Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

July 14, 2026

Tehran 7:29 pm

38°C

AFP via Getty Images

Oil prices climb to $85 as US-Iran attacks intensify, Hormuz traffic stalls

Brent crude traded at $85.02 a barrel at 11:44 a.m. EDT, up 2.06% from Monday's close after reaching $87.39 earlier on Tuesday.

Analysis

As Trump prioritizes Hormuz, Israel fears Iran rebuilding nuclear program while preserving ballistic missile threat

Israel is worried that the United States is centering the Strait of Hormuz, deprioritizing the threat of a nuclear Iran.

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

Analysis

'The word belongs to the battlefield': Why Iran, US are drifting back to conflict

Iran no longer seeks a return to the prewar status quo, insisting that any future negotiations begin with the new regional balance created by the conflict rather than seek to restore the old one.

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Latest News

Trump says US to strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site

US President Donald Trump gestures as he steps off Air Force One to board the new Qatari-gifted Boeing plane, en route to the United States following his participation in the NATO Summit at Royal Air Force Mildenhall on July 8, 2026, in Mildenhall, England.

Explainer

Trump’s Hormuz playbook echoes Iran’s attempts to monetize waterway

The Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC Reef is seen docked along a pier at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman, on June 28, 2026.

Oil climbs after US strikes Iran, Trump vows to control Strait of Hormuz

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Trump says US to resume naval blockade of Iran's ports

U.S. President Donald Trump returns to Joint Base Andrews on July 09, 2026 in Washington, DC. Trump, switched from the old Air Force One to the new Air Force One while stopping in the U.K. at RAF Mildenhall Air Force Base was returning from his visit to Ankara, Turkey where he attended the NATO summit. (Photo by Win McNamee/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

Iranian high school students sit for their university entrance examination in Tehran on June 25, 2009.

Protests across Iran as schoolgirl poisonings spread nationwide

The chain of suspected poisoning attacks on girls' schools continued unabated, prompting furious Iranians to chant against authorities who are scrambling for answers.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami (R).

IAEA Iran visit opens window to restart nuclear diplomacy

The nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency meets Tuesday, as an EU official says an agreement could be "positive” for Iran nuclear talks.

https://www.isons.com/shop/fruit-trees/peach/bonfire-patio-peach-tree/

Family of US citizen killed in IRGC strikes sues Iran

Omar Mahmoudzadeh was killed this September in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in northern Iraq. His family's lawyer says the Biden administration downplayed his death.

Grossi

Analysis

IAEA’s visit to Iran could set stage for diplomacy or conflict

If diplomacy falters again, the US and Israel are talking about further military collaboration against Iran, while the Islamic Republic itself sends mixed signals about its intentions in the region.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

People take part in a protest against the execution of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani -sentenced to death within protests following the death of Mahsa Amini- and to demand human righst in Iran, in front of the Iranian embassy in Mexico City on December 19, 2022. - Amir Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed.(Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran on 'execution spree' of Kurdish, Baluchi minorities, Amnesty says

A total of 94 people of any background were executed in January and February, according to Amnesty International.

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

IAEA chief heads to Tehran, as Iran's 83.7% enrichment triggers alarm

The visit comes ahead of Grossi's trip to the US, and at the height of tensions between the nuclear watchdog and the Islamic Republic as the latter continues to ramp up nuclear enrichment toward the weapons-grade bar.

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020. - The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's oil, petrochemical trade hit with new US sanctions

The designated firms are located in Iran, China, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian school-girls attend President Rouhani's presentation of the for 2018-2019 budget to the parliament on December 10, 2017, in Tehran. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

With over 100 victims, who is poisoning Iran's schoolgirls?

Hundreds of Iranian schoolgirls have been mysteriously poisoned over the past few months and the government was forced to open an investigation when the problem reached Tehran on Wednesday.

Iran German

Iran expels German diplomats as row continues over death sentence

Iran has sentenced another dual European citizen, a German-Iranian man, to death in relation to a 2008 attack on a mosque.

Iran nuclear

Iran enriched uranium at 83.7%, close to weapons grade: UN watchdog

The news is alarming for Israel, but Iran denied other recent reports that asserted they enriched uranium close to the 90% threshold for a nuclear weapon.

Undated photo of Afghanistan Embassy in Tehran.

Taliban releases Iran border guard, moves into Afghanistan's Embassy in Tehran

Iran has had a complicated relationship with the Taliban since the group resumed control over Afghanistan.

YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Iran mourns loss of Pirouz, critically endangered cheetah cub

Many Iranians had been closely following the critically endangered cheetah cub, which became a symbol of hope amid hardship and state repression.