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Iran

May 9, 2026

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China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

A woman walks past a banner featuring Iran's late supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), next to newly elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why Iran's wartime behavior risks lasting rupture with Gulf states

Iran's rhetoric and policies toward Gulf states have sharply escalated, raising questions about whether years of painstaking regional rapprochement can survive mounting distrust and maritime confrontations.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

Getty

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Strikes on Iranian tankers and fresh exchanges in the Gulf escalate tensions as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a deal proposal.

Latest News

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

Popular Mobilization Forces

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Joyce Karam

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 Kurdish Peshmerga members of the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDPI) check the damage after a rocket attack inside their headquarters in Koysinjaq, 100 kilometres east of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of eastern Iraq, on September 8, 2018. - At least a dozen members of the Iranian Kurdish rebel group were killed on September 8 in the a rocket attack on their headquarters carried out by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) has carried

Iran missile strike opens door to escalation with Kurdish armed groups

An Iranian missile attack on Iranian Kurdish fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan has raised the risk of intensified fighting in western Iran while heightening the chances of localized confrontations taking on an international dimension.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and First Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei attend a ceremony in Tehran July 22, 2009. Ahmadinejad, re-elected for a second four-year term in a disputed presidential vote last month, has come under fire from fellow conservatives and hardliners for appointing Mashaie last Thursday.
REUTERS/Yalda Moaiery (IRAN POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1E57N01IL01

Ahmadinejad’s right-hand man sentenced to prison

The sentencing of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei may be the final blow to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regaining his spot in the limelight.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani exits the podium after addressing the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz - RC1ED8E50640

Pressure mounts on Iran's president to skip the UN General Assembly

The Iranian president’s planned trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly is sparking divisions among his political backers and opponents.

Iranian students study as they wait for a bus in central Tehran January 16, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - GF20000096751

Iran government takes crucial step toward ending education discrimination

The Iranian government is one step closer to eradicating discrimination against those deprived of higher education, but a cloud of uncertainty still hovers over the fate of Bahais.

Iraq's religious tourism suffers from US sanctions on Iran

The number of Iranian pilgrims traveling to Iraq for religious holidays is expected to witness a sharp decline due to the impact of US economic penalties on Iran.

Why Iran is battling US at International Court of Justice

Iran has turned to the International Court of Justice in a battle to end current and pending US sanctions, though the United States has already said it doesn't recognize the court's jurisdiction in the matter.

Iran eyes major role in post-war Syria via reconstruction

Iranian involvement in the reconstruction of Syria offers Tehran the opportunity to cement its influence, boost its economy and forge closer ties with China.

A vendor counts money in a shop in Tehran's Grand Bazaar January 19, 2009. Tumbling oil prices could make it harder for Iran to shrug off U.S. and U.N. sanctions and add to pressure on the world's fourth-largest crude producer to halt nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. Iran says it can cope even if oil falls much more and shows no sign that economic problems may prompt it to soften its nuclear defiance, even if it is promised an end to isolation as well as enhanced trade and other swee

Tehran careful to frame steps against money laundering as independent move

Iran is moving cautiously forward on legislation to combat money laundering and terror financing, as the steps crucial to the health of Iran's economy must not be seen as concessions to outside pressure.

Newly re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures after delivering a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. A portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen in the background.
Iranians have chosen the "path of engagement with the world" and rejected extremism, President Hassan Rouhani said following his resounding re-election victory. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Rouhani moves closer to Khamenei amid bipartisan backlash

President Hassan Rouhani’s appearance before parliament to answer economic questions did not satisfy Principlists or Reformists. It did, however, please Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

US Rebuplican senator John McCain (R) walks with Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa, spokesman of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), during his tour to the rebel headquarters in their eastern stronghold city of Benghazi on April 22, 2011. McCain is the highest-ranking US politician to visit Libya's rebel-held east since a popular uprising began against Moamer Kadhafi's rule in mid-February. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

US friends in the Middle East lose a champion in John McCain

The late senator from Arizona leaves behind a legacy as one of the Senate’s last prominent proponents of US interventionism.

Why did Putin disregard his Turkish partner?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared lonely and ignored at the Tehran summit.

Three things the Tehran summit exposed about Russia, Turkey, Iran 'alliance'

The summit in Tehran exposed important underlying dynamics within the Astana trio and made it clear the three actors see the US presence as a problem, albeit each for their own reason.