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Iran

August 19, 2026

Tehran 3:44 pm

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Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz

Analysis

How failing US-Iran diplomacy is giving way to fresh confrontation

Iran's dismissal of secret talks with Washington comes as diplomacy is in impasse, the Strait of Hormuz remains contested and Iranian commanders signal a potentially more aggressive military posture.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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A woman prepares tea at a booth representing Iran at the 49th International Tourism Fair (ITB Berlin 2015) in Berlin on March 4, 2015. 10 096 exhibitors from 186 countries attend the fair that runs until March 8, 2015 in the German capital. AFP PHOTO / TOBIAS SCHWARZ (Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's tea tradition

Though tea came late to Iran, it has become ubiquitous in daily life in the country.

An Iranian man holds a photo of late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, while listening to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani delivering a speech on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the death of Islamic revolutionary leader Khomeini, at Khomeini's mausoleum in a suburb of Tehran on June 3, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

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A helicopter from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) hovers over an Iranian patrol ship during a transit through the Strait of Hormuz, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh (GULF - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR2XU5R

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Yemen's Foreign Minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla speaks to the media during a news conference by the Mission of Yemen in Geneva, Switzerland, June 17, 2015. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy - RTX1GWX6

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EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

An anti-U.S. mural is seen on a wall of a government building in central Tehran October 12, 2011. U.S. authorities said on Tuesday that they had broken up a plot by two men linked to Iran's security agencies to kill the Saudi envoy, Adel al-Jubeir. One man was arrested last month while the other was believed to be in Iran. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tag

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Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili attends a news conference after the talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Almaty, April 6, 2013. World powers and Iran remained far apart after ending two days of intensive talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on Saturday, the European Union's foreign policy chief said, prolonging a stand-off that risks spiralling into a new Middle East war. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTXYAOV

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WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 08: Acting U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf conducts a daily press briefing at the State Department April 8, 2015 in Washington, DC. Harf spoke on various topics including the Iran nuclear deal. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Iranians follow trucks carrying coffins towards Tehran's Baharestan square on June 16, 2015 during a funeral procession for 270 victims of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) (175 of them belonging to a group of military divers), a month after their bodies were repatriated to Iran. The divers were responsible for breaking the enemy lines during an operation in 1986 with the aim of taking Basra in southern Iraq, but the operation was discovered by the Iraqi army that killed a large number of Iranian military and m

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EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iranian protesters remove a satellite dish from a building near the gate of the British Embassy in Tehran November 29, 2011. Dozens of young Iranian men entered buildings inside the British embassy compound in Tehran on Tuesday, throwing rocks, petrol bombs and burning documents looted from offices, Iranian news agencies reported. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN

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Iran's President Hassan Rouhani gives a news conference on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York September 26, 2014. Rouhani said on Friday "courageous decisions" must be made to clinch a long-term nuclear agreement and that any deal without the lifting of all sanctions against Tehran was "unacceptable". REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47VNA

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Iran's Mahdi Aliyarifeizabadi celebrates beating China's Xiao Di in their men's Greco-Roman 98 kg gold medal wrestling match at Dowon Gymnasium during the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: SPORT WRESTLING) - RTR48BNP

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