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Iran

May 16, 2026

Tehran 4:51 pm

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Women shop from a street vendor at Enghelab Square in the capital Tehran on Nov. 11, 2025.

Analysis

From hoarding to unemployment: Iran's economy buckles under US pressure

Iran's fast-rising inflation is driving aggressive state market controls, exposing deeper structural strains from war, sanctions and declining consumer confidence.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Explosions rattled buildings in Dubai and a large cloud of smoke hung over a central area of the Middle East financial hub on March 13, 2026.

Analysis

How the Iran war is exposing a growing Saudi-UAE divide

Reports on Emirati and Saudi strikes suggest Gulf monarchies moved beyond passive defense — but followed sharply different strategies.

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Latest News

Uptick in Chinese tankers transiting Hormuz amid Trump-Xi summit

Jag Vasant, an Indian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that transited through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, remains docked at an offloading terminal along the coast in Mumbai on April 1, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Iran looms large over Trump’s China visit, but breakthrough unlikely

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump (C) is escorted by China's Vice President Han Zheng (R) upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

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

Iranian media abuzz over sudden Tehran mayor resignation

The sudden resignation of Tehran’s Reformist mayor has surprised Reformist media and political activists alike.

The path to a nuclear-free Middle East

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should understand that he cannot forge a unified front with Saudi Arabia against the Iran-led Shiite axis while thwarting Saudi plans for commercial nuclear energy.

Kuwaiti Shiites gather before the Iranian embassy in Kuwait City on March 7, 2018 to demonstrate calling for the release of Iranian Shiite cleric Hossein al-Shirazi, who was arrested in the Iranian Shiite holy city of Qom a month prior. / AFP PHOTO / YASSER AL-ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran risks losing clout in Iraq by arresting Shiite cleric Shirazi

The arrest in Iran of cleric Hussein Shirazi, who belongs to an influential religious family in Iraq, sparked outrage and protests among his supporters in several countries.

Saudi soldiers stand in line at an airfield where Saudi military cargo planes land to deliver aid in Marib, Yemen January 26, 2018. Picture taken January 26, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RC1D0C8D9D00

No end to Yemen war in sight as Saudi Arabia, Iran lock horns

The war in Yemen drags on even as it continues to bleed Saudi Arabia while increasing international pressure on Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson look up during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1F667E9200

Iranian media compares Trump to Ahmadinejad amid Tillerson dismissal

Iranian media draw parallels between President Donald Trump and Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amid the dismissal of Rex Tillerson.

Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) arrives to testify before a Senate Intelligence hearing on his nomination of to be become director of the CIA at Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC139B6C6070

Iran deal advocates prepare to battle Pompeo nomination

President Trump’s pick to replace Rex Tillerson at the State Department has called the Iran agreement “disastrous” and threatened military action against Iran.

A Syrian army soldier is seen securing Syrian Arab Red Crescent trucks carrying aid at the entrance of Wafideen camp in Damascus, Syria March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC12D8D4A5F0

Pentagon braces for emboldened Iran after Syria gains

The Pentagon’s top commander in the Middle East told lawmakers today that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s gains in the yearslong civil war will bolster Iran’s ability to frustrate US aims in the region.

Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, speaks during a meeting of the Federal National Council in Abu Dhabi, January 22, 2013. REUTERS/Ben Job (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: POLITICS) - GM1E91M1H1I01

Turkish-Arab ties marked by fear and loathing

A senior Turkish diplomat says Ankara misread the Middle East and ended up relying on Iran and its backer Russia, the two countries that Arab regimes fear the most.

United Arab Emirates

Outspoken Iranian pro-reform professor sentenced to jail

A prominent pro-reform professor is sentenced to jail in Iran as two ministers survive impeachment votes in parliament.

Iran says IS resurgence could hamper oil deal with Iraq

An Iranian official warns that numerous attacks in Iraq have created security concerns that are preventing the countries from completing their oil deal, but some Iraqis think the Kurdistan Regional Government has engineered the situation because it no longer controls the oil.

European pressure over missiles unites Iranian hardliners, moderates

Iran appears impervious to the increasing pressure from the United States and Europe to negotiate over its regional policies and missile program.

TOPSHOT - An Iranian woman raises her fist amid the smoke of tear gas at the University of Tehran during a protest driven by anger over economic problems, in the capital Tehran on December 30, 2017.
Students protested in a third day of demonstrations sparked by anger over Iran's economic problems, videos on social media showed, but were outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. / AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

One ‘spark’ could reignite protests, warns Iran’s interior minister

Iran’s interior minister discussed the findings of a report dissecting the reasons for the Iranian protests in December and January.