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

Iran cover image

Iran

June 12, 2026

Tehran 6:40 pm

36°C

TOPSHOT - People cross the street past a large billboard showing portraits of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026. Iran said on June 8 that the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East war will have consequences for ongoing talks with the United States to reach peace in the region. "It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected,

Iran-US draft deal would release $24B in funds, ensure Lebanon ceasefire: Iranian media

The draft circulating in Iranian state media, which Trump denied on Friday, would grant Tehran sanctions relief and access to billions in frozen funds while limiting final talks to nuclear issues and excluding its missile program and proxies.

Members of the Iranian national soccer team including midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh (R) arrive at Tijuana International Airport on June 7, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico.

Culture

World Cup opens amid visa disputes for Iran, Iraq and Somalia

Iran says a number of team staff were denied entry into the US, with Trump administration officials touting efforts to prevent affiliates of designated terrorist groups from entering.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Bessent says Iran's frozen assets will pay for Gulf damage, Hormuz tolls

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any damage Iran inflicts on Gulf allies will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian accounts.

Latest News

Explainer

US strategic oil stockpile nears four-decade low as Iran war drags on

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump weighs releasing billions to Iran after blasting past payments

President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Air Force One prior to departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, on June 9, 2026.

Trump vows continued ‘very hard’ strikes on Iran as negotiators leave Qatar

Samuel Corum/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

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Pool - RC1507ABA930

Israel ignores Iran’s support of Arab Peace Initiative

Israel keeps silent while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signs onto the resolution of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation supporting Israeli-Palestinian peace based on a two-state solution.

Iranian students scuffle with police at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems, in the capital Tehran on December 30, 2017.
Students protested in a third day of demonstrations, videos on social media showed, but were outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. / AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

How Rouhani can use protests to advance reform

Key questions about the protests in Iran remain unanswered, but that does not stop President Hassan Rouhani from being able to seize on the demonstrations to advance his agenda.

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1A0F182720

Iranian conservatives welcome protests, for now

Unsure of who is behind the protests, Iranian political figures and factions voice support for the economic grievances of the protesters.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (R) hands out documents to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani after presenting his budget for 2018-2019 on December 10, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Protests in Iran unlikely to bring about change

Despite their sudden spread, protests in Iran are unlikely to instigate the change that demonstrators desire.

Ahmed al-Asadi, spokeman for Shi'ite paramilitary group Hashd Shaabi, speaks during a news conference in Baghdad, July 2, 2015. Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State militants from most of the northern town of Baiji and hope to drive them from the nearby oil refinery within days, a spokesman for the Shi'ite militias leading the fight said on Thursday. Al-Asadi said there were still "pockets of resistance" to the northeast and northwest of the town, and Islamic State fighters were trying to launch attacks

Pro-Iran PMU factions prepare for electoral battle in Iraq

Segments of the Popular Mobilization Units close to Iran are forming an alliance to participate in Iraq's upcoming elections.

Cryptocurrencies could offer Iran way around sanctions

While the rise of cryptocurrencies potentially offers Iran a way around the web of sanctions, much remains to be done for the country to be able to fully take advantage of such an opportunity.

Iranian women no longer face jail for dress code violations

Iranian police will no longer round up poorly veiled women and take them to detention centers.

A picture taken on August 14, 2016 in a abandoned village near the southern Iranian city of Sirjan shows dead pistachio trees at a field that farmers left behind due to the lack of water.
The pistachio trees at the village in southern Iran are long dead, bleached white by the sun -- the underground water reserves sucked dry by decades of over-farming and waste. The last farmers left with their families 10 years ago, and the village has the look of an abandoned Martian colony. / AFP / ATTA KENARE / TO GO WIT

Soil degradation neglected crisis in Iran

Rapid degradation of soil is costing Iran billions of dollars each year as well as threatening national security.

TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 26: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei casts the first ballot in key elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Iran, on February 26, 2016. Mr. Khamenei called on Iranians to vote en masse to "ruin the hopes of the enemies." The vote is essentially a referendum on the agenda of centrist President Hassan Rouhani, whose allies are trying to ease the grip of hardliners over many levers of government. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Iran's supreme leader lashes out at Ahmadinejad

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei entered the fray as verbal clashes between former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the judiciary chief intensified.

Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade take part in a military training exercise in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria on January 19, 2015. Iran confirmed today that a general of its elite Revolutionary Guards died in an Israeli strike on Syria that also killed six members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel adapts to changing strategic reality in Mideast

The Israel Defense Forces believe that excellent intelligence capabilities will determine the fate of Israel’s next war.

Iran gradually moving toward resumed military ties with Europe

Acknowledging that military cooperation with leading European powers is not on the table, Iran is seeking out European middle powers.

Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser turns to the right

Veteran Iranian politician Ali Akbar Velayati appears to be positioning himself to become the head of the Principlist movement.