Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

October 17, 2026

Tehran 11:53 pm

24°C

US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse, New York, on Oct. 9, 2026.

Window for diplomacy with Iran may be closing as Trump again threatens Pickaxe Mountain

Israel still wary of Damascus, writes Ben Caspit from Israel; our correspondent in Tehran and Amberin Zaman explain how Iran and Turkey look to exploit Azerbaijan’s headscarf controversy; Qatar’s top diplomat offers energy assistance to Lebanon, Beatrice Farhat reports from Beirut.

A vessel transits the Gulf of Oman

Analysis

How much oil can cushion another Middle East supply shock?

Global oil inventories stood at 3.35 billion barrels in October, the lowest level on record since January 2017, according to Kpler.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

A woman walks past a wall painting in the colours of the Iranian flag in Tehran on February 25, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How hijab dispute is opening new front in Iran-Azerbaijan tensions

Iran's longstanding unease over Azerbaijan's strategic ties with Israel is spilling into a dispute over religious freedoms and Baku's position in the Islamic world, testing already fragile relations between the two neighbors.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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.

Trump rules out US troops in Iran, leaves Pickaxe Mountain strike on the table

He did not dispute reports that the US military is weighing use of the "mother of all bombs."

Latest News

Female commander in Iran's Basij units assassinated: What to know

People attend the funeral ceremony of Mahan Setareh, a member of the paramilitary Basij force who was killed in the recent Israeli attacks on June 26, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. A cease-fire between Israel and Iran has brought an end to 12 days of daily aerial attacks that started with Israel's strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 13. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Analysis

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

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.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

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.

Exclusive

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

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

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

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

Iran's dos and don'ts for talking about the nuclear deal

Iran's Culture Ministry believes the nuclear negotiations are a national security issue and specific guidelines must be followed in their coverage to prevent divisions in society.

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

Investors look at a computer screen supplying stock market information about listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange September 15, 2010. While U.S. diplomats were busy upping Iran's economic punishment over nuclear activities Washington fears are aimed at making a bomb, Iranian shares, which might have been expected to fall, have, instead, gone through the r

Foreign firms prepare to dive into Iran’s lucrative private equity market

Foreign businesses are scouring Iran in search of investment opportunities when sanctions are finally lifted based on the deal reached on the country's nuclear program.

Hamas visit to Riyadh strikes nerve in Iran

A Hamas delegation recently visited Saudi Arabia to bolster relations between both parties, as Iran fumed.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (2nd L) talks with Vice Foreign Minister of South Korea Kim Kyou-hyun during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul January 21, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17N92

Burns: Implementation key to Iran nuclear deal

The first year of implementation of the Iran nuclear deal will be especially critical to ensuring its success and durability over the long haul, former US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns tells Al-Monitor.

Salehi speaks on 'secret side deal' with IAEA

In an interview with Iranian state television, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, talked about the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency of how the inspections of specific sites will be handled.

Turkish trucks and tankers, shuttling between Turkey and Iraq, queue on a road leading to the Habur border gate in southeastern Turkey, before crossing into Iraq with their goods, February 23, 2008. Turkey's exports to Iraq jumped nine percent last year to $2.8 billion and its influence can be felt across northern Iraq in the form of supermarkets, consumer goods, construction firms and traders from all over Turkey. To match feature TURKEY-IRAQ/CONFLICT REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY) REUTERS/Fatih Saribas

Turkish private sector gears up for Iran push

An end to international sanctions against Iran raises strong commercial prospects for Turkish companies on the Iranian market.

Former Shin Bet chief: Diplomatic stalemate keeps Bibi in power

Yaakov Peri tells Al-Monitor that the Israeli government is stable since the outgoing US administration has formulated its legacy and there is no diplomatic initiative to be opposed by right-wing coalition members.

A Turkish Air Force C-160D Transall transport aircraft takes off from Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, July 26, 2015. Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing on Sunday, the military said, apparently retaliating for Ankara's crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on Islamic State insurgents in Syria. Long a member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Turkey made a dramatic turnaround this week by granting t

Erdogan’s shift on Islamic State linked to Kurdish gains in Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally takes on the Islamic State while attacking PKK bases in northern Iraq; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now the only US ally actively opposing Iran deal; Israel faces pressure to forgo demolition of Palestinian village.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew (L) listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) as they appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington July 23, 2015. U.S. lawmakers skeptical about the nuclear deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration officials to make more information about it public at a Senate hearing on Thursday as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.
REUTERS/Gary Cameron
- RTX1LJNB

Congress gets extra dose of Iran before summer recess

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of July 27.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani leaves after delivering a speech at plenary session during the Asian African Conference in Jakarta April 22, 2015. The 60th Asian-African Conference is held in Jakarta and Bandung from April 19 to 24, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta - RTX19RI1

Post deal, can Rouhani deliver on promises of reform?

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani must tread lightly to ensure economic prosperity after sanctions relief.

Rape of young girl in Iran met with muted response

The incident is raising questions of a double standard media censorship in Iran.

Saudi-Iranian understanding key to nuclear deal's success

The nuclear deal should be a prelude to major coordination between Saudi Arabia and Iran if it is to help bring about peace in the region.