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Iran

May 8, 2026

Tehran 12:37 pm

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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

A woman looks at art work made by Iranian victims of acid attacks at the Ashianeh gallery in Tehran on February 28, 2018.
Acid attacks have been an occasional scourge in Iran, with a spate of incidents in 2014 triggering protests and claims they were linked to women wearing "immodest" clothing. Money raised by the show went to Iran's Association of Support of Acid Attack Victims. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Cleric reopens scars of acid attacks after threatening Iranian women

Threats by an influential hard-line cleric against Iranian women with loose headscarves has opened up old wounds left behind in acid attacks perpetrated by religious extremists.

Khamenei: Iran must look inward to address economy

In today's Iran media review, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the country must look at domestic solutions to address its economic woes.

Fans of Iranian singer, instrumentalist and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian gather outside the Jam hospital in Tehran where he has died on October 8, 2020. - Singer, instrumentalist and composer Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, who died today aged 80, embodied traditional and classical Iranian music for more than half a century both at home and abroad. A national treasure in his homeland, Shajarian nevertheless maintained difficult relations with the authorities in Tehran throughout his career, first under the rei

Protests break out in Iran after death of famed singer

Mohammad Reza Shajarian was a renowned singer and composer of classical music. He also notably supported the 2009 protests in the country.

US government sanctions 18 Iranian banks

New sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department aim to deny the Iranian government funding. Iran says the move will hurt its ability to pay for medicine and food.

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US government announces seizure of 92 Iran-linked websites

The US seizure of the news sites allegedly connected to the Iranian government came before new US sanctions on Iranian banks.

An Armenian soldier of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabagh aims his Kalashnikov assault rifle as he stands in a trench at the frontline on the border with Azerbaijan near the town of Martakert, on July 6, 2012. EU president Herman Van Rompuy urged last week enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan to end frontline clashes that have raised fears of renewed war over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh. Armenia-backed separatists seized Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s that left some 30,00

Between a rock and hard place: Iran’s dilemma in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Tehran is sending forces to its borders in anticipation of the Armenian-Azeri conflict spilling over.

A woman, mask-clad as a COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic precaution, walks past shops along a street in Iran's capital Tehran on September 27, 2020. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran official seeks lockdown extension as virus rages

A Tehran official has pled for a longer lockdown as coronavirus cases rise in Tehran province.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - OCTOBER 07: Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence participate in the vice presidential debate moderated by Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today Susan Page (C) at the University of Utah on October 7, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The vice presidential candidates only meet once to debate before the general election on November 3. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

US vice presidential candidates debate Iran policy

Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris took on Iran issues like the nuclear deal and the killing of Qasem Soleimani.

File Picture dated June 25, 2007 shows Iranian opposition human rights activist, Narges Mohammadi, at the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran.
Mohammadi an aide to Iranian Nobel peace winner Shirin Ebadi has been arrested before the anniversary of Iran's disputed presidential election, Ebadi's rights groups said on June 11, 2010. / AFP / BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian rights defender Narges Mohammadi released from prison

Mohammadi served more than eight years in prison on a dubious national security conviction.

Denmark summons Iranian ambassador over controversial divorce reports

Danish media reported that imams are forcing Iranian women in Denmark to accept divorce terms, and Denmark's foreign minister thinks Iran may be involved.

Iran parades, tortures ‘thugs’ in show of ‘police power’

In recent days, the Iranian police have been conducting “maneuvers of power” in street parades, humiliating and torturing arrested “thugs” before the public eye.

Iranian flags flutter during an inauguration ceremony for new equipment and infrastructure on February 25, 2019 at the Shahid Beheshti Port in the southeastern Iranian coastal city of Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman. - With the web of US sanctions tightening, Iran faces a host of challenges as it looks to an isolated port in the country's far southeast to maintain the flow of goods. The port in Chabahar, only about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Pakistan border and located on the Indian Ocean, is Iran's

India works to boost influence in Iran as Beijing-Tehran ties warm

India is seeking to remain involved in the development projects at Iran's ports, especially since Chabahar Port helps India gain access to an important geopolitical region.