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Iran

April 29, 2026

Tehran 2:05 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

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry addresses the Opening Meeting of the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at United Nations headquarters in New York, April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX1AJ89

Will Iran nuclear deal lead to rapprochement with Cairo?

The pending nuclear agreement with Iran could provide some much-needed balance for Egypt's shifting foreign policy in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L), meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jason DeCrow/Pool - RTX1AJNA

Kerry, Zarif meet at Iranian envoy's residence

The US secretary of state visits an Iranian diplomatic property in New York in a historic move related to the Iranian nuclear negotiations.

Morality police show examples of unacceptable women's clothing to the media during a crackdown on "social corruption" in north Tehran June 18, 2008. Picture taken June 18, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAN) - RTX73ZM

Rouhani: Police should not enforce Islam

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been criticized by conservative clerics for saying the police should enforce the law rather than Islam.

Abdulrahman Al-Banyan (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's Chief of Staff, arrives to the Arab League headquarters to attend an Arab defence ministers meeting in Cairo April 22, 2015. The talks are expected to focus on the war in Yemen, Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East and security threats from Islamic State. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

Should Saudi Arabia test Iran’s offer of diplomacy on Yemen?

Iranian officials offer diplomatic initiative and warnings on Yemen; book burning in Giza; Kremlin ignored Israeli objections on missile system sale to Iran; Russian "soft power" in the Middle East.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) speaks to reports at the U.S. Capitol in Washington April 21, 2015. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan - RTX19PE3

Will Iran review bill survive Senate?

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of April 27.

Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili addresses a news conference after a meeting in Baghdad, May 24, 2012. Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the long-running dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR32L0Q

Former Iran negotiator: Better ties with US impossible

Former Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili argued that the United States and Iran cannot have ties because of America's policy to "consolidate its leadership over the world."

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama deliver remarks to reporters after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington April 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTR4XBNF

Iraq maintains neutrality in regional conflicts

On a visit to Washington, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi leveled criticism at Iran and Saudi Arabia, reflecting his desire to maintain a neutral position in their regional rivalry.

Supporters of Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) hold flags showing Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), as they rally against Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hours before he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, at the White House in Washington, November 1, 2013. The MEK fought on the side of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, mounting attacks on Iran from Iraq, and are calling for the U.S. to hold Ir

MEK leader to testify before Congress

Maryam Rajavi will discuss the threat the Islamic State poses to members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) at Camp Liberty.

Followers of the Houthi group demonstrate against the Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX19UBJ

Head of Iran’s Basij congratulates Houthis on 'victory'

Hard-line Iranian officials and media have stated that Saudi Arabia failed to achieve their objectives in Yemen and have strengthened the Houthi position.

A follower of the Houthi group holds up a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a demonstration against the Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX19UHF

Iran official warns against further strikes in Yemen

Iran is lauding its own efforts to achieve the cease-fire that temporarily halted Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen and warns that continued Saudi aggression threatens to block a political solution.

An Iranian bank teller counts new 20,000 rial notes at Iran's Central Bank in Tehran March 15, 2004. Iran began to release the new 20,000 rial note equivalent to $2.38 shortly before the Iranian new year which begins March 21. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl CJF/AA - RTRF83M

Congressional terror finance task force targets Iran

The potential lifting of sanctions has led Congress to seek other avenues to block Tehran from funding terror.

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.