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Iran

August 16, 2026

Tehran 8:10 pm

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A Baluch Iranian man rides a bicycle

Analysis

Why Iran is intensifying wartime crackdown in restive Baluchistan

A string of security operations in Iran's southeast has underscored Tehran's enduring fears that wartime instability could aggravate longstanding ethnic, sectarian and economic grievances.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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.

Latest News

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

Children swimming in the Strait of Hormuz

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

port attack

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

Taliban insurgents stand over three men, accused of murdering a couple during a robbery, before shooting them during their execution in Ghazni Province April 18, 2015. The Taliban announced the execution of the three men accused of murdering a couple during a robbery, saying they had been tried by an Islamic court. The killing was carried out in front of a crowd by Taliban fighters who fired at the men with AK-47s, according to a Reuters witness. Footage seen by Reuters show the men were made to sit on the

Iran's 'marriage of convenience' with Taliban

Experts say reports of an Iran-backed Taliban buffer zone in Afghanistan against the Islamic State are overstated but that Iran has had links with Taliban commanders for over a decade.

Is Iran about to cut Muqtada al-Sadr loose?

While refraining from breaking with Muqtada al-Sadr and his rebellious followers, Iran is not fully embracing the Iraqi cleric either.

How Iranian conservatives seized Assembly of Experts chairmanship

All of the moderates' calculations were correct ahead of the vote for the chairmanship of Iran’s Assembly of Experts — but they didn't account for one important factor: conservative mobilization.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (C), Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi and Hossein Fereydoon (R), brother and close aide to President Hassan Rouhani meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) at a hotel in Vienna, Austria July 3, 2015. A year and half of nuclear talks between Iran and major powers were creeping towards the finish line on Friday as negotiators wrestled with sticking points including questions about Tehran's past atomic research. R

Did Iran’s president sideline his own brother?

Iranian media are speculating as to why Hossein Fereydoun, brother and special adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, has not attended Cabinet meetings for two months.

Iranians in uproar over executive pay at state-owned company

Leaks of executive pay at Iran’s main state-owned insurance company spark a public backlash, with a hint of what President Hassan Rouhani may face as the country enters election season yet again.

Has Iran-Saudi cyberwar already started?

After an Iranian website was hacked, some Iranian websites are speculating as to whether or not an Iranian-Saudi cyberwar has begun.

US seizure of Iranian assets may open old wounds

One month after the US Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen Iranian assets can be used to compensate families of victims of a 1983 bombing, the Rouhani administration is under mounting pressure to take action.

Stephen Mull, the US State Department's Lead Coordinator For Iran Nuclear Implementation, speaks during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 17, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Does Obama administration oppose key Iran bill?

Congress blows up over the administration's refusal to endorse renewal of the expiring Iran Sanctions Act.

Tehran accuses Israel of holding four Iranians who disappeared 34 years ago

Iran's defense minister said that Israel is holding prisoner the four Iranians who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982.

Hard-line cleric clinches Assembly of Experts leadership

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati has been elected to head Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body that will choose the next supreme leader of Iran.

A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo - RTX2AOPF

What's fueling opposition to Iran's new oil contracts?

The future of a new framework for Iranian oil contracts remains blurry as political infighting seems to be preventing its finalization.

Riot police stand guard while Syrian protesters hold anti-Assad placards in front of the Arab League headquarters in Cairo where a meeting of Arab foreign ministers is taking place September 5, 2012. The placards say, "We are on hunger strike for the sake of the Syrian children". REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR37IEC

Why hasn't Egypt taken a clear stance on Syria?

Since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power two years ago, Egypt has repeatedly stated that it wants to preserve the Syrian state and army, but it has been vague when it comes to voicing an opinion on the regime itself.