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May 7, 2026

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Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

China understands how badly Trump wants an exit from the conflict. But timing is critical: if no agreement is reached before Trump arrives in China on Thursday, Beijing would be better positioned to set the agenda.

Joyce Karam

An Iranian woman holds up an image of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Iran president says he held official meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei: What to know

The president’s announcement marks the first public confirmation of a meeting between a senior official and Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since the start of the war.

Latest News

Iran, China discuss Hormuz reopening amid potential US-Iran talks

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, talks to his Iranian Counterpart Abbas Araghchi, left, during the bilateral meeting in Beijing, Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

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

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.

Analysis

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

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.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

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 shopkeeper counts Iranian bank notes at his shop in a bazar in Tehran February 25, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS) - RTR2YFBH

The Future of Subsidy Reforms After Iran’s Presidential Election

The next president of Iran is likely to continue the subsidy reforms of the Ahmadinejad government, but with changes in pace and handout distribution, writes Bijan Khajehpour.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, 350 km (217 miles) south of Tehran, April 8, 2008. Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant, Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, defying the West which fears Tehran is trying to build nuclear bombs. Picture taken on April 8, 2008. REUTERS/Presidential official website/Handout (IRAN). FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. - RTR1Z9PX

Twelve Major Consequences Of Sanctions on Iran

Seyed Hossein Mousavian reviews the futility of the US sanctions policy to affect Iran’s nuclear program or change its relationship with Iran for the better.

A sign post near Kibbutz Merom Golan in the Golan Heights shows the distance from Israel's northern border to other destinations May 2, 2013. Israel's military said on Tuesday it had called up hundreds of reservists for a drill in northern Israel where tensions are high with neighbours Syria and Lebanon, but a military spokesman said there was no change in the overall security situation. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not re

Israel’s Strategic Reset

Israel is reconsidering its new strategic approach to the region in the context of US policies toward Iran, Syria, Egypt and Israeli-Palestinian peace, writes Ben Caspit.

Wilgenburg pic.jpg

Iran Has Reasons to Spoil PKK-Turkey Peace Process

The Kurdistan Workers Party has announced a withdrawal from Turkey, a move that could isolate Iran and end a cease-fire between it and the PKK’s Iranian offshoot, reports Wladimir van Wilgenburg.

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Beirut April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/Handout (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTXZ0YT

Russia Confronts Mideast SalafistsBy Courting Christians, Minorities

Russia is courting Middle Eastern minorities, especially Christians, in a bid to confront Salafist extremism, writes an Al-Monitor correspondent in Beirut.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to supporters during a ceremony to swear Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) into office, in Caracas April 19, 2013. Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela's president on Friday at a ceremony attended by several countries' leaders, after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTXYSR0

Post-Ahmadinejad Iran: A New Challenge to the West

Shlomi Eldar argues that with the upcoming elections in Iran, the international community should try another, more conciliatory approach.

Lebanon Hezbollah parliament members Ali Ammar (C) and Sayyed Nasrat Kashakesh talk to the families of kidnapped Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims, during a sit-in in Beirut's suburbs May 23, 2012. The kidnap by Syrian gunmen of Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims caused international allies and adversaries of President Bashar al-Assad to sound an alarm on Wednesday about a spread of sectarian violence across Syria's borders. REUTERS/ Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR32IXJ

Iran Counters Saudi Diplomacy In Lebanon

The competition between the Saudi and Iranian axes in Lebanon is high as the alleged Saudi “openness” toward Hezbollah proved to be less than it appeared, writes Jean Aziz.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) tour a technology expo at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTR3F9EE

The Gap Between the US And Israel on a Nuclear Iran

President Obama may not be bluffing in promising to deal with an Iranian nuclear "weapon," he just may not be hearing Israeli wishes to limit Iranian nuclear production "capability," writes Ben Caspit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) speaks with US Secretary of State John Kerry as President Shimon Peres (R) sits beside them during a ceremony marking Israel's annual day of Holocaust remembrance, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem April 8, 2013. Israel on Monday commemorates the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War Two.
REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXYDCL

When Netanyahu Met Kerry,One Year From Now

Ben Caspit argues that one year from now, on Israel's next Independence Day, the political stagnation and lack of negotiations in the Middle East will still persist.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 22: (ISRAEL OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum on March 22, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. This is Obama's first visit as president to the region and his itinerary includes meetings with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders as well as a visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

What Really Happened Between Netanyahu and Obama

From confidential, well-placed sources, Ben Caspit discloses the arguments in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chambers hidden behind friendly gestures in public during the US president’s visit.

Sculptures are seen on a hill near the Israeli Syrian border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 24, 2013. Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS) - RTXXW5G

Israel and Muslim Brotherhood Face the Same Enemy

As Israel prepares to celebrate its 65th Independence Day free of conventional threats, Iran's nuclear threat still looms, writes Alon Ben David.

A Palestinian looks at a billboard thanking Iran in Gaza City on November 27, 2012. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran Seeks to Retain Influence In Palestinian Affairs

Iran is not giving up on its ties with Hamas, but is looking for alternatives to maintain its leverage in Palestinian affairs, writes Adnan Abu Amer.