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April 29, 2026

Tehran 10:39 am

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The Ateela 2 oil tanker boat navigates the sea on April 28, 2026, on Qeshm Island, Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysis

How long can Iran's economy withstand Trump's naval blockade?

Iranian authorities are denouncing US seizures of the country's oil tankers as piracy, but mounting disruptions to maritime trade are exposing economic fragility beneath Tehran's claims of control and resilience.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Latest News

Iran floats ‘plan B’ to defuse Hormuz standoff, delay nuclear talks

Iranian walks past a giant billboard reading "The Strait of Hormuz remains closed" at the Revolution Square in Tehran on April 22, 2026.

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran FM meets Putin, Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

Iran FM meets Putin and Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

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

Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs, smiles as he listens to questions from the media during a news conference after meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the government palace in Beirut May 18, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RTX1DGIE

Khamenei adviser slams US over Fordow

Iranian officials have said that the United States has gone back on its statements regarding the underground enrichment facility of Fordow.

U.S. President Barack Obama greets Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani while hosting the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Camp David in Maryland May 14, 2015.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTX1D0YT

GCC official: Camp David 'exceeded' expectations

A senior Arab official says the Gulf Cooperation Council is pleased at US assurances of a “strategic partnership” and calls on Iran to “modify its behavior” toward the region in the wake of a likely nuclear deal.

An young Iranian woman takes a look at a censored book at the 18th Tehran International Book Fair May 6, 2005. Iran's Culture Ministry ordered the Iranian representation of foreign publishers to censor all pictures that show a part or complete part of a woman or man's nude body. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl MN/JK/DH - RTRACIC

Iranian dissident praises Rouhani's health care reform

Dr. Mehdi Khazali, an Iranian political dissident, says that health care reform is the one place that the Hassan Rouhani administration has made improvements.

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 money changer holds Iranian rial banknotes as he waits for customers in Tehran's business district January 7, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR2VZCL

Iran slashes interest rates to boost economy

The Iranian leadership will need to make significant political and economic reforms, some of them counterintuitive, to complement interest rate cuts and generate economic momentum.

Irani workers stand near as a security helicopter lands near the pipeline during a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, in the city of Chahbahar in southeastern Iran March 11, 2013. Ahmadinejad and Zardari marked the start of Pakistani construction on the much-delayed gas pipeline on Monday, Iranian media reported, despite U.S. pressure on Islamabad to back out of the project. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EUW9

Iran-Pakistan pipeline could finally become reality

Iran and Pakistan both have political and economic interests in seeing a long-delayed gas pipeline come to fruition.

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

Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, waves as he speaks at a ceremony to mark the death anniversary of the Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini at Khomeini's shrine in southern Tehran June 4, 2010. REUTERS/IIPA/Sajjad Safari (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR2ER21

Will Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson enter politics?

A grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran is in a unique position to influence politics, but his family name limits his involvement.

U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a working session of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Camp David in Maryland May 14, 2015. Flanking Obama are U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (L) the Emir of Kuwait. Obama will seek to convince Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies on Thursday that the United States is committed to their security despite deep concern among Arab leaders about U.S. efforts to broker a nuclear deal with Iran. REUTERS/Kevin Lama

Will Camp David spur regional cooperation?

The signing of the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 can open the door to cooperation between Middle East countries.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem May 10, 2015. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1CAT6

Is Israel in cahoots with Saudi Arabia?

Israel and Saudi Arabia feel that the United States is playing a bad hand in its negotiating with Iran, trying to offer more and more compromises while Iran isn't budging.

A general view shows a besieged hospital, the last remaining Syrian army foothold in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, in the province of Idlib May 3, 2015. Syrian troops backed by heavy air strikes have edged closer to a hospital in northwestern Syria where dozens of Syrian soldiers and loyalist fighters have been holed up for the past two weeks, the army said on Sunday. The town was overrun last month by insurgents, including al Qaeda's wing in Syria, Nusra Front. Picture taken May 3, 2015. REUTERS/Ammar Abd

Iran’s new strategy in Syria

Iran and its allies, such as Hezbollah, seem to be getting more involved in the Syrian civil war.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano speaks at an annual conference of the Japan Atomic Industry Forum (JAIF), an organisation made up of all major nuclear reactor makers and utilities, in Tokyo April 13, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai - RTR4X1ZC

IAEA comments on military sites strike nerve in Iran

Iran's hard-liners have rejected a call by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency for Iran to allow inspections of military sites.

Iranian presidential candidate conservative former chief of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezai, speaks during a press conference at the old main bazaar of the capital Tehran, on May 28, 2013. Tehran last week excluded most would-be candidates from its June 14 elections, keeping only those loyal to the all-powerful supreme leader, dashing any hopes that a more moderate president would be voted into power. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's Rezaei returns to his military roots

The former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has left behind politics to lead a new generation of military officers.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Member of Parliament Mostafa Kavakebian (R) is seen on a screen as he speaks at the parliament in Tehran December 11, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2V4B5

Iran MPs deny signing bill to suspend nuclear talks

A bill calling for the suspension of nuclear talks until US officials cease to make threats against Iran has faced a backlash after some members of parliament claim they were misled about the bill.