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October 4, 2026

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Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary forces stand guard during an election rally for the "Asaib Ahl al-Haq" movement in the capital Baghdad, on October 7, 2021.

Analysis

After US exit, Iran gains space in Iraq and a harder balancing act

For Iran, the easier part may have been getting Washington out, but it may now have to struggle turning the absence into durable influence and reviving its allied militias without provoking instability.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

Iran’s influence, and the potential for renewed conflict, complicate progress in Iraq.

A Caspian Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 lands at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 17, 2014.

Turkey seizes Iran’s Caspian Airlines jet over $3.4M debt

The court-ordered seizure at Istanbul Airport comes as Iranian carriers face mounting pressure from sweeping new US aviation sanctions.

A woman crosses a street near a giant billboard erected on the facade of a building depicting a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps placing his foot on a US sea drone, reportedly seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, in Vanak Square in Tehran, on Sept. 24, 2026.

Analysis

As Iran’s grip on Hormuz weakens, what leverage does Tehran have left?

Six months into the war, Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz is weakening. The world is slowly learning to live with it, oil flows are recovering, alternative routes are expanding and Tehran's own economy is bearing the cost of keeping the waterway under pressure.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

After indirect talks, new US sanctions target Iran's weapons supply

Iranian-made Zolfaghar missiles are seen on display beside a large portrait of Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei at Baharestan Square in Tehran on Sept. 28, 2026.

Saudi stocks hit wartime low as Aramco slides, Gulf oil exports rebound

Iran’s rial hits record low as pressure on oil exports mounts

A man counts Iranian rial notes

Iran’s IRGC slams Trump as Ghalibaf threatens oil infrastructure

Ghalibaf

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

TOPSHOT - An Iranian doctor works on the production of COVID-19 test kits at a medical center in Karaj, in the northern Alborz Province, on April 11, 2020. - Iran reported 125 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, raising the overall toll in the Middle East's worst-hit country to 4,357. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

More than 10,000 health care workers in Iran infected with coronavirus, official says

More than 100 health care workers have died from the virus in Iran, the epicenter of the pandemic in the Middle East.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 29, 2020. Kelly Craft ,C, front, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York, Feb. 28, 2020. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that the Syrian conflict has changed in its nature, calling on parties concerned to heed the risk that the military escalation in northwest Syria might run out of control. (Photo by Li Muzi/Xinhua via Getty)

Intel: Trump’s UN ambassador accuses Iran of violating arms embargo

The US ambassador to the United Nations accused Iran of violating an international arms embargo as part of President Donald Trump’s push to persuade the Security Council to extend the restrictions, which are set to expire in October as the first sunset provision under the nuclear deal.

RASHT, IRAN - MAY 15, 2020:
A woman wears a face mask as a preventive measure while holding a Qur'an on her head on the night of laylat al-Qadr during Ramadan amid Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Every year, Muslims pray on the night of the 21st day of Ramadan known as Lelat al-Qadr by reciting the Qur'an and keeping the Qur'an on their heads. This year despite the coronavirus, people performed religious services in mosques and on the streets.

Iran says coronavirus immunity is 'not certain'

Iranian Health Ministry officials have warned against traveling during Eid al-Fitr.

Iraqi prime minister stresses PMU should be Iraqi institution under state authority

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is seeking to reorganize the Popular Mobilization Units under the framework of the PMU law.

Venezuela's navy ships are seen during a military exercise near Punto Fijo, Venezuela July 24, 2019. Picture taken July 24, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC167D5BBE20

Venezuela military will escort Iranian fuel tankers to shore

Venezuela feels threatened by US opposition to its economic ties with Iran.

Iran’s judiciary sentences couple to death over corruption

The long arm of the Iranian law has reached the “sultan of cars” and his wife, last in a line of market manipulators sent to the gallows.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli speaks at a press conference at the Ministry during the registrations for upcoming parliamentary elections, in the capital Tehran on December 1, 2019. - Iran will hold it's parliamentary elections on February 2020. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/afp/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: US sanctions Iran’s interior minister over deadly protests

The United States slapped fresh sanctions and visa restrictions on 12 Iranian officials and entities, most accused of serious human rights abuses, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday.

The house of local farmer Hamad al-Ibrahim is seen destroyed in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz on March 13, 2020, a year after the fall of the Islamic State's (IS) caliphate. - A year after the last black flag of the Islamic State group was lowered in the Syrian village of Baghouz, traces of the jihadist group are still all around this small and remote village near the Iraqi border, where Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition declared the IS proto-state defeated in March 2019 after a blistering m

Report: Iran-backed militia members enter Syria via Iraq

The news from a Syrian pro-opposition group contradicts statements by some Israelis that Iran may be pulling back from Syria.

A man takes part in a training session at Cybergym, a cyber-warfare training facility backed by the Israel Electric Corporation, at their training center in Hadera, Israel July 8, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC1118AE8A50

Israel, Iran trade cyber jabs

The April cyberattack on Israel’s water system and a May attack on an Iranian port might be the opening salvoes of a cyber war between Israel and Iran.

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 1: An Airbus 310 airplane of Mahan Air carrying Iranian health aids is seen at Sanaa International Airport after officials from the Shiite militia-controlled city signed an aviation agreement with Tehran, in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 1, 2015. Iranian Red Cross sent health aid to Sanaa. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Intel: China tangled in US sanctions web for ties to Iran’s Mahan Air

The United States sanctioned a China-based company today for providing “general sales agent services” for Iran’s Mahan Air.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani attends the annual pro-Palestinian rally marking Al-Quds Day in Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2017. Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/TIMA via REUTERS. ATTENTITON EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC112DB9B810

Iran cancels anti-Israeli rallies over pandemic fears

A fresh spike in coronavirus transmissions has forced Iranian officials to cancel a state-organized annual march against Israel.

Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, gives a press conference in the capital Tehran on May 28, 2019. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran claims fuel shipment to Venezuela perfectly legal

In today's Iran media roundup, Tehran condemned possible US interference with Iranian shipments of fuel to Venezuela.