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May 6, 2026

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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.

Latest News

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

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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 Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) poses with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres after the two attended a High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC1BAECA4150

Updated: Iran's foreign minister receives visa, to arrive in NY Sunday

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was expected to arrive in New York on Sunday after uncertainty over whether he would receive a US visa amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: The President of Iraq, Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen) at 10 Downing Street on June 25, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Traps abound as Iraq charts independent course based on ‘national vision’

Iraq's new foreign policy vision promotes noninterference and economic integration; Turkey's bombing of PKK sites in Iraq's Qandil Mountains tests Baghdad's resolve.

Iran shells Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Iran follows Turkey in bombarding civilians in border areas of Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

A boy is seen at the site of an airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa, Yemen, February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RC19CF75D3A0

Intel: How Congress is curbing US support for Yemen war

U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC19027566C0

Trump’s pick for top general plays down Iran war talk

A day after Iranian boats reportedly attempted to seize a British tanker in the Gulf, President Donald Trump’s pick to become the military’s top officer downplayed the potential for conflict with Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC18FCCF2B90

Rouhani out of time, support for revised nuclear deal

US sanctions and Europe's failure to come up with a satisfactory substitute for the nuclear deal are weakening the moderates in Iran's government while inflaming the hawks.

Royal Navy vessel HMS Montrose at sea during Baltic Operations in this photo taken June 15, 2014. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Adam C. Stapleton/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1E7A174850

IRGC denies it tried to capture British tanker

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has denied they attempted to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

France's top diplomat Emmanuel Bonne meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, Iran July 10, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC12F4E624A0

Tehran says it will stick to phased reduction of nuclear deal commitments

Iran told a French envoy that it will continue to scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal unless the other signatories honor their end of the deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves his hand during a welcome ceremony at Salam Palace in Baghdad, Iraq March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily - RC1D812E2710

Is Iran’s influence in Iraq waning?

Iran is formalizing its relationship with Baghdad as a strategic step in lessening the negative economic effects of US sanctions, but the pro-Iran PMU integrating into Iraqi armed forces leave some Iraqi leaders uneasy.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they pose on the West Wing colonnade in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC1AE2447D80

Will Trump follow suit if Israel attacks Iran?

Ahead of the 2020 US presidential elections, President Donald Trump might decide to back Israel militarily, if it decides to attack Iran.

A British Royal Navy patrol vessel guards the oil supertanker Grace 1, that's on suspicion of carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria, as it sits anchored in waters of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, historically claimed by Spain, July 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca - RC1F65D414F0

Iran's hard-liners urge retaliation against UK seizure of supertanker

After the seizure of a Syria-bound Iranian oil tanker by British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar, Iran's hard-liners are pressing the Rouhani government to drop diplomatic efforts and instead "respond in kind" by holding UK vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

An Iraqi passenger walks at the Shalamcha Border Crossing, Iraq November 4, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani - RC1F15757040

Iran grants additional visas to Iraqis to boost its economy

In order to overcome US sanctions and boost its economy, Iran is increasing tourist visas to Iraqis.