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August 7, 2026

Tehran 7:43 am

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Explainer

Iran-Oman deal spurs Hormuz hopes as Red Sea threats evolve

Iran has signaled that an agreement was reached with Oman establishing a Hormuz shipping route even as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea expand.

Latest News

US stock markets soar to new records amid Hormuz deal hopes

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US lifts sanctions on Iraqi airline linked to Iran's IRGC: What to know

A memorial depicting Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the "Quds Force" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who was killed by a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020, is pictured at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on April 6 defied threats from the US President to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Ima

Trump’s strategy on Iran may pay off as deal appears imminent

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport on Aug. 2, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey.

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

Presidents Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Vladimir Putin of Russia arrive for a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, September 16, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1D1AF89BB0

The Takeaway: October 9, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump shows maps of Syria and Iraq depicting the size of the "ISIS physical caliphate" as he speaks to workers while touring the Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP) Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, the country's only remaining tank manufacturing plant, in Lima, Ohio, U.S., March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC139DF142F0

Congress pushes Trump to get tough on Idlib

Congress is calling on the State Department to get tougher on calling out reported Syrian war crimes as forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime attempt to advance deeper into Idlib, one of the opposition’s last holdouts in the war-torn country.

Iran's supreme leader vows to continue cuts to nuclear deal commitments

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised that Iran will take further steps back from its nuclear-related commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Demonstrators gather as they take part in a protest over unemployment, corruption and poor public services, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RC1257F735D0

As anti-Iran sentiments rise, protests erupt in Iraq

Thousands of angry young Iraqis took to the streets, calling for dignity, transparency and services.

Abbas Araqchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs (R), Behrouz Kamalvandi, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman (L) and Iran's government spokesman Ali Rabiei attend a news conferenece in Tehran, Iran July 7, 2019. Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC188882BBC0

Iran welcomes Saudi signals for de-escalation

Archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to be closer to de-escalating tensions that have recently risen to all-time highs.

Regional powers jockey for influence in Deir ez-Zor protests

Recent protests in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor, split between pro-regime and SDF forces, have raised questions about who will eventually exert control over the region, as heavily restricted access for independent journalists means information coming out of the area is scarce and narratives diverge.

Iranian Muslim teacher Noushin Beigi (R) and an Armenian schoolboy gesture during a mathematics class at the Armen school, in the Julfa neighbourhood in the historic city of Isfahan, some 400 kms south of the capital Tehran, on April 20, 2015. Julfa neighborhood in Isfahan is where the biggest Armenian community in Iran resides and was established as an Armenian quarter by Persian Safavid King Shah Abbas I in 1606. Some 180.000 Armenians were living in Iran before the Islamic revolution in 1979, compared t

Iran's Ministry of Education fails to deliver on promises

Iran's education system needs stability at its upper levels of management, as well as an infusion of new ideas and creative young teachers who are encouraged to rise through the ranks.

U.S. President Donald Trump sits down to a meeting with of Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, including Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R), during their summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC19B4965AE0

Trump intensifies ‘Arab NATO’ talks after Iran strike

The Donald Trump administration is working to push forward with a military alliance of Middle Eastern states as the international community looks to respond to a suspected Iranian attack on a Saudi oil facility.

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 rejects European warning on nuclear deal breaches

Iran appears to be disregarding warnings from Europe against further reductions in its nuclear commitments.

Syrian reconstruction expo draws Russian businesses

Russian companies continue to explore investments in Syria's reconstruction, which could be a boon to them given the Western sanctions against Russia.

Members of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) take part in their graduation ceremony at a military camp in Kerbala, Iraq August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC1D99820E90

US pushes Iraq to integrate Iran-backed PMU militias after strikes

The Donald Trump administration is calling on Iraq to demobilize Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units after renewed rocket strikes hit near the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Iraq's president Barham Salih addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - HP1EF9P126TEO

Iraqi president gives priority to job opportunities for youth, calls corruption 'political economy of conflict'

Iraqi President Barham Salih, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, says that in the present climate "talking about another war is just madness."