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

Iran cover image

Iran

Ghalibaf

Iran’s IRGC slams Trump as Ghalibaf threatens oil infrastructure

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has warned that no other country in the region will be able to sell oil if Iran is unable to do so.

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jan. 12, 2017.

Iraq announces Iran flights to resume: What to know

Iraqis protested the latest move aimed at pressuring Iran and an Iran-backed militia vowed a response if the flights do not come back.

In this handout released by the US Navy on July 15, 2010, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Pacific Ocean.

New US aircraft carrier heads to Middle East as Iran war stretches on

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is expected to be the fifth US Navy carrier to participate in the now seven-month war against Iran.

Members of Iran's Basij paramilitary force march with riffles during a military rally named Jan-Fada in Tehran, Sept. 18, 2026.

Iran rallies thousands of volunteer fighters as talks with US stall: What to know

Iran has been leading a volunteer recruitment drive and providing military training to civilians as talks with the US remain stalled.

Latest News

Oil rises amid Hormuz impasse, Trump attack threat

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on June 18, 2026, vessels are seen anchored in Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysis

Could Iran's 7-day Hormuz proposal culminate in diplomatic deal?

A tugboat guides a ship at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on July 14, 2026.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

‘Free for all or for no one’: Iran warns neighbors over flight bans

An Iran Air Airbus A300 prepares for boarding at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 16, 2016.

Iran flights continue, UAE route closes on day 2 of US sanctions

Hector RETAMAL / AFP via 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

A participant holds a banner bearing an image of recently executed Iranian protester Mohsen Shekari.

As Iran's protests enter fourth month, ruthless judiciary dials up executions

As notorious judges lead kangaroo trials and "mock executions", activists are sounding the alarm that the Islamic Republic is using capital punishment as a fear-mongering tool to crush the protest movement.

A protester wearing a face mask holds her fist in the air as demonstrators gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate to march in solidarity with protesters in Iran on October 15, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images)

Iran top Central Bank official removed as unrest triggers currency crash

The dismissal of Iran's foreign exchange head follows the unprecedented depreciation of rial, following three months of anti-government protests.

Iranian Nazanin Daneshvar (R) founder of Takhfifan startup company watches her employees working at the desk in Tehran on July 1, 2015. Women are more likely to start businesses. Very present in senior positions of the Islamic Republic, they are needed in the private sector. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP / BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

The strength of Iran’s startup ecosystem put to the test amid protests

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

The UN voted to remove Iran from a women's rights body over Tehran's brutal crackdown of women-led protests. Twenty-nine members of the UN Economic and Social Council voted to expel the Islamic republic from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran removed from UN women’s rights body after US push

Iran's removal from the 45-member Commission on the Status of Women comes as Tehran continues its brutal crackdown on its nationwide protests.

A man walks past the World Bank building in Washington on April 21, 2022.

World Bank says debt increasing in Middle East countries

Egypt, Iran and Turkey’s debt rose significantly last year.

Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan's judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted on December 11 by Iran's ISNA news agency. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Fate of Iran soccer player unclear as he faces risk of execution

Iranian prosecutors are seeking to send Amir Reza Nasr Azadani to the gallows, as the Islamic Republic defiantly presses ahead with death sentences for protesters.

People demonstrate outside the Iranian Embassy in Ukraine on Oct. 17, 2022, in Kyiv.

Iran says Ukraine failed to prove drone claims

Tehran continued to dig in heels over deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia and accused Ukraine of making "baseless" claims.

A man walks past a French-language daily newspaper stand displaying the final issue of Algerian French-language daily newspaper "Liberté" in Algeria's capital Algiers on April 14, 2022. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)

In press freedom index, Middle Eastern countries go from bad to worse

Press freedom and journalist safety remain “very bad” in the majority of the Middle East and North Africa nations, Reporters Without Borders' 2022 index shows.

A photograph of Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, stands on a table among candles during a demonstration by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran outside the German Foreign Ministry on December 12, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty)

Iran publicly executes another 23-year-old in connection to protests

Iran hanged on Monday protestor Majid Rahnavard, on charges of killing two members of the Basij force.

Iran protest

Group of Iranian artists defies hijab in taboo-breaking video

More Iranian women are beginning to post videos of themselves without the mandatory headscarves as part of the ongoing protests in the country.

Mohsen Shekari

Raging backlash as Iran executes protester

Iranians expressed horror, disbelief and anger at the ruling establishment and its judiciary, which hanged a 23-year-old protester over his participation in an anti-government demonstration.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani addresses Middle East Research Institute Workshop on ‘Iraq’s Immediate Priorities’ in Baghdad, Dec. 7, 2022.

Analysis

Iran looms large over Iraqi PM’s reform agenda

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government is seeking a fast start amid uncertainty in Iran.

Week in Review

By Week in Review