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Iran

August 14, 2026

Tehran 2:13 am

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Motorists drive vehicles past a billboard depicting Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei along a street in central Tehran on August 8, 2026. Hopes for an imminent US-Iran deal to end the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz added to optimism that oil and gas, along with other key products, would again start flowing freely after more than five months of war. But oil prices turned higher ahead of the weekend in the absence of any confirmation of an accord, amid reports that Iran was planning to block US and Is

Explainer

What would BRICS Bank membership mean for Iran's reeling economy?

Iran’s Central Bank governor said the country will soon join the New Development Bank as he traveled to India this week for a meeting of the group’s finance leaders.

A photograph obtained from the Iranian Students’ News Agency shows an oil slick along the southern coast of Qeshm Island, Iran, August 13, 2026.

Oil spills off Oman, Iran's Qeshm Island reap environmental havoc amid war

One oil leak off the coast of Oman is estimated to cover more than 772 square miles, devastating local habitats.

Children swimming in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Hormuz authority denies Trump claims of control over strait: What to know

Trump administration officials have said oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are rising, but maritime traffic remains diminished.

Latest News

Hormuz traffic sinks to one-week low as ships attacked, talks stagnate

port attack

Analysis

What Qaani's Baghdad visit reveals about Iran's post-war dilemma

The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Qaani, speaks during a commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani (on screen) in the capital Tehran on Jan. 3, 2024.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

IRGC chief Qaani reportedly in Iraq ahead of militia deadline

Qaani

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

An Iranian military truck carries a smart bomb during a parade on the occasion of the country's Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's missile strikes in Syria send 'message' to region

According to Iranian officials, Tehran's strikes on Islamic State fighters inside Syria carried a wider message.

Shi'ite fighters and Sunni fighters, who have joined Shi'ite militia groups known collectively as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, gesture next to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces in the Iraqi town of Ouja, near Tikrit March 17, 2015. Iraq paused its Tikrit offensive on Monday and officials called for more air strikes against Islamic State militants, while an officer said Kurdish forces sustained two more chlorine gas attacks by insurge

Recapture of Iraq-Syria border point heralds new regional reality

The move by the Iraqi and Syrian governments to link the forces under their command along their border is a new reality on the ground.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt - RTX2GGHH

Iran seizes high ground in Saudi-Qatar dispute

Iran probably can’t believe its luck; is it time for a second look at the Aleppo “narrative”?

Iranians rally behind soccer player suspended over wife’s modeling

The suspension of an Iranian soccer player over his wife’s modeling has led to a public and media outcry.

Members of Iranian forces take position during an attack on the Iranian parliament in central Tehran, Iran, June 7, 2017. Omid Vahabzadeh/TIMA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX39EMR

The real reason Iran is pointing finger at Riyadh for IS attack

Iranian officials have pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia as the culprit behind the attack by the Islamic State on Tehran.

Mohsen Hashemi (C), the son of late former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, attends his father's mourning ceremony at Jamaran mosque in Tehran, on January 8, 2017.
Rafsanjani died in hospital on January 8 after suffering a eart attack. Rafsanjani, who was 82, was a pivotal figure in the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979, and served as president from 1989 to 1997. / AFP / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Rafsanjani's son favorite in battle for Tehran mayorship

Debate about who will succeed outgoing conservative Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has reached a fever pitch as the son of a former president emerges as the most likely candidate.

Iranians check economic diagrams on their laptops while monitoring a stock market activity board at the stock exchange in the capital Tehran on July 27, 2015. Iran's central bank chief said that Iran has assets of $29 billion in overseas banks that could be unlocked under a nuclear deal struck on July 14, far less than reported estimates of over $100 billion. AFP PHOTO / BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's central bank must regulate unlicensed actors

The Central Bank of Iran’s failure to regulate a major segment of the financial sector is putting the country’s economic and social well-being at risk.

Iran's Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar (L), Former Revolutionary Guards commander Yahya Rahim Safavi (C) and Chief of Staff of Iran Armed Forces General Hassan Firoozabadi attend a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of army day in Tehran, April 18, 2009. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said on Saturday a strong Iranian military would help preserve stability in the Middle East, as Iran marked its armed forces' day with a parade that appeared more muted than in the past.
REUTERS/Morteza Ni

Former IRGC commander warns US against attacking Iran

A senior Iranian military official has warned the United States against contemplating an attack on Iran.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 19: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) participates in a discussion about legislation to halt the sale of some weapons to Saudi Arabia at the Center for the National Interest September 19, 2016 in Washington, DC. After the Department of Defense announced the sale of $1.5 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia, Senators Paul, Chris Murphy (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are attempting to block the sale by using a provision of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 that "provides for specia

Congress rebukes Trump over pro-Saudi stance

The US Senate came close to passing a bill prohibiting bomb sales to Riyadh for its war in Yemen amid growing concern about sectarian entanglement.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the death anniversary of the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2017. TIMA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX38ZP7

Iran’s supreme leader voices pessimism about new talks with US

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expresses pessimism about the possibility of talks with the United States to lift non-nuclear sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks to the media in Tbilisi, Georgia, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili - RTS12PQO

Iran maneuvers to capitalize on Qatar crisis

Iran has so far cautiously stood with Qatar amid the Saudi-led confrontation with Doha, but there are indications of this caution's giving way to more assertive Iranian support.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey, May 30, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX387FQ

Erdogan tries to juggle Iran, Saudi Arabia amid Qatar crisis

Retired diplomats say Erdogan’s Qatar policy is driven more by his survival instinct than a rational foreign policy and that Ankara has squandered an opportunity to play a positive role in this crisis.