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Iran

April 29, 2026

Tehran 1:12 pm

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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

An Iranian woman walks with her daughter past an abandoned boat in Sikh Sar village at Hamoon wetland near the Zabol town, in southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan on February 2, 2015. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's water crisis reaches critical levels

Iran's political leadership must move quickly, and non-ideologically, to resolve the current water use crisis and avoid the possibility of mass migrations.

A demonstrator holds up a sign while Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks with Washington Post journalist David Ignatius at the New York University (NYU) Center on International Cooperation in New York April 29, 2015. Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday offered assurances that Tehran is committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of the seizure of a commercial ship by Iranian forces a day earlier. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - RTX1AUZQ

Zarif touts swift sanctions relief

Iran's foreign minister told a New York audience that after a nuclear agreement is reached, sanctions could be lifted within weeks.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Lawmakers attend a parliament session in Tehran January 29, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2X0YQ

Iranian MPs fail to bypass the Guardian Council

Iranian parliament members failed in a bid to weaken the powers of the Interior Ministry and Guardian Council to vet candidates.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY IRAN-POLITICS-SATELLITE-JAMMING: An Iranian woman, standing next to two satellite dishes, hangs washed laundry on the roof of her house in Tehran, 12 June 2003. Owning satellite equipment and viewing uncensored international channels is strictly banned in the Islamic republic. Yet many people purchase satellite dishes and receivers illegally and enjoy watching Persian-language TV broadcasts from overseas, among other channels. However, according to the local press, Iranian authorities h

Iran targets 'MI6 Shiites'

The Iranian government is engaged in a media offensive against the Shiite Shirazi movement, which runs a broadcasting network to spread its message.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks at the New York University (NYU) Center on International Cooperation in New York April 29, 2015. Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday offered assurances that Tehran is committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of the seizure of a commercial ship by Iranian forces a day earlier. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - RTX1AUQZ

Zarif: Iran seeks to reduce regional tensions

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says that if and when a nuclear deal is finalized, Iran will focus on resolving regional issues before thinking about resuming diplomatic relations with the United States.

Supporters of residents of the Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) camp, which houses Iranian dissidents in western Baghdad, rally on Pennsylvania Avenue as U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi at the White House in Washington April 14, 2015. The dissidents, who call for the overthrow of Iran's clerical leaders and fought on Iraq's side during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, occupy "Camp Liberty", located in a former U.S. military compound in Baghdad, but is no longer welcome in

MEK uses congressional spotlight to push regime change in Iran

The Iranian dissident group's leader told lawmakers that Tehran's mullahs are an inspiration for Islamists everywhere.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Lawmakers mingle after a parliament session in Tehran January 29, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2X0Z7

Iran minister apologizes for comment on 'dirty money' in politics

After coming under criticism, Iran's interior minister apologizes before an open session of parliament over "misunderstandings" about comments he made regarding dirty money in politics.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, April 3, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4W06S

US restates positions as Israeli government takes shape

Senior Obama administration officials have reiterated the president's commitment in a 2009 Cairo speech to the two-state solution, reinforcing the US stance to Netanyahu's new government.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SIAVOSH GHAZI
A Spanish tourist walks past an Achaemenid griffin at the ancient Persian city of Persepolis near Shiraz in southern Iran on September 26, 2014. At the foot of Persepolis, the giant sun-dried brick ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid and first Persian empire, foreign tourists pour out of buses and gaze in wonder. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's tourism industry scrambles to catch up with demand

As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani improves relations with the West, Iranian officials announce they will build more hotels to meet the expected demand of foreign tourists.

Maryam Rajavi (2nd R), president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, attends an international meeting in Rome December 19, 2013. The meeting organised by the Italian committee of parliamentarians and pro-democracy Iranian activists was held to discuss the nuclear talks in Geneva, organisers said. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16ORH

Congressional invite to MEK sparks furious backlash

Former State Department officials are refusing to testify alongside Mujahedeen-e-Khalq leader Maryam Rajavi.

Young Iranian women carry jugs of water, filled at water distribution point, to their village outside Zabol in south eastern Iran, July 17, 2001. Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province is suffering from a third consecutive year of drought which the United Nations says has cost the country $2.6 billion in dammages this year, up from $1.7 billion last year. Local officials say without rain remaining water sources will dry up by December. - RTXKN5I

Iran official warns water crisis could lead to mass migration

The adviser for water, agricultural and environment to Iran’s vice president warns that if Iran doesn't cut its water exploitation in half, the country could see a mass exodus.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
A view of the inside of a shopping mall is seen in northwestern Tehran February 3, 2012. With just a month to go before a parliamentary election, Iran has been hit hard in recent months by new U.S. and European economic sanctions over its nuclear programme, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West says is aimed at making a bomb. Picture taken February 3, 2012. REUTERS/Mor

US CEOs find crowded field in Iran

A group of American executives found a warm welcome in Iran and plenty of company from other foreigners investigating post-sanctions business opportunities.