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May 6, 2026

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 5, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Rubio warns Iran of 'total defeat' if it refuses deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Iran "to make a sensible choice" and resume negotiations.

A billboard with the image of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wraps the front of a building in Tehran on May 5, 2026.

Analysis

Iran's Gulf gambit: Attacking the UAE to shift US calculations

Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Parker Song / Getty Images

Iran’s Araghchi heads to China as US presses Beijing over Hormuz: What to know

The visit comes ahead of President Donald Trump's long-awaited trip to Beijing next week.

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.

Latest News

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

Why Iran’s regime didn't break: The hidden networks behind its survival

Mahmoud Karimi, a maddah, leads a mourning ritual during the Muslim month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Tehran on July 3, 2025.

Jamshid Jamshidi

By Jamshid Jamshidi

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. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13Y4X

Obama goes big in the Middle East

The US-Russia agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons, a possible nuclear deal with Iran, and Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are all signs that the Obama administration may be charting a new course in the region.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers journalists after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, December 9, 2010. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXVKF9

Syria's temporary solution

As preparations for the Geneva II Syria conference stall, some suggest that a temporary solution could be in the works, aimed at keeping President Bashar al-Assad in office, but without elections.

A general view of the Arak heavy-water project, 190 km (120 miles) southwest of Tehran January 15, 2011. A group of ambassadors to the U.N. atomic watchdog toured an Iranian nuclear site on Saturday, state television reported, and Tehran accused the European Union of missing an historic opportunity by boycotting the visit. REUTERS/ISNA/Hamid Forootan (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY SCI TECH BUSINESS) - RTXWLWA

P5+1 looking for 'quick results' in talks with Iran

A top Western diplomat says that if agreement is reached on the end game, initial confidence-building steps would be reversible on both sides.

Turkish girls attend English class at the Kazim Karabekir Girls' Imam-Hatip School in Istanbul February 10, 2010. The imam-hatip network is a far cry from the western stereotype of the madrassa as an institution that teaches the Koran by rote and little else. Originally founded to educate Muslim religious functionaries in the 1920s, the imam-hatip syllabus devotes only around 40 percent of study to religious subjects like Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and rhetoric. The rest is given over to secular topics.

Turkey’s English proficiency improving

Turkey ranks No. 41 at this year’s English Proficiency Index, but it tops the list of countries that are trending up – which is a fair reflection of its economic achievement.

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 relative of a victim of an accident prays as he puts his hand on a coffin outside the Imam Khomeini International Airport in south of Tehran June 20, 2010. Some Iranian medical students and doctors killed in an accident after their bus plummeted into a ravine in Balamban town in Philippines. REUTERS/ISNA/Hemmat Khahi (IRAN - Tags: DISASTER POLITICS IMAGES O

Iran’s crisis on the roads

Iran's traffic fatalities are still at a critical level.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu after a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013. Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signalling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14WOL

The return of Turkey’s 'zero problems' policy

Turkey rebuilds ties to Iran and Iraq and faces the realization that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will likely be part of the transition in Syria.

Iran parliament issues warning against women smoking hookah

Twenty parliament members have warned President Hassan Rouhani about the dangers of women smoking hookah at tea houses.

Oil worker Namik Aliyev stands next to a billboard of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (L) and his father late President Haidar Aliyev, as he waits for a helicopter on the island of Chilov in the Caspian Sea, about 70 km (44 miles) east of Baku, January 23, 2013. Aliyev, 32, like the country of Azerbaijan itself, has oil in his blood. His father and grandfather both worked in oil production, an industry which dates back to the 19th century in Azerbaijan and contributes more than half of the country's gro

Turkey-Azerbaijan relations still strong

Although Azerbaijan is warming its relations with Russia and Iran, Ankara still remains the most pivotal ally for Baku.

Black Palestinians shrug off racism

Racist taunts toward Gaza’s African minority are not uncommon, despite centurieslong African migration to Palestine.

Equipments and photographs that belonged to American diplomatic staff are displayed at the former US embassy now turned into a museum in Tehran on November 2, 2013. November 4 is the 34th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students captured and held 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days. The crisis triggered a cut in diplomatic relations and led to decades of mutual hostility. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

A guided tour of the US Embassy in Tehran

The US Embassy in Tehran was ground zero for the collapse in US-Iran relations 34 years ago.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) helps Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to stand during a news conference in Ankara November 1, 2013. Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signalling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. Davutoglu expressed his appreciation to Zarif at the start of the news conference for travelling to Turkey despite suffering from b

Turkey-Iran Talks Can Begin To Defuse Syrian Tragedy

Discussions between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran reflect a serious departure from the polarization; especially on Syria & between the two regional powers.

US Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) answers reporters' questions during the 2009 Reuters Washington Summit in Washington, October 19, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS) - RTXPSS3

Senator Levin Backs Delay On Iran Sanctions Bill

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee opposes new Iran sanctions while the United States “probes” Iran’s sincerity in negotiating limits on its nuclear program.