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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 11:54 pm

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WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 18: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R), French President Emmanuel Macron (L), and European leaders at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Macron casts doubt on Trump’s Hormuz operation as France-US gap grows

French President Emmanuel Macron slammed President Donald Trump for launching a unilateral operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz instead of pursuing a coordinated effort with Iran.

Meysam MIRZADEH / TASNIM NEWS / AFP via Getty Images

Iran strikes UAE’s Fujairah oil hub as US pushes Hormuz reopening

The United States launched an initiative to restart commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as the UAE braced for fallout amid new missile and drone attacks.

United Arab Emirates

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

Latest News

Analysis

How Iran is rebuilding its bruised military as ceasefire masks recalibration

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.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US sanctions Iran’s shadow banking channels moving oil proceeds from China

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.

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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.

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

An Azerbaijani national flag flies next to the medieval Khudaferin bridge in Jebrayil district at the country's border with Iran, on Dec. 9, 2020.

Iran tests drones amid simmering tensions with Azerbaijan

The exercise was held at a time of intensifying hostile rhetoric between Tehran and Baku, as Russia continues its cautious position in between.

Iran vaccine

Despite vaccination push, Iran nearing sixth wave of COVID

Despite rising vaccination rates, Iran sees a sixth wave of coronavirus on the horizon.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami.

Iran commander rejoices at US ‘defeats’

The IRGC commander was enumerating US failures in the region only hours after reports that Israel was allocating a special budget for a military strike on Iran.

Pakistani soldiers wear facemasks on the closed border of Pakistan-Iran in Taftan, as fears over the spread of the coronavirus escalate following an outbreak in neighboring Iran, Pakistan, Feb. 25, 2020.

Iran, Pakistan work to strengthen ties as Afghan situation remains fluid

Iran and Pakistan are talking about the strengthening of their military relations, in the face of the Taliban takeover in neighboring Afghanistan and the region's geopolitical changes.

Taliban

Iran to host Afghanistan’s neighbors for Oct. 27 talks

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the foreign ministers from Russia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will meet in Iran for talks on Afghanistan next week.

Iran economy

Poll: Iranians blame economic woes on corruption, not sanctions

A new poll shows Iranians have unfavorable views of the Biden administration, the Taliban and Saudi Arabia, but favorable views of Iran-backed militias in the region, as well as Russia and China.

VIRGINIA MAYO/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says no negotiations happening in Brussels

Iran says the current discussion with the European Union is not a negotiation on the nuclear deal.

Mora nuclear

EU says no plans for Iran nuclear meeting in Brussels

A spokesperson for the European Union pushed back on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's claim that Iranian officials would be meeting with EU counterparts on Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, accompanied by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, right, speaks at a bilateral meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Oct. 13, 2021.

Intel: Israel sees bad faith in Iran’s delay to return to nuclear talks

Israeli officials see diminishing prospects for a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, even if Iran sends negotiators back to Vienna.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

EU sends diplomat to Tehran as uncertainty grows over Iran deal

The envoy's visit came at a "critical" time as the Iranian side continues to remain vague on the timing of the talks over the revival of the nuclear deal.

Blinken Lapid

US envoy headed to Gulf to discuss ‘options’ on Iran’s nuclear program

With the Vienna talks stalled, US officials are warning that they have other ways to rein in Iran's nuclear enrichment.

Iranians use internet at a cybercafe in the center of the Iranian capital Tehran on May 14, 2013.

Iran’s president calls for tighter internet control

Iran’s president called for tighter control of the internet while “digitizing” the economy.