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May 12, 2026

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A picture taken on March 12, 2017, shows an Panamanian tanker docking at the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf.

Breaking | Last Updated: May 11, 2026, 4:31 pm

US hits China-linked Iran oil trade with sanctions ahead of Trump trip

The sanctions come after the United States rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war.

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MAY 2: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on May 2, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-A-Lago resort. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

Trump calls Iran response 'piece of garbage,' set to meet military advisers

A US Navy nuclear submarine reached port in Gibraltar on Sunday in an unsubtle signal from the Pentagon.

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not surprised by President Donald Trump’s suspension of Project Freedom and move toward talks with Iran, but analysts say Washington may not be fully weighing Israel's concerns in negotiations with Tehran.

Latest News

China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Iran's wartime behavior risks lasting rupture with Gulf states

A woman walks past a banner featuring Iran's late supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), next to newly elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

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

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Getty

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

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1EB24996A0

Why Egypt matters — maybe more than ever

The US-Egyptian partnership deepens in Sinai, but human rights issues won’t go away.

Why Moscow is ignoring US cyberattacks on Iran

Despite Russia's partnership with Iran, Moscow turns a blind eye to American cyberattacks on key Iranian targets.

Assad’s forces resume shelling of Idlib

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have suspended a cease-fire and resumed airstrikes against Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib, accusing the opposition of violating the truce.

REFILE - REMOVING AND ADDING INFORMATION A U.S. Marines UH-1Y Venom helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, near a Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS) counter-unmanned aircraft system mounted on a vehicle parked at the bow, during its transit through Strait of Hormuz in Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, July 18, 2019. Picture taken July 18, 2019. Dalton Swanbeck/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS- THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A T

Iran says US-led maritime coalition will create instability

Iran’s defense minister has told regional defense officials that the US-proposed military coalition in the Persian Gulf would lead to instability.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh speaks to reporters at the Islamic Republic’s petroleum ministry in Tehran, Iran April 29, 2017. Picture taken April 29, 2017. REUTERS/Alissa De Carbonnel - RC1F7FBF27E0

Can Iran combat corruption in petroleum sector?

Iran is showing a greater transparency about corruption, perhaps in part because of the problems caused by sanctions, but has a long way to defeat this scourge.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC1138FEB880

Rouhani takes fire from hard-liners for defending nuclear deal

President Hassan Rouhani's latest speech in defense of the Iran nuclear deal prompted a barrage of attacks from hard-liners, who have long demanded he apologize for the "humiliating" accord.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov - RC18D8234850

Iran's Rouhani eases conditions for talks with Trump

Iran's president says sanctions removal alone could initiate a Tehran-Washington dialogue, marking a departure from his earlier position where he strictly demanded the US rejoin the nuclear deal before any negotiation.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives at the EU council in Brussels, Belgium May 15, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman - RC1873ED5BB0

Tehran issues deadline for bypass to US sanctions

Iran is stepping up its pressure on Europe to devise a successful workaround that will provide economic relief from US sanctions.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives to attend a news conference in Tehran, Iran August 5, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC16176AD180

Zarif says he was sanctioned for refusing to meet Trump

Iran’s foreign minister claims he was warned in New York that if he refused to meet Trump at the White House he would be sanctioned.

Division threatens Islamic Dawa after Maliki’s reelection

The Islamic Dawa Party could on the verge of division after the reelection of Nouri al Maliki as its secretary-general; however, many party leaders see the party as continuing to be a strong and unified one.

Israeli Air Force F-35 flies during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel December 26, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1B826A4350

Tinderbox: Israeli military attacks in Iraq could complicate US strategy in Middle East

Washington may need to draw some red lines to protect its larger regional interests.

Iranian former vice president and candidate for parliamentary election Mohammad Reza Aref waves after casting his ballot with his wife (C) during elections for the parliament and Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader, in Tehran February 26, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - GF10000324086

Why Iran's Reformists are disillusioned with one of their own

The political maneuvering of Reformist leader Mohammad Reza Aref has already cost him a bid for the presidency two years before the race begins.