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August 8, 2026

Tehran 1:56 pm

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif in Mecca after signing the defense pact, Aug. 7, 2026.

Analysis

How Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact puts Iran's regional strategy to test

The defense agreement is not an anti-Iran bloc, but it may reflect a deeper regional adjustment to years of Iranian asymmetric warfare as well as uncertainty over US security commitments.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025.

Analysis

Jordan shores up US lifelines as Iran targets Amman’s reliance on Washington

Already a leading recipient of US aid, Jordan has secured fresh funds from the United States as the Iran war tests Amman and Washington's partnerships.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program.

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

Latest News

Explainer

Iran-Oman deal spurs Hormuz hopes as Red Sea threats evolve

Khaled ZIAD / AFP via Getty Images

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

French Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) deputy Meyer Habib delivers a speech during a debate on Palestine status at the National Assembly in Paris November 28, 2014. French lawmakers are set to hold symbolic parliamentary votes over the next month on whether the government should recognise Palestine as a state, a move likely to anger the Jewish state. France does not classify Palestine as a state, but says it could extend recognition if it believed doing so would help promote peace between the Pale

US, E3 lawmakers pen joint warning on Iran

Lawmakers from the United States, France, United Kingdom and Germany warn that bad deal will result in more sanctions "without fail."

A protester carries a Bahraini flag as they clash with riot police in the village of Bilad Al Qadeem south of Manama, February 6, 2015.
Protesters clashed with riot police demanding for the release of Bahraini opposition leader Sheik Ali Salman. Sheik Salman, head of the al-Wefaq Islamic Society was arrested on December 28, 2014 after leading a protest rally against elections in November which his party boycotted. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed (BAHRAIN). - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4OIT8

Does Iran have a card to play in Bahrain?

While protests in Bahrain have remained largely peaceful, does Iran have any influence among the various Bahrain opposition groups?

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Iranian lawmaker Ali Motahari speaks in the Iranian parliament in Tehran November 15, 2009. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN POLITICS) - RTXQR8X

Was Iran MP attacked by rogue security service?

The attack on an Iranian parliament member by plainclothesmen may be related to the upcoming parliamentary elections.

An Iraqi woman walks past a giant poster showing Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on February 05, 2015. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an end to a years-old nightly curfew in the Iraqi capital in a bid to ease restrictions on daily life despite persistent violence, officials said. The army and police checkpoints across Baghdad cause massive traffic jams that are a major source of irritation for Iraqis and often follow lax security procedures

Iran gathers power in Iraq as US further sidelined

Iran has succeeded in expanding its influence in Iraq by supporting the Shiite paramilitary forces there, a move that the United States has avoided since 2003.

Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi (bottom L) and other Iranian negotiators talk outside the Beau-Rivage hotel, following a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif over Iran's nuclear program, in Lausanne, March 16, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4TJ9L

Signs of hope for Iran accord

Negotiators expressed cautious optimism that a political accord could emerge from intensive talks underway in Lausanne, Switzerland, but US officials caution that Iran still has important decisions to make to prove its program peaceful.

An Iranian woman jumps over a bonfire in southern Tehran on March 19, 2013 during the Wednesday Fire feast, or Chaharshanbeh Soori, held annually on the last Wednesday eve before the Spring holiday of Noruz. The Iranian new year that begins on March 20 coincides with the first day of spring during which locals revive the Zoroastrian celebration of lighting a fire and dancing around the flame. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Ancient, modern Iran clash over fire festival

Iranians will take to the streets to celebrate an ancient Iranian holiday, despite warnings by officials who are uncomfortable with this pre-Islamic holiday.

Shi'ite fighters from Hashid Shaabi forces launch a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants on the front line at the Shi'ite Turkman village of Bashir, 20km south of Kirkuk, March 14, 2015. Kurdish peshmerga forces, backed by Shi'ite militia fighters, have been attacking Islamic State-held towns and villages south and west of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, peshmerga sources said. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TCBR

Iraq’s Shiite forces claim victory over IS

Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite resistance movement fighting IS, tells Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview that his group will target US planes if they get near his forces.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
Lawmakers attend a parliament session in Tehran January 29, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2X0YQ

90% of Iran MPs: All sanctions must be removed

260 members of parliament signed on to a statement saying that, in case of a nuclear deal, all sanctions against Iran must be removed.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry disembarks from his plane as he arrives in Geneva March 15, 2015. Kerry is in Geneva to resume talks with Iranian officials to limit Tehran's most sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years in exchange for the gradual easing of some sanctions. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4TGB9

Despite congressional threats, Iran negotiators resume talks

US and Iranian negotiators are meeting in Lausanne to work toward a potential nuclear deal.

An Iranian woman registers her candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary elections at the interior ministry in Tehran on December 24, 2011. Iranians began to register their candidacy for the upcoming elections set for March 2, 2012 for a four-year tenure in parliament. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran's female MPs show mixed record

Iran's female members of parliament have been few in number but have had a large impact on national policies.

A Muslim woman reads the Koran before Iftar, when Muslims break their fast, during the holy month of Ramadan at the historic Umayyad Mosque in Old Damascus August 26, 2009. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR274NK

Contemporary Islamic views support reform in favor of women

The religious feminist movement has succeeded in improving the status of women in some parts of the Muslim world, while in others, there is resistance to any change regarding women’s rights.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attends the closing session of 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu November 27, 2014. A brief meeting between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart appears to have salvaged a summit of South Asian leaders, with all eight countries clinching a last-minute deal to create a regional electricity grid.
REUTERS/Niranjan Shrestha/Pool (NEPAL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4FUCN

Pakistan declines to join Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran alliance

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected, at least for now, Saudi Arabia's entreaties for Pakistani troops to help guard the Saudi border with northern Yemen, controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi Shiite forces.