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Iran

October 13, 2026

Tehran 7:19 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

Controversy surrounds hijab during Swedish visit to Iran

Iranian hard-liners took the government to task for allowing an event where female Swedish diplomats did not wear the hijab, while the Swedish women faced blowback at home too.

Russia’s strategic vision for Israel

Russia considers itself a potential major partner to Israel and a key player in bringing stabilization to the Middle East.

Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich - RTSW1N5

Iran's Zarif criticizes hard-liners for leaks on nuclear talks

In an exclusive interview, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator criticized those attacking the nuclear deal.

Director Asghar Farhadi, Best screenplay award winner for his film "Forushande" (The Salesman), reacts on stage during the closing ceremony of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 22, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSFF3F

How Iran may have just won a second Oscar

Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi’s boycott of the upcoming Academy Awards may conversely help him fetch a second Oscar.

Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo - RTX2O269

Iran chooses Quds Force stalwart for new ambassador to Iraq

Iran has appointed a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official and Quds Force adviser to be its new ambassador in Iraq, raising concerns that Iran plans to strengthen Iraq's Shiite militias in the post-Islamic State era.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool - RTSY99P

What will Netanyahu tell Trump?

With combative coalition partners watching his every move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might focus on the Iranian issue when meeting US President Donald Trump, as this will serve him well in the Israeli public opinion.

Behnam Partopour, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) student from Iran, is greeted by his sister Bahar (L) at Logan Airport after he cleared U.S. customs and immigration on an F1 student visa in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. February 3, 2017. Partopour was originally turned away from a flight to the U.S. following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order travel ban. REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2ZKDO

Iranian academics hit hard by Trump's travel ban

Beyond impacting travelers and their families around the world, the US president's move to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from the United States has crushed academics at home and abroad.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTSXJL3

The colonels shaping Trump's Middle East policy

Who’s who in the Trump NSC: The retired military intelligence officers who helped David Petraeus with the surge in Iraq are now shaping policies for a president who says the United States should have never invaded Iraq.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami waits to make a keynote speech to an audience at a university in Melbourne March 26, 2009. REUTERS/Mick Tsikas (AUSTRALIA POLITICS) - RTXD85S

How Trump could spark 'national reconciliation' in Iran

Former President Mohammad Khatami, sensing that the threat from US President Donald Trump is real, called for national reconciliation.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) yields the briefing room podium to National Security Adviser Michael Flynn February 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Flynn said the White House is "officially putting Iran on notice" for a recent missile test and support for Houthi rebels in Yemen. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Why Iran-US war of words won't turn physical

Despite their escalating rhetoric, neither Iran nor the United States has the incentive nor the ability to take the new cycle of tension to a military confrontation.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and head of Iran TV, Ezzatollah Zarghami, (L) applaud as they attend the 44th General assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcaasting Union in Tehran 03 November 2007. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Could Iran’s next president be former TV boss?

The former head of the Iranian state broadcaster, Ezzatollah Zarghami, is increasingly being touted as a potential Principlist candidate in the May presidential elections.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY STUART WILLIAMS Iranian Hossein Shariatmadari, director of the hardline Kayhan (Universe) newspaper group for the past 15 years, looks on during an interview with AFP at his office in Tehran, 16 September 2007. Ridiculing the latest US threats against Tehran and advocating the need to expose traitors, Shariatmadari remains one of the most ardent champions of Iran's Islamic system. Appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, few in Iran can match Shariatmadari's autho

Iranian hard-liner slams Trump for not tearing up nuclear deal

A prominent hard-liner in Iran has expressed his anger over US President Donald Trump going back on his words about tearing up the nuclear deal.