis 'lesson' for Trump

To many Iranians, the news that US President Donald Trump has the novel coronavirus is poetic justice.

Two Iranian fuel tankers reach Venezuelan territory

The Associated Press reported that two Iran-flagged ships reached Venezuela and a third is on its way without US interference. Together they are carrying 815,000 barrels of fuel.

Employees walk past a lighted Twitter log as they leave the company's headquarters in San Francisco on August 13, 2019. - Twitter on August 13 said that by the end of the year users will be able to follow a small number of interests the same way they follow people. The feature will be rolled out internationally as the one-to-many messaging platform makes a priority of being an online venue for conversations rather than a pulpit for one-way broadcasting to the masses. (Photo by Glenn CHAPMAN / AFP) (Photo by

Twitter says it closed Iranian government accounts focused on US election

The social media company said it received the information on Tehran's purported activity during the first US presidential debate from the FBI.

Iranian women, wearing protective masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shop in the capital Tehran on August 4, 2020. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran to issue fines for those not wearing masks

Struggling to slow a third wave of the coronavirus, Iran is hoping issuing fines will help.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during the inaugural session of the new parliament following February elections, in Tehran on May 27, 2020. - The 11th legislature since the Islamic revolution of 1979 opened as the country's economy, which has been hard hit by the novel coronavirus, gradually returns to normal. Rouhani, who is in the final year of his second and final term, called on MPs, collectively and individually, to place the "national interest above special interests", "party intere

Iran president says 'no' to pre-election deal with Trump

Despite an official line of indifference toward US election results, Iranian authorities are closely monitoring the race from Tehran.