Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

August 8, 2026

Tehran 4:09 pm

34°C

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

Iran's former Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi (L), chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani (R) attend a conference on Iran's Nuclear Policies and Prospects in Tehran April 25, 2006. Larijani said on Tuesday his country would suspend its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if sanctions were imposed, as advocated by the United States. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi - RTR1CS06

Rouhani adviser denies he called for Iran's return to empire

President Hassan Rouhani's Ethnic and Religious Minorities adviser had called for a union between the countries bordering Iran, to wide criticism in the Arab-language media.

A view of a cottage in fog at Daryasar field in Mazandaran Province, 300 km (186 miles) north of Tehran September 21, 2005. Picture taken on September 21. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl - RTRP68C

Khamenei warns against destruction of Iran's forests

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that illegally privatizing public forests and mountains is harming the country's environment and the world at large.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (C), a deputy parliament speaker, is surrounded by police officers as he walks on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2GKI0

Danon: Bibi's speech to Congress sent the right message

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech succeeded in shifting the international community's focus back to the essential debate on the imminent agreement with Iran.

Iran holds first ever fashion week

Contrary to Western stereotypes, Iranian women are avid followers of fashion and increasingly prominent in an industry that they hope to expand even to US customers.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) (L), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (R), speaks at a news conference after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 3, 2015. The White House has said President Barack Obama would veto the Iran Nuclear Review Act, which was introduced by Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the panel, to require Obama to

Senate seeks to unblock path for war on Islamic State

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will address the week of March 9.

An Iranian employee of the anti-drug police walk past 50 tons of drugs seized in recent months burning in eastern Tehran on June 26, 2014 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The Iranian security forces seized some 575 tons of drugs between March 2013 and March 2014, the Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian minister slammed for warning of 'dirty money' in politics

Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has been forced to walk back his claims that money from illegal drug smuggling has entered politics.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (L) meets with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR2K0M9

Are Turkey, Saudi Arabia working together against Iran?

Analysts fear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being dragged into Saudi Arabia's anti-Iran Sunni bloc.

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

Former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi smiles as he sits at his home in Tehran, after he was released from jail November 22, 2009. Abtahi, accused of fomenting street unrest after Iran's June election, was released on bail of about $700,000 (424, 062 pounds) on Sunday, the judiciary said, after reports he had been sentenced to six years in jail. REU

Former Iran VP speaks on interreligious outreach

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi talks about the challenges of his work in interreligious outreach.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) arrives for a vote on whether to overturn a presidential veto of the Keystone XL pipeline, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2015. The U.S. Senate failed on Wednesday to overturn Obama's veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, leaving the contentious project to await an administration decision on whether to allow it. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY ENVIRONMENT) - RTR4S47R

Democrats slam brakes on Iran action

Forget about voting on anything before March 24 deadline, House and Senate Democrats warn.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4RWHO

Rafsanjani: Iran’s hard-liners 'in harmony with Netanyahu'

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani has said that Iran's hard-liners are in line with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in opposing a nuclear deal with the West, drawing the ire of one of Iran's most conservative newspapers.

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

A customer buys Iranian gold coins at a currency exchange office in Tehran's business district October 24, 2011. Iranian media reported last week that monetary authorities had reversed a six-month-old decision to cut interest on bank deposits, aiming to mop up excess cash in the economy and halt a dangerous rise of inflation. The news made sense to economists,

Iranian banks on shaky ground

Toxic loans coupled with crippling sanctions have led Iranian banks to be running out of capital, pushing deposit-taking banks to offer higher rates than monetary officials insist on.