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Iran

October 13, 2026

Tehran 5:39 am

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In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian shake hands during a meeting in Turkmenbashi on Oct. 8, 2026.

Analysis

Putin offers to help end Iran war, but can Russia deliver?

As Washington and Tehran weigh their next moves, Moscow is seeking a diplomatic foothold in a war where influence may prove harder to convert into concrete results.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump speaks at the "Golden Age of American Innovation Summit" at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Oct. 8, 2026.

Trump offers Iran path to nuclear deal while keeping up military pressure

Iran has previously discussed compromises on enrichment.

GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA - OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up an appearance at a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on October 05, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska. Trump is campaigning for incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Gov. Jim Pillen ahead of the November midterm elections. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

Deal or war? Israel fears fallout from Trump’s next move on Iran

Israel is struggling to decipher the White House’s intentions toward Iran, given Washington's contradictions around launching a fresh military campaign.

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

A Baluch Iranian man rides a bicycle in Zahedan, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan on Dec. 18, 2025, during a media tour organized by the Iranian government.

Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province witnesses uptick in attacks

Iranian authorities accuse foreign-backed armed groups of being behind a string of deadly attacks in the southeast, amid concerns about the resumption of war with the United States.

Latest News

Trump says no Iran strikes before midterms amid ‘productive’ talks

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 7, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Pezeshkian to meet Putin as Iran looks to Russia for support: What to know

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, on Sept. 1, 2026.

Meet Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, Iran's defense minister nominee

An undated image of Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi.

Iran joins SCO drill as China resists direct intervention in US-Iran war

Kyrgyz servicemen take part in the "Eurasia-Antiterror 2023" joint military drills

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

Yahya Sinwar (C), the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, arrives for the opening of a new mosque in Rafah town in the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2017. / AFP / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran pulls Palestine from the margins

The Iranian leadership turns out in force for Palestinian conference; Turkey’s victory in al-Bab may be a prelude to a showdown with the Syrian Kurds.

Why Iran wants Palestine back on regional agenda

Iran hosts a conference in support of the Palestinian intifada as it seeks to put the Palestinian cause back at the top of its regional agenda.

Foreign ministers, Mevlut Cavusoglu (2nd L) of Turkey and Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) of Iran, attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia, December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov - RTX2VUBT

Is Iran-Turkey tension intentional?

Turkey, while seeking to access Gulf funds and boost its defense industry exports, has risked economic relations with Iran — but the risk could also hold opportunity.

Riot police stand in front of demonstrators during a protest demanding an overhaul of the elections’ supervision commission ahead of provincial elections due in September, in Baghdad,Iraq February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTSY5AH

Shiite political differences widen gap between Najaf, Qom

The political differences between Qom and Najaf clerics indicate a sharp conflict between the two schools after Ali al-Sistani, whose death will create a broad vacuum in the Shiite scene.

Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar attends a rally in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip January 7, 2016. The rally, organized by Hamas movement, was held to honor the families of dead Hamas militants, who Hamas's armed wing said participated in imprisoning Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, organizers said. Shalt was abducted by militants in a cross-border raid in 2006, and was released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX21FPI

Has Hamas completely forgotten Saudi Arabia?

The appointment of Yahya Sinwar as Hamas’ head in the Gaza Strip undermines the rapprochement between the movement and Saudi Arabia, while drawing Iran closer to the Palestinian resistance.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

Nominee for Health Minister Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi speaks to lawmakers in parliament in Tehran September 1, 2009. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN POLITICS) - RTR27BK4

Will this woman become Iran’s first female president?

In a remarkable twist, Iranian Reformists appear to eagerly welcome the potential candidacy of female Principlist Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi in the upcoming presidential elections.

President-elect Donald Trump, left, and President Barack Obama arrive for Trump's inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S. January 20, 2017. REUTERS/J. Scott Applewhite/Pool - RTSWJEB

Was Obama lost opportunity for Iran-US relations?

Iran’s foreign minister believes that recent criticism by Iran’s neighbors stems from their regional failures.

Freed Palestinian Hamas leader Yehia Sinwar (C) greets supporters following his release from an Israeli jail at a welcome tent near his home in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 19, 2011. The Palestinian Hamas movement exchanged Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who spent more than five years of isolation in a Gaza hide-out, for hundreds of Palestinian militants being held in Israeli jails. AFP PHOTO/SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Food vs. guns: Will Hamas chose Egypt or Iran?

The military wing of Hamas in Gaza pressures the new boss Yahya Sinwar to mend ties with Iran, while the residents of the Gaza Strip need the assistance of Egypt against the misery of the long closure.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 12, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo - RTX2FG6N

Can Iran's Khamenei rule out ‘national reconciliation’?

Despite his stated skepticism of the idea of national reconciliation, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may in effect be maneuvering to decide the terms of such a reconciliation.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sits in a chair after addressing the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR38G44

Is Ahmadinejad defying Khamenei’s 'advice' to abandon ambitions?

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is believed to be back in the game with his former deputy’s announcement that he intends to run in the upcoming presidential elections.

Protesters shout anti-Iran slogans and hold placards in front of the Iranian embassy on December 16, 2016, in Istanbul, during a demonstration against Iranian involvement in the siege of Aleppo, the latest in a series of demonstrations in Europe over the Syria crisis.
Turkey has provided support to the Syrian opposition and repeatedly called for Assad to go. Protests have been staged in several European cities as the horror in Aleppo has unfolded, with reports of atrocities including summary executions.
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Turkish-Iranian rivalry hits peak as Syria talks kick off

Both countries accuse each other of destabilizing the region and undermining security in Iraq and Syria.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (C) walks with Malta's Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi (R) at the prime minister's office at Auberge de Castille in Valletta June 24, 2010.
REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi (MALTA - Tags: POLITICS) MALTA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN MALTA - RTR2FNQR

Israel defense minister: We must coordinate moves with Trump

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman confirmed that he still supports a two-state solution, but one involving population as well as land swaps and as one part of a regional agreement.