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Iran

August 20, 2026

Tehran 2:04 am

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Explainer

Iraq seeks special Hormuz access from Iran in scramble to keep oil flowing

As Iran's parliament speaker holds talks in Baghdad, Iraq has asked Tehran for special consideration for its oil exports.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference at the site where Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by a US airstrike in 2020 near the airport upon his arrival in Baghdad, on Aug. 19, 2026.

Iran’s Ghalibaf makes high-level visit to Iraq ahead of disarmament deadline

The Iraqi parliament speaker is calling on his Iranian counterpart to help Iraq export oil through Hormuz amid the regional conflict.

Pedestrians walk past a billboard depicting Iran's late Supreme Leaders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2026.

With talks stalled, Iran ups threats against Gulf, Europe: What to know

The threats have raised concerns that the conflict between Iran and the United States could expand beyond the region.

Latest News

Analysis

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

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

UAE halts all trade ties with Iran after missile attack

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.

United Arab Emirates

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

Leon Neal/Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

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 President Hassan Rouhani arrives to attend the closing statement for the Asian-African Conference in Jakarta April 23, 2015.
REUTERS/Darren Whiteside - RTX19YAE

Rouhani ignores domestic political reforms

The nuclear negotiations have taken up a great deal of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's time, but domestic political reforms are what is needed for long-term change.

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

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (L) meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran June 26, 2011. REUTERS/Khamenei.ir (IRAN)
- Tags: POLITICS) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR2O49U

Iran, Sudan fall out over Yemen

The Saudi Arabian-led coalition against the Houthi rebels in Yemen has tested the decadeslong ties between Iran and Sudan.

Tourists and Israelis walk past Lepejian ceramics shop, which specializes in making traditional hand painted Armenian pottery, on April 17, 2015 at the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. Armenians around the world will mark on April 24, 2015 the centenary of the World War I-era mass killings of their kin by Ottoman Turks in what they insist was a genocide -- a term fiercely rejected by Turkey. AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Why is Israel still silent on Armenian genocide?

Israel has not joined the EU Parliament and the pope in officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, partly because of its strategic alliance with Azerbaijan against Iran.

Cherry trees are in full bloom in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYGQL

Defense bill takes aim at Iran

The must-pass legislation requires Pentagon strategy for countering Iran's "growing unconventional warfare capabilities."

Japan's Ishida Mizuho (R) spikes the ball past Iran's Zare Pouran (L) and Vahedi Langroodi Zahra (C) during the Asian Senior Women's Volleyball championship quarter final between in Hanoi on September 11, 2009. Japan won 3-0 by 25-11, 25-6, 25-7 . AFP PHOTO/HOANG DINH Nam (Photo credit should read HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian women campaign for entry to sporting events

While there was conflicting news that Iran is considering passing a law to allow women into sporting events, there has long been objection to women in stadiums by conservatives.

Saudi students prepare to fly a home-made replica of a jet fighter on April 8, 2015 in Tabuk. The plane was nicknamed "Decisive plane" as a sign of support to Saudi-led coalitions Operation Decisive Storm against the Huthi rebels in Yemen. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ALBUHAISI

(Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ALBUHAISI/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi elites divided on Yemen war

A brief survey of Saudi opinion reveals that many elites consider Operation Decisive Storm a legitimate attempt to halt Iranian expansionism, while some view the intervention in Yemen as a sectarian war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) walks in a courtyard at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne on March 28, 2015 during talks over Iran's nuclear programme. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4V95P

Iran nuclear talks resume

The first Iran nuclear negotiations are due to get underway in Vienna April 22-23 since a framework deal was reached April 2, amid debate in capitals about the provisional accord. US officials say rapid progress was made in the last few months, but two issues still need to be finalized.

A dog is pictured on rubble of a mud house after it collapsed following the earthquake in the town of Mashkeel, southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, near the Iranian border April 18, 2013. The powerful earthquake struck a border area of southeast Iran on Tuesday killing at least 35 people in neighbouring Pakistan, destroying hundreds of houses and shaking buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states. REUTERS/Naseer Ahmed (PAKISTAN - Tags: DISASTER) - RTXYQQ1

Iranians protest killing of stray dogs

After a video surfaced online showing the killing of stray dogs using cruel methods, Iranians held protests across various cities.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) arrives to deliver a statement at the residence of President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem April 20, 2015. Netanyahu will have two more weeks to form a new government after he asked Israel's president on Monday to extend a 28-day period to form a coalition following his election victory. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX19GUA

Why does Netanyahu really want to sabotage the Iran deal?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to introduce non-nuclear-related demands in the negotiations with Iran is being dismissed as lacking credibility.

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

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gives the opening speech during Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. Rafsanjani lost his position on Tuesday as head of an important state clerical body after hardliners criticised him for being too close to the reformist opposition. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITIC

What's Rafsanjani's political future?

Rafsanjani's comments about the situation in Iran's prisons resulted in unprecedented criticisms and may have cemented his political isolation.

Iran's housing bubble

Housing prices in Iran have significantly dropped since mid-2013, most notably in Tehran, where pollution and traffic cause families to move to the suburbs and countryside, while young urbanites seek smaller housing units.

A supporter of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith organization holds a picture of Saudia Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz during a rally in support of Saudi Arabia over its intervention in Yemen, in Lahore April 19, 2015. . REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Saudi Arabia’s deepening isolation in Yemen

Saudi Arabia faces a quagmire in Yemen; a US-Iran “catalogue of cooperation” after a nuclear deal; Iranian activists skeptical on human rights progress; Israel unnerved by Russian decision on missile sale to Iran; the Good Friday massacre in Aleppo; is Erdogan shifting from sectarianism?