Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

May 14, 2026

Tehran 1:18 am

22°C

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump (C) is escorted by China's Vice President Han Zheng (R) upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran looms large over Trump’s China visit, but breakthrough unlikely

Analysts say China is cautiously looking to de-escalate the US-Iran war while limiting its direct involvement.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Iran's IRGC holds anti-helicopter drills in Tehran: What to know

Iran said it downed two US helicopters last month as American forces use the aircraft for strikes in the Gulf.

FADEL Itani / AFP via Getty Images

In first, Lebanon files formal UN complaint against Iran: What to know

The move comes as relations between Iran and Lebanon continue to deteriorate in light of what is perceived as ongoing Iranian interference in Lebanese affairs via its proxy group, Hezbollah.

Latest News

Analysis

Ahead of Trump-Xi summit, Iran looks to China as guarantor — but with reservations

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Kuwait unveils Iran IRGC infiltration plot, arrests 4: What to know

TTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages

US hits China-linked Iran oil trade with sanctions ahead of Trump trip

A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows an Panamanian tanker docking at the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf.

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 Hassan Rouhani walks by his country's flag at a news conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - HP1EE9Q1DYAGU

Sanctions push Rouhani to boost state involvement in Iran’s economy

The impact of the re-imposed US sanctions has forced the Rouhani administration to shift its market-oriented approach to the economy to focus on active involvement by the state.

A damaged building is seen following an earthquake in Sarpol-e Zahab county in Kermanshah, Iran November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Tasnim News Agency ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC15640B33E0

Unlike officials, Iranian aid worker praised for reviving quake-hit area

On the first anniversary of a deadly quake in western Iran, officials are still under fire for abandoning survivors. Meanwhile, a female charity worker's performance is raising eyebrows.

Iran-backed PMU militias in Iraq raising profile

Danish elite forces left the Iraqi-Syrian border area in late October against a backdrop of tension between Denmark and Iran.

Twitter is Coming: Iranians strike back at Trump with memes

Following US President Donald Trump’s tweet that used a "Game of Thrones" meme to warn Iran about new sanctions, keyboard-happy Iranians quickly striked back at both Trump and their own officials.

Egyptian armed forces Chief of Staff Mohamed Farid Hegazy (R) looks on as Joseph Leonard Votel, Commander of United States Central Command, speaks during a meeting with the Gulf cooperation council's armed forces chiefs of staff in Kuwait City on September 12, 2018. - Gulf Arab army chiefs, including Qatar's military commander, are meeting with US Central Command officials for talks on defence cooperation. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Is this the start of Arab NATO plan?

The Arab Nato plan promoted by US President Donald Trump to counter Iranian influence is being recurrently heard among the political quarters of the countries participating in the Arab Shield 1 drills in Egypt.

People carry coffins during a funeral of the victims of assault that killed 25 people, in the streets of the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, Iran September 24, 2018. Tasnim News Agency/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC18F3BB4390

Iran denies execution of 22 for Ahvaz attack

Iranian officials have denied that those behind the attack on the Sept. 22 military parade in Ahvaz have been executed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel walk at the Vahdettin Mansion, during a summit on Syria, in Istanbul, Turkey October 27, 2018. Kayhan Ozer/Pool via REUTERS - RC1258FD9310

Why Iran did not attend the Europe-Russia-Turkey summit on Syria

While some have questioned Iran’s absence at the recent four-way summit on Syria between the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Turkey, the reality is that Iran likely saw only negative outcomes stemming from its participation in the meeting at this time.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron hold hands at a news conference after a Syria summit, in Istanbul, Turkey October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC16134E6CB0

Putin pivots to Europe for next play on Syria

Russian president intensifies diplomatic push; Erdogan goes "big" to leverage the Khashoggi murder with the Trump administration; Oman emerges as Israeli-Palestinian broker.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L to R) pose for a grou

Iranians and the nuclear deal

President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal is not merely undermining his moderate Iranian counterpart but also the longer-term prospect of US engagement with Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a bilateral meeting during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC1720F3A620

Israel pins hopes on American sanctions against Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman pin their hopes on the American sanctions against Iran to destabilize the Tehran regime and force it to renegotiate the nuclear agreement.

Saudi Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer Al-Sabhan (L) speaks with Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev during a Syrian opposition meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RC19F177B570

Russia braces for new diplomatic push on Syria

Russia's frenzy of diplomatic and military activity around Syria in recent days suggests Moscow is pushing its own initiatives before a new UN envoy on Syria takes the reins and before Democrats take control of the House in the United States.

An Iranian man works at a drugstore at the Nikan hospital in Tehran on September 11, 2018. - Judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague unanimously ruled Washington should remove barriers to "the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities" as well as airplane parts. Iran produces 96 percent of the drugs it uses, according to the Syndicate of Iranian Pharmaceutical Industries, but imports more than half the raw materials to make them. (Photo by

US sanctions hit Iranian patients once again

The US reimposition of sanctions is once again disrupting ordinary Iranians’ access to vital medicines and medical equipment.