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May 1, 2026

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

US sanctions Iran’s shadow banking channels moving oil proceeds from China

The latest sanctions come as the Trump administration weighs Iran's latest proposal to end the war.

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

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

This photo obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly taking part in an operation to seize ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, on April 21, 2026.

Trump faces three paths ahead in Iran war as Hormuz standoff intensifies

As the Hormuz standoff threatens a global economic chill, Trump must choose between military escalation, seeking a partial deal with Iran, or waiting out the pressure campaign.

AFP via Getty Images

In defiant message, Iran’s Khamenei threatens US but appeals to Gulf

The address was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s third since coming to power and included a pledge to rid the Gulf of the US.

Latest News

US blockade tests Iran's limits, but will global pain force Trump’s hand?

QESHM ISLAND, IRAN - APRIL 28: Boats navigate the sea on April 28, 2026 on Qeshm Island, Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's latest proposal for ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz calls on the United States to end its naval blockade of Iran's ports, and sets aside questions about what to do with Iran's nuclear program. The United States has not formally responded to the latest proposal, which was delivered by Iran's foreign minister to Pakistan two days ago. (Photo by Asghar Besharati/Getty Images

Iran-linked group claims stabbing in Jewish area in London: What to know

Local residents look on from outside a cordoned off area in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London on April 29, 2026, following the stabbing to two people nearby.

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

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

Intel: Trump’s religious freedom envoy ‘pleased’ with Iran’s release of Bahai’s

President Donald Trump’s envoy for international religious freedom welcomed the release of some Baha’i political prisoners by Iran and by Yemen’s Houthi rebels while also noting concerns about Iran's treatment of the religious group.

Iranian soldiers take part in the "National Persian Gulf day" in the Strait of Hormuz, on April 30, 2019. - The date coincides with the anniversary of a successful military campaign by Shah Abbas the Great of Persia in the 17th century, which drove the Portuguese navy out of the Hormuz Island, after which is named the waterway which separates the Gulf from the Sea of Oman. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

US military calls Iranian navy friendly fire incident 'tragic' in statement

The US military offers its condolences to Iran, but also criticizes the Islamic Republic for holding the training exercise in a high-traffic body of water, the Gulf of Oman.

REFILE - CORRECTING GRAMMAR Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, sits anchored after the Supreme Court of the British territory lifted its detention order, in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca - RC1770F4BD80

Iranian tanker on way to Venezuela despite US pressure

The tanker passed through the Suez Canal on Wednesday.

Iran rejects US plan to reenter nuclear deal to trigger sanctions return

In Iran's media review today, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the United States has left the nuclear deal and plans to reenter are "idiotic."

A military truck carrying a missile and a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen during a parade marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2015. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMAATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE

Why is US pushing unworkable plan to renew Iran arms ban?

Two years after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, the administration is looking extend the UN ban on conventional arms sales to and from Iran, a strategy designed to kill the deal for good and benefit President Donald Trump whether it succeeds or not.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - FEBRUARY 27: Iranian navy stand on the Kharg ship at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 27, 2020. The Kharg ship visit is part of 70th diplomatic relationship Islamic Republic of Iran-Republic of Indonesia. Kharg starts the journey from Abbas harbour in Iran, carries 300 Iranian navy student who will do sport activity together with the Indonesian navy during docked in Jakarta 25-28 February. (Photo by Anton Raharjo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Iran’s supreme leader orders probe into 'mistaken' naval strike

Iran said an investigation has been launched into the missile strike that killed 19 navy personnel during a routine exercise.

---ISRAEL OUT---
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem. Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO

Netanyahu leaves annexation on back burner in talks with Pompeo

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of annexation in his press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focusing instead on the pandemic, the US peace plan and Iran.

U.S. special envoy for Syria and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Jim Jeffrey speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi - RC28BD9QFAZ9

Intel: US sanctions squeezing Iranian forces in Syria, says US envoy

Cash-strapped Iran is reining in some of its forces in Syria as a result of American sanctions, US envoy James Jeffrey said today.

TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 20, 2020: The final inspections are made on a Peugoet 206 car in the production line of Iran Khodro Car Factory on February 20, 2020 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

Iran’s industry minister sacked amid crumbling economy

In a surprise move, Iran’s president dismissed his minister of industry as the sector is increasingly plagued by US sanctions, untamed inflation and corruption.

Iraqi Kurdish officers and policemen stand at the gate of the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, that partially reopened for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan in Halabja Province, Iraq May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Saman Mahmood - RC24HG9M4JY9

Iraq reopens 2 border crossings to help boost battered Iranian economy

Two of five Iranian-Iraqi border crossings reopen for both goods and individuals, to the benefit of Iran's sanctions- and coronavirus-hit economy, and of Iraqis in the south and in the KRG-run north.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden smiles as he speaks with his wife Jill at his side during a primary night news conference at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC2EHF9E1P51

Intel: Biden adviser says Iran deal supporters, detractors both wrong on sanctions' effectiveness

A longtime foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden argued on Monday that President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal has proven both the accord’s supporters and detractors wrong “about a critical thing.”

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - FEBRUARY 27: Iranian navy stand on the Kharg ship at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 27, 2020. The Kharg ship visit is part of 70th diplomatic relationship Islamic Republic of Iran-Republic of Indonesia. Kharg starts the journey from Abbas harbour in Iran, carries 300 Iranian navy student who will do sport activity together with the Indonesian navy during docked in Jakarta 25-28 February. (Photo by Anton Raharjo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

19 sailors dead after Iran accidentally fires missile on own ship

Iranian state media report 19 sailors are dead and 15 wounded after a friendly fire incident in the Gulf of Oman.