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Iran

August 19, 2026

Tehran 7:03 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

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.

UAE halts all trade ties with Iran after missile attack

The incident follows the UAE blaming Iran for strikes on ADNOC vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

United Arab Emirates

Leon Neal/Getty Images

Oil nears $92 on UAE missile alert as Trump claims Iran talks stuck

Brent crude climbed near $92 a barrel on Tuesday, reaching its highest level this month amid new escalatory developments.

United Arab Emirates

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Iran says understanding reached with Oman over new Hormuz route map

Ships are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 10, 2026, off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Explainer

Why Iran targeted Barzani family stronghold in Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after explosions were heard and air defences activated near the airport in Erbil, on July 24, 2026.

Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it 'gets in the way' of US-Iran deal

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence on Aug. 14, 2026 in Garden City, New York.

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R), accompanied by Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, attends a meeting with the BRICS countries' senior officials in charge of security matters at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 26, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTX1EM1D

Russia and the nuclear-free zone

While Russia blames the US, the UK and Canada for not supporting a recent international agreement on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm is said to be exploring the options of providing Saudi Arabia with a nuclear power plant.

US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L) and US Secretary of State John Kerry wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 28, 2015. The foreign ministers of France and Germany joined the top U.S. and Iranian diplomats on Saturday to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations as major powers and Iran closed in on a 2- or 3-page accord that could form the basis of a long-term deal. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4V9Q6

Capitol Hill counts down days until Iran nuclear deadline

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of June 1.

Arezoo Abassi (C) walks along a street in Tehran June 24, 2007, three weeks after undergoing nose surgery. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN) - RTR1R44J

Unlicensed cosmetic surgery on rise in Iran

As the popularity of cosmetic surgery increases in Iran, low-cost, unlicensed clinics have increased as well.

Kerry counselor expected to succeed Sherman in key job

State Department Counselor Tom Shannon, a former US ambassador to Brazil, is expected to be picked to succeed Wendy Sherman as under secretary of state, US officials tell Al-Monitor.

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

Construction cranes work on a high rise buildings in the foothills of the Alborz mountains in north Tehran April 15, 2010. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked 5 million Tehranis to evacuate the capital since they know their sprawling metropolis is due for a massive earthquake. When the last major earthquake hit, in 1831, Tehran was tiny compared to the metro

Will Iran's new mortgage plan stimulate housing market?

New plans to increase the ceiling for mortgages in Iran creates unnecessary bureaucracies and is not enough to stimulate demand in the housing market.

Members of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi (up-R) and head of the Guardian Council, Ahmad Janati (up-C), attend a session to appoint a new chairman on March 10, 2015 in Tehran. The Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, picked the ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi as their new chairman in a surprise appointment. AFP PHOTO / BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran MPs try to sidestep Guardian Council oversight

Iranian MPs attempted to pass a bill that would reduce the Guardian Council's powers in the 2016 parliamentary elections.

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

Leading Iranian reformist Saeed Hajjarian is helped to a seat in his home after he was released from prison in Tehran September 30, 2009. Iran freed the senior reformer, accused of fomenting opposition protests after a disputed presidential election in June, on bail on Wednesday after more than three months in detention. REUTERS/Yalda Moaiery/ISNA (IRAN POLITICS) FOR EDI

Reformist media welcomes rare appearance of Hajjarian

The presence of Saeed Hajjarian, the main Reformist theoretician, has energized Reformist media.

FILE PHOTO 2SEP98 - Iranian revolutionary guards lineup while participating in military manoeuvres held near the Afganistan border September 2. [Iran's Ground Forces commander Brigadier General Abdolali Pourshasb said September 12 in a news conference in Tehran "our policy is defensive. We do not intend to commit aggression against any country .... but we are ready to answer any move by the Taliban with a full power." Pourshasb also said that Iran would hold a military exercise near Afghan border in late S

What's behind Taliban's trip to Tehran?

A visit to Tehran by a Taliban delegation has sparked wild speculation, especially since administration officials were unable to confirm the event.

Shi'ites chant slogans during a rally following Friday's suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque, at Qatif, in east Saudi Arabia May 23, 2015. A suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers on Friday in the packed Shi'ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, residents and the health minister said, the first attack in the kingdom to be claimed by Islamic State militants. More than 150 people were praying when the huge explosion ripped through the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, witnesses said. Picture taken May 2

Shiites reel from attack in Saudi province

Saudi authorities need to curb hate speech against Shiites and take positive action to help its Shiite community, as well.

France's ambassador to the U.N. Gerard Araud (R) shows his German counterpart Peter Wittig the French newspaper Le Monde's website on his iPad during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations in New York April 14, 2012. The U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously authorized the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor the country's fragile ceasefire. Russia and China joined the other 13 council members and voted in favor of the Western-Arab draft resolution. REUTERS/Allison

EU envoys: Iran talks may go beyond June 30 deadline

European diplomats said May 26 that progress was slow in drafting a final Iran nuclear accord and predicted talks would go down to the June 30 deadline or beyond.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano (R) welcomes Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi in his offfice at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna February 24, 2015. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader (AUSTRIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR4QWK7

Has Iran already accepted inspections at military sites?

Some parliament members claim that Iran has already accepted inspections at its military sites, despite denials by Iran's nuclear negotiators.

A security personnel stands in front of the Mahshahr petrochemical plant in Khuzestan province,1032 km (641 miles) southwest of Tehran, September 28, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY INDUSTRIAL) - RTR2RYWC

What will happen once Iran's assets are unfrozen?

The repatriation of Iran's $120 billion in blocked assets must be paced and rational to avoid negative consequences for its economy, and Tehran must make investment decisions based on technocratic approaches as opposed to political and ideological ones.