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February 27, 2026

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The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete, on Feb. 26, 2026.

US aircraft carrier nears Middle East as Geneva talks end without Iran breakthrough

Washington’s flagship aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is in transit across the Mediterranean as US and Iranian negotiators wrapped up a third round of talks in Geneva.

Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images

Live Updates

US, Iran resume nuclear talks as Trump ratchets up war threats

The negotiations come after President Donald Trump sought to build a case for war in his State of the Union address.

Emergency workers check the damage caused to a building from an Iranian missile strike in Beersheba in southern Israel on June 24, 2025. Israel said on June 24 it had agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal for a ceasefire with Iran, on the 12th day of war between the foes. (Photo by John Wessels / AFP) (Photo by JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images)

Australia urges diplomats' dependents to leave Lebanon, Israel: What to know

Australia's order comes just a day after the US directed non-essential personnel at its embassy in Lebanon to depart.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Oil, markets digest escalation risks ahead of US-Iran talks

With critical US-Iran talks scheduled for Thursday, markets continue adjusting to the risks posed by an escalation in the Middle East should diplomacy falter.

Latest News

New Zealand slaps 40 Iran officials with sanctions over protest crackdown

A member of the security forces stands guard during a rally marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran on Feb. 11, 2026.

Analysis

Iran’s student protests enter fourth day as campuses test limits to regime control

Fires are lit as protesters rally on Jan. 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Iran’s IRGC tests new weapons as second US aircraft carrier nears region

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Trump will clear path for partial Iran deal on nuclear standoff

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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

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

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wears a face mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 18, 2021.

Khamenei says max pressure led to US 'humiliation'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that despite hardships brought about by Washington's maximum pressure strategy, Iran’s economy is enduring.

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images

Iran urged to release rights defender Narges Mohmmadi

Narges Mohmmadi was sentenced to eight years in prison following a five-minute trial.

Ali Shamkhani (R) meets with Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Tehran on Dec. 6, 2021.

Top Iran security official retracts comments on talks with US

The powerful politician had faced piling pressure from hard-liners over suggesting that Iran could at some point directly engage with the United States if a “good deal” was within reach.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi looks on during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured), Moscow, Russia, Jan. 19, 2022.

Ex-UN officials, rights experts urge probe of Iran's 1988 mass killings

More than 450 people signed an open letter calling for the UN human rights office to investigate the Iranian president's involvement in the1988 massacre, which Ebrahim Raisi denies.

JASPER JACOBS/Belga/AFP via Getty Images

Iran state broadcaster hacked with images of dissident group

The faces of Mujahedin-e-Khalq leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi briefly disrupted state TV programming.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets with IAEA director general Rafael Grossi at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Tehran, Nov. 23, 2021.

Iranian press calls direct talks with US a 'trap'

The merits of talking with the United States are being debated in Iranian media after recent comments by the foreign minister.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves the Palais Coburg in Vienna on Dec. 27, 2021.

Iran signals readiness for direct talks with US

Amid reported piecemeal progress toward a potential deal, the Iranian government says it has been offered direct talks with the United States in the course of the ongoing multilateral nuclear negotiations in Vienna.

AFP via Getty Images

Iran lauds 'good progress' on return to nuclear deal

Iran says that the nuclear talks are headed in the right direction, particularly on guarantees against another US exit.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to media during a press conference in Tehran on Nov. 15, 2021.

Iran insists prisoner swap not precondition for nuclear deal

Iran's comments came after US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said a nuclear deal was unlikely without the release of four unjustly held Americans.

Blinken Lavrov

Blinken: Iran nuclear talks reach 'decisive moment'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the window is closing for negotiators in Vienna to reach a deal.

Raisi Moscow

Iran’s Raisi attacks US during speech to Russian parliament

The Iranian president addressed Russian lawmakers on the second day of his visit to Moscow, a “landmark” trip at a critical juncture for the revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

Putin Raisi

Iran to host joint naval exercises with Russia, China

US foreign policy appears to be pushing its major adversaries into each others' hands.