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Iran

October 15, 2026

Tehran 12:34 pm

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Ships are docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on July 14, 2026.

Analysis

What's behind Iran’s intensifying attacks on shipping in Hormuz?

With renewed tanker attacks, Tehran is betting to make Hormuz passage costly enough for Washington and strengthen the tool with election-related pressure President Trump is currently facing.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

This picture shows the border wall between Iran and Afghanistan at the Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan, on Dec. 17, 2025.

Iran’s IRGC says 5 killed in Baluchistan after dismantling ‘militant cell’: What to know

Iran’s IRGC announced a new operation against armed militants in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which is witnessing almost daily attacks and clashes.

A giant electoral poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party with the slogan "no surrender" is displayed on the facade of a building in Tel Aviv on Sept. 29, 2026

Exclusive

In bid to win over Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may strike Yemen before elections

Attacks on Iran or its Yemeni proxy before the elections cannot be ruled out, but the Israeli prime minister appears more inclined to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Yemen.

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

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

Latest News

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

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.

Analysis

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

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)

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

Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province witnesses uptick in attacks

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.

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.

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

Why this election of Iran's Assembly of Experts is more important than ever

The next Assembly of Experts is also being selected this election season, and this one has a good chance of determining the next supreme leader of Iran.

'Special messages' aside, Iran's S-300 missiles still up in air

Despite the increasing regional cooperation between Iran and Russia, the Tehran-Moscow relationship is marred by distrust over the long-stalled S-300 air defense missile deal.

How one Kurdish woman went from child soldier to Swedish lawmaker

Swedish parliamentarian Amineh Kakabaveh tells Al-Monitor about her remarkable journey from Kurdish guerrilla camps in Iraq’s mountains to the rostrum of European politics.

Iranian women take part in a reformist campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tehran February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX27UFB

Everything you need to know about this week's elections in Iran

Thousands of contenders are rushing to make use of Iran's short campaigning window in a contest that will determine crucial support for President Hassan Rouhani's policy efforts.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a giant screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs' Leader Day in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTX278R4

Does Hezbollah seek Israel’s elimination? 'Not so,' says Nasrallah

Hezbollah leader says group will not open new front against Israel; Turkey’s two-front war; battles for Aleppo “unlike any others”; Saudi military exercise provides distraction.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Tunis, Tunisia November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - RTS6SST

Kerry sells foreign aid budget

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 22.

Iranian women holding electoral signs attend a reformist campaign for upcoming parliamentary election, in Tehran February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX27KCQ

Among Iranian Reformists, hope goes hand in hand with pragmatism

How do Iranian Reformists see the future of their country — including the prospect of change — in the aftermath of the nuclear deal?

How Iran's supreme leader prepares for election day

The website for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published a number of fatwas about the elections.

Hamas and Iran: New era, new rules

After a cooling of ties following the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Hamas appears to be moving to restore its relations with Iran.

Iranian anti-narcotics policemen protect themselves from blowing sand at a police barracks on the border with Afghanistan near Zabol, 1,605 kilometers (1,003 miles) southeast of Tehran May 20, 2009. Iran, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Afghanistan, is a conduit for smuggling drugs to the West from its insurgency-ridden neighbour. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTXKMQR

Iran struggles with border security

An IRGC commander says the elite Saberin Unit has provided Iran with security on its borders.

Is Iran really ready for foreign investment?

Despite President Hassan Rouhani’s touting of foreign investment as the savior of the Iranian economy amid low crude prices, the country might not be able to handle the necessary capital inflow.

Former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, recently released from an Iranian prison, steps out of the plane piloted by Mike Karnowski (R), as he arrives at an airport in Flint, Michigan January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook - RTX23GEV

Iran denies US gave money in exchange for prisoners

The spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied accusations by conservative figures and media that the prisoner swap in January was related to the release of $1.7 billion.