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October 20, 2026

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi upon his arrival in Tehran on Oct. 19, 2026.

Lavrov visits Tehran as Trump praises Russia's role on Iran: What to know

During a meeting with his Iranian counterpart earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed Moscow’s offer to mediate between Tehran and Washington.

shoppers walking through the Tajrish Bazaar, a traditional market in Tehran

Analysis

As Iran’s oil lifeline runs dry, can it outlast Trump's economic siege?

The country's last barrels of crude stockpiled beyond the reach of a US naval blockade fell to zero in October, raising the stakes for Tehran amid mounting economic distress.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi holds a press conference in Tehran on November 30, 2025.

Analysis

Turkey turns to Iran to contain Houthis as Saudi defense commitments grow

Ankara is trying to contain the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis through Tehran’s help, but Iran may see an advantage in allowing the Houthis to maintain pressure on the kingdom.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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.

Latest News

Analysis

How much oil can cushion another Middle East supply shock?

A vessel transits the Gulf of Oman

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

Analysis

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

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)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

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.

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)

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

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Geneva January 14, 2015. Zarif said on Wednesday that his meeting with Kerry was important to see if progress could be made in narrowing differences on his country's disputed nuclear program. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4LDW2

Negotiators: 'Time cannot be wasted' at Iran nuclear talks

US and Iranian negotiators met in Geneva to discuss a nuclear deal, though a new Republican-led US Congress might complicate a potential deal domestically.

Iranian killed in Iraq subject of 2009 controversy

An Iranian killed in Iraq was incorrectly labelled a Lebanese Hezbollah commander by activists during the 2009 election protests, and some news reports of his death still contain the error.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud sits before a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the Royal Palace in Jeddah September 11, 2014. The United States signed up Arab allies on Thursday to a "coordinated military campaign" against Islamic State fighters, a major step in building regional support for President Barack Obama's plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier. After talks in Saudi Arabia's summer capital Jeddah, Kerry won backing from 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq,

Some Shiites link Saudi king's health to end-times

Some Shiite scholars believe that the Saudi king's death will signal the resurrection of the Mahdi and the beginning of the end-times.

Speaker of the House John Boehner addresses the members of the 114th Congress after being re-elected as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives at the start of the 114th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington January 6, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4KAI9

US House preps its own Iran sanctions bill

The lower chamber says it won't just pass whatever bill the Senate comes up with.

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 Iranian woman stands in a currency exchange shop in northern Tehran January 3, 2012. The Iranian rial fell to a record low against the dollar on Tuesday following U.S. President Barack Obama signing a bill on imposing fresh sanctions against the country's central bank. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR2VU75

Action needed to reform Iranian banks

Poor economic conditions have led to a crisis of non-performing loans for Iranian banks.

A boy holds up flags of the Shi'ite Houthi movement during a ceremony commemorating the birth of Prophet Mohammed in Sanaa January 3, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4JYNI

Iran’s shallow influence in Yemen

Iran believes its influence is spreading to a new country with the rise of the Houthis in Yemen in September 2014; however, Yemen is different from other Iranian-influenced countries (Syria, Lebanon and Iraq), where sectarian compositions differ.

Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi (L) speaks to the press during his meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano (unseen) in Tehran on November 11, 2013. Amano arrived in the Iranian capital to discuss Iran's nuclear programme after top world diplomats fail to clinch a long-sought deal to curb Tehran's nuclear activities but insist they are narrowing the gaps. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images

Iran presents enrichment needs ahead of talks

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization has discussed the next step in nuclear negotiations and Iran's fuel needs on Iranian television.

Dempsey says Iran’s role in Iraq might be 'positive'

Americans consider Islamic State, not Iran, as top threat to US in Mideast; terrorists in Syria planning “mass casualty attacks” in West; Salafists in Gaza look to Islamic State.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani looks on as he chairs the 28th International Islamic Unity Conference in the capital Tehran on January 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Divisions in Iran stall nuclear deal, says ex-US negotiator

Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Iran Foreign Minister Zarif in Geneva Jan. 14, ahead of a new round of nuclear talks.

A fighter from the Shi'ite Badr Brigade militia wears a religious flag as he fires towards the air at a checkpoint recently taken from militants of the Islamic State outside the town of Amerli September 5, 2014. The highway, which continues south to Baghdad, is now controlled by Shi'ite militia fighters and the Kurdish Peshmerga. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR45475

Iran's new group in Iraq: Saraya al-Khorasani

Saraya al-Khorasani appears to have more direct contact and cooperation with Iran than other groups and militias it has ties with.

Policemen work at the scene after a shooting at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo January 7, 2015. Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (FRANCE - Tags: CRIME LAW) - RTR4KFA9

Iran condemns Paris shooting, with caveat

Iran has officially condemned the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo but also warned of "double standards" in dealing with terrorism.

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 an electronic display board, reflected in a glass partition, at the Tehran stock exchange September 15, 2010. Picture taken 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,

Iran's new budget to focus on privatization, subsidy reforms

Iran's economic outlook remains uncertain amid fluctuating oil prices and continuing nuclear negotiations, while officials are looking to create a law that would make the country’s state budgets independent of oil export revenue.