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Iran

May 4, 2026

Tehran 4:45 pm

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Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Soldiers from Iran's land, navy, air force and special forces parade on the occasion of National Army Day in Tehran, capital of Iran on April 18, 2025, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

How Iran is rebuilding its bruised military as ceasefire masks recalibration

Iran is using the fragile truce to recover by blending redeployment and reverse engineering into broader preparedness for renewed conflict.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

US sanctions Iran’s shadow banking channels moving oil proceeds from China

The latest sanctions come as the Trump administration weighs Iran's latest proposal to end the war.

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

Trump faces three paths ahead in Iran war as Hormuz standoff intensifies

This photo obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, on April 21, 2026.

In defiant message, Iran’s Khamenei threatens US but appeals to Gulf

AFP via Getty Images

US blockade tests Iran's limits, but will global pain force Trump’s hand?

QESHM ISLAND, IRAN - APRIL 28: Boats navigate the sea on April 28, 2026 on Qeshm Island, Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's latest proposal for ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz calls on the United States to end its naval blockade of Iran's ports, and sets aside questions about what to do with Iran's nuclear program. The United States has not formally responded to the latest proposal, which was delivered by Iran's foreign minister to Pakistan two days ago. (Photo by Asghar Besharati/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

France's President Francois Hollande and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul (R) address the media at the Presidential Palace in Ankara January 27, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17X3C

Gul proposes Turkey-Iran cooperation in Syria

Turkish President Abdullah Gul is distancing himself from the political culture and foreign policy of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Başbakan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Hasan Ruhani ile görüştü. Tahran'da resmi temaslarını sürdüren Başbakan Erdoğan, Sadabad Sarayı'nda gerçekleştirilen öğle yemeğinde, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Ruhani ile bir araya geldi. Başbakan Erdoğan, İran Cumhurbaşkanı Ruhani ile iki ülke arasında çeşitli alanlarda ikili işbirliği anlaşmaları imzaladı. (Kayhan Özer - Anadolu Ajansı)

Turkey, Iran seek workaround on Syria

Ankara and Tehran are attempting to normalize a relationship put off track by Syria.

Charges dropped against Iranian religious singer who shot at couple

The case against a famous religious singer for shooting at a couple after a car accident has been dropped, raising questions about the perceived immunity of those who work closely with the government.

Supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood wave Turkish and Egyptian flags during a rally in protest against the recent violence in Egypt, outside of the Eminonu New mosque in Istanbul August 17, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12P97

The future of political Islam: lessons from Turkey, Egypt

Islamist parties can either hold on to their rigid ideological base trying to mold their societies to fit within their singular vision, or accept their role as an influential force in a democratic pluralistic regime, within which the rule of law must guarantee the protection of rights for everyone, including Islamists.

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

An Iranian official works at her desk in the main hall of the Tehran Stock Exchange August 3, 2010. Sanctions against Iran have done nothing to dent a boom in its stock market, as investors bet on a continued rise in company stocks which have been undervalued for years, the head of the Tehran bourse said. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR

Tehran Stock Exchange plunges, baffling investors

Why is Iran’s stock exchange falling under President Hassan Rouhani and after the easing of sanctions?

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara January 28, 2014. Erdogan, keen to maintain economic growth ahead of an election cycle starting in two months, has been a vociferous opponent of the higher borrowing costs sometimes needed to bolster currencies, railing against what he describes as an 'interest rate lobby' of speculators seeking to stifle growth and undermine the economy. REUTERS/Umit Bek

Erdogan visit to Iran to address Syria, economic ties

The visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Tehran will offer an opportunity to defuse tensions on Syria while expanding economic relations.

A Russian supertanker is anchored by Neka oil terminal, 300 km north-east of [Tehran], during an inauguration ceremony of the first phase of an oil swap project with Iran's Caspian neighbours, April 29, 2004. [ Under the project Iran will take crude from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and transfer them through pipelines to refineries in the cities of Tehran and Tabriz.] - RTXMLA4

Russia can't lose in oil deal with Iran

Russia is seeking to expand trade ties with Iran and is angling to benefit from any lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

Iranian TV breaks taboo on music performance

Although musicians on a TV show on Jan. 19 were only shown for a few seconds, it has created a stir and rekindled debates about Islam and music.

People look at the site of a car bomb attack in Abu Dsheer district in southern Baghdad January 20, 2014. Seven bomb explosions killed 26 people and wounded 67 in the Iraqi capital on Monday, police and medics said, as security forces battled Sunni Muslim militants around the western cities of Falluja and Ramadi. The bloodiest attack occurred in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim Abu Dsheer district in southern Baghdad, where a car bomb near a crowded market killed seven people and wounded 18. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (I

Iraq’s imagined conflicts

Although Iraqi political forces disagree about many common issues, there are also ideological divides based on exaggerated religious disputes.

Egyptians cut a Qatari flag during a protest against what they say is Qatar's backing of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi's government, outside the Qatari Embassy in Cairo November 30, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX15Z60

Egypt warns Qatar about interference

Egyptian authorities have been frustrated by official statements from Doha expressing Qatari concern about increasing violence in Egypt, as Cairo considers it interfering in its internal affairs.

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 23: (CHINA OUT) Iranian movie director Majid Majidi attends a Vision Beijing press conference on February 23, 2008 in Beijing, China. China authorities invited five world renowned film directors Giuseppe Tornatore of Italy, Majid Majidi of Iran, Patrice Leconte of France, Daryl Goodrich of Great Britain and Andrew Lau Wai-Keung of Hong Kong to make five of short films named Vision Beijing about Beijing and the people's preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. (Photo by China Photos

Film on Prophet Muhammad mired in controversy

An Iranian film on the Prophet Muhammad by acclaimed director Majid Majidi has been wrought with religious, financial and political issues.

Iraq's Vice-President Adil Abdul-Mahdi speaks to reporters at the King Hussein Convention Centre during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East at the Dead Sea May 16, 2009. Hundreds of the world's businessmen gathered on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea to discuss social and political reforms in the world. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji (JORDAN POLITICS) - RTXHOKM

Former Iraq VP: Terrorism, political conflict behind Anbar crisis

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, former Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi speaks about the Anbar crisis, Iranian influence in Iraq and his expectations for the upcoming elections.