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Iran

October 5, 2026

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Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad looks on during the 27th Gas Exporting Countries Forum ministerial meeting, Doha, Qatar, Oct. 23, 2025.

Iran’s economy deteriorates, oil minister resigns, workers protest: What to know

Iran’s oil minister has resigned amid mounting economic pressure from US sanctions and restrictions on the country’s exports.

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office

Analysis

Why Trump-Xi summit did not move the China needle away from Iran

Beijing's incentive to alienate Iran has shrunk as the war has dragged on.

Yun Sun

In Washington, DC, reporting on China-Middle East ties

nyse

Analysis

Gulf oil exports are back, but how durable is recovery?

Middle East oil exports rebounded in September as Tehran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz erodes, but markets have hardly celebrated a crude revival that could prove short-lived.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

Latest News

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

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.

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

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

Analysis

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

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.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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.

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

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland Ville Skinnari meets Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammed Javad Zarif, in Helsinki, Finland, August 19, 2019. Lehtikuva/Markku Ulander via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS - RC1ECD803310

Zarif makes fresh push to save Iran deal, ease Gulf tensions

Iran's foreign minister has embarked on a long journey in search of workable diplomatic solutions to save the battered nuclear deal and resolve heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.

A crew member takes pictures with a mobile phone on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1491345A00

Iran calls for compensation for Gibraltar tanker seizure

Iranian officials have welcomed the release of the Iranian tanker seized by the UK.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson conducts flight operations while underway in the Arabian Gulf in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated April 4, 2011. He may have been America's enemy number one, but after U.S. forces killed him in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was afforded Islamic religious rites by the U.S. military as part of his surprise at-sea burial on Monday. The body was transported to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which brought him to his final resting place somewhere in the north

Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump

The Russian president plans to roll out his regional initiative to calm Gulf tensions next month — but are the United States and the EU ready to let Putin step up in the Gulf?

Is Iran’s national broadcaster being pushed to brink of irrelevance?

Iran's national broadcasting monopoly IRIB continues to play a partisan role in the country.

Hoopla over minor Iranian election may herald big fallout in 2020

A normally negligible local election in the Iranian capital has brought the country’s political groups face to face, revealing that bigger clashes may be ahead as Iran’s 11th parliamentary elections draw near.

Iranian Presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a campaign meeting at the Mosalla mosque in Tehran, Iran, May 16, 2017. REUTERS/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RC174E47D960

Iran judiciary chief defends internal corruption probe

Iran’s judiciary has embarked on an anti-corruption probe that has involved members of the former judiciary team.

Iran reaffirms support for Houthis as rift splits Saudi coalition

Iran's supreme leader has called on Yemen's Houthi rebels to put up tougher resistance to what he deems a Saudi-Emirati conspiracy to partition the war-ravaged country.

Fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (L), amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (C), and fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe transit the Arabian Gulf, according to the U.S. Navy in this picture released on July 24, 2019. Kyle Carlstrom/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS- THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1A0335D650

Zarif says foreign ships making Gulf 'less safe'

Iranian officials continue to push back against the naval presence of the United States and United Kingdom in the Persian Gulf.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends an event marking 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shomron Local Council in the Jewish settlement of Revava in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1F9F7652C0

How the Saudis help Netanyahu in his pre-election campaign

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that by boasting about ties with Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he can distance the conflict with the Palestinians from the election agenda.

TOPSHOT - A fighter of the Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization units) flashes the victory gesture while carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher during the advance through the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, after the Iraqi government announced the launch of the operation to retake it from Islamic State (IS) group control, on August 26, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

As US pressure increases on Iran-backed militias, they turn to Iran

Iran-backed PMU factions are under intense pressure from the Iraqi government and the public, leading them to Iran.

France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani as Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif (3rd R) and other members of the Iranian delegation stand next to them during an official meeting at the Millennium Hotel near the United Nations on September 18, 2017, in New York. / AFP PHOTO / LUDOVIC MARIN (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Rebuking Trump, French FM defends Iran mediation efforts

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian directly rebukes Trump and insists France will continue "mediation efforts" with Iran "to avert a wider conflict."

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.