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May 6, 2026

Tehran 12:35 pm

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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.

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

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Iran "to make a sensible choice" and resume negotiations.

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.

Analysis

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

Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Parker Song / Getty Images

Iran’s Araghchi heads to China as US presses Beijing over Hormuz: What to know

The visit comes ahead of President Donald Trump's long-awaited trip to Beijing next week.

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.

Latest News

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

Why Iran’s regime didn't break: The hidden networks behind its survival

Mahmoud Karimi, a maddah, leads a mourning ritual during the Muslim month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Tehran on July 3, 2025.

Jamshid Jamshidi

By Jamshid Jamshidi

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

Workers work at a construction site in Ein Terma, a district of eastern Ghouta, Syria February 26, 2019. Picture taken February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC18BEF25A70

How Russia could facilitate China’s role in rebuilding Syria

Moscow and Beijing are eyeing a number of opportunities to push forward on the reconstruction of Syria and Lebanon could play a central role.

Iranian former vice president and candidate for parliamentary election Mohammad Reza Aref and his wife show their ink-stained fingers after casting their ballots during elections for the parliament and Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader, in Tehran February 26, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - GF10000324077

Iran’s Reformists scramble to avert defeat in key polls

With only six months to go until Iran's crucial parliamentary elections, the country's Reform Movement is grappling with multiple crises and could lose its overwhelming majority to rival hard-liners.

Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaks during a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim in Baghdad, Iraq May 26, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily - RC1CB4BEB750

What was behind regional tour of Iranian foreign minister?

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif goes to Kuwait and Qatar to promote dialogue, perhaps because opportunities that once developed through Oman may no longer be as fruitful as they once were.

The domestically built mobile missile defence system Bavar-373 is displayed on the National Defence Industry Day in Tehran, Iran August 22, 2019. Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC132AFEF430

Iran unveils new missile defense system

Iranian media hails counter to Russian S-300 missile defense system.

Who's behind explosions at PMU militia sites in Iraq?

As attacks on Iran-backed militias' facilities in Iraq continue, Israel actually hints it may be behind them.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 12, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo - S1AETHSUNEAA

Iran's Khamenei urges oil-free economy as crude sales shrink

Iran's supreme leader has underlined the need for an economy independent of oil as the country's crude exports continue to plunge amid US pressure on Tehran's customers.

An Iranian man buys new 500 rial coins from a currency trader in Tehran October 31, 2004. Iran has introduced the new coins to eliminate the cost of printing paper money. (8670Rls=1USD) REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl CJF/WS - RP5DRIAPWVAA

Iran plans revamp of national currency

The Iranian Cabinet has approved a bill to remove four zeros from the national currency, the rial, and rename it the toman, but economists are divided over the potential impact.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news briefing following the talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kiev, Ukraine August 19, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko - RC1613F3F6B0

How long will Iran tolerate Israeli operations against it?

According to recent foreign reports, Israel is continuing to expand its operations against Iranian targets.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland Ville Skinnari meets Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammed Javad Zarif, in Helsinki, Finland, August 19, 2019. Lehtikuva/Markku Ulander via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS - RC1ECD803310

Zarif makes fresh push to save Iran deal, ease Gulf tensions

Iran's foreign minister has embarked on a long journey in search of workable diplomatic solutions to save the battered nuclear deal and resolve heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.

A crew member takes pictures with a mobile phone on Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, as it 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 TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1491345A00

Iran calls for compensation for Gibraltar tanker seizure

Iranian officials have welcomed the release of the Iranian tanker seized by the UK.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson conducts flight operations while underway in the Arabian Gulf in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated April 4, 2011. He may have been America's enemy number one, but after U.S. forces killed him in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was afforded Islamic religious rites by the U.S. military as part of his surprise at-sea burial on Monday. The body was transported to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which brought him to his final resting place somewhere in the north

Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump

The Russian president plans to roll out his regional initiative to calm Gulf tensions next month — but are the United States and the EU ready to let Putin step up in the Gulf?

Is Iran’s national broadcaster being pushed to brink of irrelevance?

Iran's national broadcasting monopoly IRIB continues to play a partisan role in the country.