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Iran

August 20, 2026

Tehran 5:46 pm

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AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

Iranian smugglers load goods at the Omani port of Khasab September 26, 2012. Until recently the Iranian boats and their fearless young skippers escorted several cargoes a day across the narrow Strait of Hormuz - loaded with everything from soft drinks to mobile phones and cosmetics - bought in the flourishing trading centres of the United Arab Emirates and sold to merchants in Iran. The proximity of Iran to the UAE and Oman and their historic trade and finance links have supported thriving trade, which in r

Billion dollar smuggling industry drains Iran's economy

Partly due to sanctions, smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and cosmetics is widespread in Iran and some question whether government organizations are implicated.

Houthi fighters stand on a truck as they secure a street where pro-Houthi protesters demonstrated to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR4P71Q

Does Iran really control Yemen?

Statements by Iranian officials about the importance of the rise of Houthis in Yemen demonstrates that Iran would like to give the perception that there is a new member of the axis of resistance.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrives to cast his ballot in Iran's Parliamentary election in Tehran March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN) - RTR1Y9QC

Khamenei agrees with Congress: no deal better than a bad deal

While there's talk of a preliminary deal in March, Iran's supreme leader says he is opposed to a multistep agreement.

U. S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrive to address a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington February 9, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4OW3R

Nuclear negotiators lean in as clock ticks on Iran deal

As the March deadline for a nuclear deal looms, Iran and the P5+1 are down to deliberating enrichment capacity and sanctions relief as well as the duration of a final deal.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks with reporters as he arrives for the weekly Senate Republican caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4P2GJ

Senate aims to set up vote on Iran deal by month's end

The Foreign Relations panel expects to soon vote on legislation that would give Congress a say over a nuclear agreement.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani addresses the audience during a meeting in Ankara June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3T16B

Rouhani challenges Iran deal detractors

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that "only the Zionists" are opposed to a nuclear deal, and those not supporting the negotiators are guilty of "betrayal."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) welcomes Ali Akbar Velayati, former Iranian Foreign Minister, special foreign affairs envoy and a representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, February 8, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov/Pool (RUSSIA) - RTR1M4ZB

Why did Velayati meet with Putin?

Despite points of disagreement on specific issues, Iran and Russia seem to be working diligently to develop a deep and strategic friendship.

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

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University June 19, 2009. Khamenei on Friday demanded an end to street protests that have shaken the country since a disputed presidential election a week ago and said any bloodshed would be their leaders' fault. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN POLITICS ELECTIONS RELIGI

Iran conservatives see defiance in Khamenei speech

While most Iranian media outlets viewed the comments by Iran's supreme leader in a positive light, conservatives in the country are focusing on his comments in which he took a firm stand.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Students wave Iranian national flags as they take part in a rally to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran February 11, 2011. Hundreds of thousands turned out on Friday to mark the 32nd anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution in a rally the clerical establishment billed as a chance to show solidarity with "Islamic" protesters in Egypt. REUTERS/Ra

36 years after the revolution, where is Iran now?

Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution has faced many challenges, with lifespan, access to education and standard of living having improved significantly, while corruption and the country's human rights situation remain a cause of concern.

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

A customer holds a copy of the translated novel "Eleven Minutes" written by the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho at a bookshop in central Tehran January 29, 2011. Iranians are feeling the pinch from radical cuts in state subsidies, a plan President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called "the biggest economic plan in the past 50 years". The cuts in long-standing subsidi

Iranian writers welcome decline of censorship

After eight difficult years of strict censorship under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian writers say that literary freedom is increasing under the new administration.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a conference, launching the Likud party's campaign in Russian, at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv February 9, 2014. Israeli officials are considering amending the format of Netanyahu's planned address to the U.S. Congress next month to try to calm some of the partisan furore the Iran-focused speech has provoked. Netanyahu is due to address a joint session of Congress about Iran's nuclear programme on March 3, just two weeks before Israeli elections, fol

Bibi-Obama duel continues

US and Israeli experts say that an agreement with Iran is not imminent, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on going ahead with his planned Congress speech, while damaging Israel's strategic relations with the United States.

An Israeli soldier speaks on his mobile phone at a military outpost on Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights over looking the Israel-Syria border February 4, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4O8R8

Hezbollah fears being squeezed from Syrian-Israeli borders

With Jabhat al-Nusra controlling the southern border area of Syria and reports on cooperation between the group and Israel, the Syrian-Israeli border has become an area of concern for Hezbollah and Iran.