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Iran

April 23, 2026

Tehran 1:27 pm

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Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi speaks at a candidates' registration office in Tehran on May 30, 2024, during the first day of registration ahead of the country's presidential election.

Who is Ahmad Vahidi, IRGC chief and hard-liner against nuclear compromise?

A longtime Revolutionary Guard insider with strong ties to Iran’s security apparatus and proxy network, Ahmad Vahidi has taken over the IRGC at a moment of crisis, with some reports suggesting he is playing an outsized role in the country’s decision-making.

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

At least 19 Iran-linked tankers have passed through the US blockade on the strait to exit the Gulf while at least 15 have entered, according to the cargo-tracking group Vortexa.

Fishing and cargo ships and ferries are pictured in the Gulf off the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, which is the main base of the Islamic Republic's navy and has a strategic position on the Strait of Hormuz, on April 29, 2019.

Iran seizes two cargo ships in Hormuz after Trump extends ceasefire

The IRGC Navy’s seizure of two cargo vessels follows US Navy interdictions of two Iran-linked crude oil tankers in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean earlier this week.

Mahdi Farid, who was convicted of espionage for Israel’s Mossad, was executed after his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, Tehran, Iran, April 22, 2026.

Iran executes 14th person since war over alleged Mossad ties: What to know

Iran has carried out multiple executions since the outbreak of the war with the United States and Israel, as it intensifies a crackdown on individuals accused of spying for Israel.

Latest News

Analysis

As Iran's power struggle deepens, US talks stall, who’s calling the shots in Tehran?

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the press during a visit to the shrine of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs on Jan. 8, 2026.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Trump extends ceasefire with Iran ‘until discussions concluded’

President Donald Trump walks toward reporters before answering questions before boarding Air Force One on April 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Analysis

Gulf energy deals face Iran war stress test as global expansion meets oil shock

A picture shows the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administrated by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the capital Doha, on Feb. 6, 2017.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

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

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

2 police officers gunned down in Iran's protest-hit southeast

The attack occurred in an area that has seen the worst of the violence from Iranian security forces determined to crush the anti-government protests that have rocked the nation over the past four months.

An oil tanker unloads imported crude oil at Qingdao port in China's eastern Shandong province on May 9, 2022. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran bolsters ties with China and Venezuela despite US sanctions

Iranian oil exports to China are on the rise, and the Islamic Republic’s relations with Venezuela are moving beyond energy matters, as the South American country recently received 1,000 vehicles from the Iranian automobile firm Saipa.

US army officers stands in front a US Patriot missile defence system during a joint Israeli-US military exercise "Juniper Cobra" at the Hatzor Airforce Base on March 8, 2018.

US, Israel kick off largest ever military exercise as Iran nuclear talks falter

As Iran turns to Russia for advanced fighter jets, the race is on to ensure the United States can actually stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — and to dissuade the new Israeli government from acting unilaterally.

Namazi

'Bring us home': American held in Iran ends weeklong hunger strike

“Don't let President Biden leave us in this abyss of misery,” Siamak Namazi said in a letter penned from prison.

The US Treasury Department building is seen in Washington, DC, January 19, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: January 23, 2023, 10:05 pm

US targets Iranian officials with human rights sanctions

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 10 Iranian individuals and one entity connected to the protest violence.

This photograph taken on January 22, 2023 shows German, European Union and French flags and the facade of the French National Assembly. (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

EU rolls out new Iran sanctions but does not designate IRGC as terrorists

European foreign ministers have added 37 names to the list of Iranian individuals and entities subject to sanctions, but did not call for designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist group.

A man and a woman hold up a banner depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Fleeing repression, Iran's Kurdish activists struggle to find refuge in Iraq

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has become a key escape route for an unknown number of Iranian Kurds fleeing brutal repression and torture in Iran, but most fail to find security and stability in Iraq.

Indian Air Force (IAF) Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet takes part in an air refueling exercise from a French Air and Space Force (FASF). Russia is reportedly mulling sale of Sukhoi fighter jets to Iran. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran leans on Russia, hopes for Sukhoi sale as EU pressure mounts

Tehran is increasingly boosting its military ties with Moscow, hoping for Sukhoi sale, amid dim prospects for the revival of the nuclear deal and a wave of fresh sanctions over its crackdown on dissent at home.

A protester holds a portrait depicting the slain top commander of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani while praying, during an anti-German demonstration condemning Germany's support of Berlin-based Iranian opposition TV stations and anti-government protests in Iran, outside the German embassy headquarters in Iran's capital Tehran on November 1, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran top official threatens EU militaries as IRGC terror designation looms

Europe’s ties with the Islamic Republic have been worsening since the anti-government protests began in Iran last year.

This photo taken on August 4, 2020 shows Prince, a member of the hacking group Red Hacker Alliance who refused to give his real name, using a website that monitors global cyberattacks on his computer at their office in Dongguan, China's southern Guangdong province. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)

China hackers found to have compromised Iran entities for months

A Chinese hacking group targeted multiple Iranian government bodies in 2022 using advanced malware, according to an industry report.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a press conference, Seoul, South Korea, March 20, 2022.

South Korea, Iran summon ambassadors after 'enemy' comments

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol described Iran as the “enemy” of the UAE during a visit to the Gulf state, but the East Asian country insists the remarks are being taken out of context.

Europe parliament

European Parliament overwhelmingly urges EU to designate Iran's IRGC as terrorist

Members of the European Parliament called today on European leadership to add the Iranian revolutionary Guards to the list of terror organizations.