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Iran

May 17, 2026

Tehran 7:56 am

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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

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (R) hands out documents to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani after presenting his budget for 2018-2019 on December 10, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Protests in Iran unlikely to bring about change

Despite their sudden spread, protests in Iran are unlikely to instigate the change that demonstrators desire.

Ahmed al-Asadi, spokeman for Shi'ite paramilitary group Hashd Shaabi, speaks during a news conference in Baghdad, July 2, 2015. Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State militants from most of the northern town of Baiji and hope to drive them from the nearby oil refinery within days, a spokesman for the Shi'ite militias leading the fight said on Thursday. Al-Asadi said there were still "pockets of resistance" to the northeast and northwest of the town, and Islamic State fighters were trying to launch attacks

Pro-Iran PMU factions prepare for electoral battle in Iraq

Segments of the Popular Mobilization Units close to Iran are forming an alliance to participate in Iraq's upcoming elections.

Cryptocurrencies could offer Iran way around sanctions

While the rise of cryptocurrencies potentially offers Iran a way around the web of sanctions, much remains to be done for the country to be able to fully take advantage of such an opportunity.

Iranian women no longer face jail for dress code violations

Iranian police will no longer round up poorly veiled women and take them to detention centers.

A picture taken on August 14, 2016 in a abandoned village near the southern Iranian city of Sirjan shows dead pistachio trees at a field that farmers left behind due to the lack of water.
The pistachio trees at the village in southern Iran are long dead, bleached white by the sun -- the underground water reserves sucked dry by decades of over-farming and waste. The last farmers left with their families 10 years ago, and the village has the look of an abandoned Martian colony. / AFP / ATTA KENARE / TO GO WIT

Soil degradation neglected crisis in Iran

Rapid degradation of soil is costing Iran billions of dollars each year as well as threatening national security.

TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 26: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei casts the first ballot in key elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Iran, on February 26, 2016. Mr. Khamenei called on Iranians to vote en masse to "ruin the hopes of the enemies." The vote is essentially a referendum on the agenda of centrist President Hassan Rouhani, whose allies are trying to ease the grip of hardliners over many levers of government. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Iran's supreme leader lashes out at Ahmadinejad

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei entered the fray as verbal clashes between former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the judiciary chief intensified.

Israeli soldiers from the Golani Brigade take part in a military training exercise in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria on January 19, 2015. Iran confirmed today that a general of its elite Revolutionary Guards died in an Israeli strike on Syria that also killed six members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel adapts to changing strategic reality in Mideast

The Israel Defense Forces believe that excellent intelligence capabilities will determine the fate of Israel’s next war.

Iran gradually moving toward resumed military ties with Europe

Acknowledging that military cooperation with leading European powers is not on the table, Iran is seeking out European middle powers.

Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser turns to the right

Veteran Iranian politician Ali Akbar Velayati appears to be positioning himself to become the head of the Principlist movement.

Rouhani: No one above the law, not even Prophet Muhammad

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calls for more transparency in government-funded institutions, saying laws must be applied impartially.

A view of Haj Omran border between Iran and Kurdistan, Iraq October 14, 2017. Picture taken October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1DF1E5DF00

Iran willing to normalize ties with KRG, but not without change

Having helped bring the Iraqi Kurdish leadership to its knees, Tehran has increased its sway over the future of Iraqi Kurdistan.

A view of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen August 16, 2017. Picture taken August 16, 2017. To match Special Report YEMEN-SAUDI/BLOCKADE REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad - RC11826AF340

US says Saudis agree to lift blockade on key Yemen port

The Saudis announced they will lift a blockade on a key Yemen port after growing pressure from the Trump administration.