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

Iran cover image

Iran

April 12, 2026

Tehran 7:20 pm

18°C

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) walks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Inside Turkey’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire

Turkey used its intelligence networks and rare access to both Washington and Tehran to quietly facilitate the US-Iran ceasefire while advancing its own regional security priorities.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

People gather under a large portrait of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during a memorial to mark the 40th day since his father, Ali Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli joint strikes, on April 9, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Ceasefire without relief: How Iranians are grappling with post-war repression

Despite the ceasefire, pressure is mounting inside Iran: arrests are rising, the internet remains largely shut down, and millions face deep economic uncertainty.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

A woman walks past a digital screen displaying news of US-Iran peace talks along a road in Islamabad on April 10, 2026.

In Islamabad, US set to face a more defiant Iran at negotiating table

Iran's widening ambitions after the war include a bid to exercise permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Latest News

Analysis

Ahead of Washington talks, Israel has little choice but to accept ceasefire in Lebanon

TOPSHOT - Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted an area in Beirut on April 8, 2026. Israel launched a series of strikes on Beirut on April 8, the most violent attack on the Lebanese capital since the start of war. The strikes came as Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2, claimed it was close to a "historic victory". (Photo by Dylan COLLINS / AFP via Getty Images) /

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

Analysis

Sanctions relief, Pakistan role propel China backing of Iran-US ceasefire

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting regarding the situation in the Middle East on April 7, 2026, in New York City. A vote on a resolution in the Security Council introduced by Bahrain focusing on reopening the Strait of Hormuz failed after opposition from Russia and China. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Joyce Karam

By Joyce Karam , Rosaleen Carroll

UAE says no more 'niceties' with Iran, seeks clarity on fragile truce terms

TOPSHOT - People watch from a street as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. Iran's strikes on Gulf neighbours since February 28, following the US-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travellers who thought they were headed to one of the region's safest holiday destinations. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

Lebanon rejects Iran negotiating on its behalf, PM says only Beirut handles talks

This picture taken on April 9, 2026, shows the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Basta neighbourhood of Beirut the day before. Calls were mounting for the ceasefire between the US and Iran to be extended to Israel's war with Hezbollah, after a massive wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 200 people. (Photo by FADEL itani / 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

A fisherman tries to catch fish at the dried-up Zayanderood River, with the Khajoo Bridge seen in the background, in Isfahan, 450 km (281 miles) south of Tehran, June 27, 2008. The river dried up due to low rainfall and the water being re-channelled for hydroelectricity purposes. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTX7EU6

Water Riot Breaks Out in Iran

Protests have erupted following a dispute over a water pipeline in Iran's Esfahan Province, reports an Al-Monitor correspondent there.

Dignitaries pose for a group photo prior to the start of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit at Sakhir Palace in Sakhir south of Manama, Bahrain, December 24, 2012. (From L-R) Bahrain's Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Emirates' Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maqtoom, Deputy Premier of Omani Cabinet Affairs Fahd Bin Humoud Al Saieed, Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed, King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, Saudi Crown Prince Salman al Saud, Qatari Crown Prince S

Qatar Offers 'GCC+1' to Include Iran

At a recent forum in Kuwait, high-ranking Qatari officials proposed the formation of a new organization comprising the GCC and Iran, writes Nassif Hitti.

Top officials from the U.S., France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and Iran take part in talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Almaty February 27, 2013. World powers hope Iran will respond positively on Wednesday to their new offer to lift some sanctions if Tehran scales back nuclear activity the West fears could be used to build bombs. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EC3H

Iran Sanctions Relief: What It Means

Samuel Cutler and Erich Ferrari explain how the Obama administration would implement the reported sanctions relief proposed to Iran by the P5+1 at the Almaty talks.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili smiles before talks in Almaty February 26, 2013. World powers began talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, in a fresh attempt to resolve a decade-old standoff that threatens the Middle East with a new war. REUTERS/Stanislav Filippov/Pool (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EATB

Iran Celebrates Limited Victory After Latest P5+1 Talks

Some Iranian conservatives seem to view the latest round of talks with the P5+1 as a win, writes Meir Javedanfar, who predicts that the supreme leader and his supporters will claim that the world has acknowledged Iran's strength.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama announces the winner of the best picture Oscar via video link at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) (OSCARS-SHOW) - RTR3E97I

Iran Reacts Angrily to 'Argo' Oscar

Tehran rejects depictions of Iranians in "Argo," which received the Academy Award for best picture, writes Saideh Jamshidi.

Director and producer Ben Affleck accepts the Oscar for best picture for "Argo" at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) (OSCARS-SHOW) - RTR3E97K

'Argo' Oscar Spurs Ex-Hostages To Call For Sustained Iran Talks

Bruce Laingen and John Limbert, who were hostages in Iran from 1979-81, say they hope the movie "Argo" will encourage diplomacy with Iran and not just dredge up old grievances.

Newspapers are displayed at a newsstand on January 24, 2012 in the Karakoy neighborhood of Istanbul. Turkish newspapers criticized the January 23 vote by the French Senate making denial of the Armenian genocide a crime. The French Senate on January 23 approved, by 127 votes to 86, the measure which makes it an offence punishable by jail in France to deny that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on January 24 slammed as discr

Iran's Foreign Envoy Slams Turkish Media

Outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour accuses the Turkish media of ulterior motives in spoiling the relations between two countries, writes Tulin Daloglu.

A Shi'ite cleric stands at the shrine of Hazrat-e Massoumeh, granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad, while attending a ritual mourning for Imam Hussein as he marks Arbain in Qom, about 120 km (75 miles) south of Tehran, February 16, 2009. Imam Hussein, who was Prophet Mohammad's grandson, died in a seventh century battle. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTXBP2W

Controversial Iraqi Cleric Arrested in Iran

The arrest in Iran of prominent Shiite cleric Ahmad Qabanji, known for his progressive interpretation of Islam, has sparked fury among his supporters, writes Ali Abel Sadah.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
An Iranian student holds a placard as she attends a demonstration, before a ceremony to form a human chain around the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF), to show her support for Iran's nuclear program in Isfahan, 450 km (280 miles) south of Tehran, November 15, 2011. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION ENERGY) - RTR2U1NL

New IAEA Report Shows Iranian Nuclear Advances

Iran has made several nuclear advances ahead of talks next week in Kazakhstan, according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, reports Barbara Slavin.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi (L) attend a news conference in Ankara January 19, 2012. Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbours on Thursday not to put themselves in a "dangerous position" by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if pending Western moves to ban Iranian cr

Turkey-Iran Ties Strained By Iraq, Syria

Tehran and Ankara are struggling to keep up appearances as differences over Iraq and Syria begin to take a toll on their bilateral relationship, writes Semih Idiz.

North Korean soldiers attend a rally celebrating the country's third nuclear test at the Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang February 14, 2013 in this picture taken and released by the North's official KCNA news agency. North Korea conducted nuclear test on Tuesday. Korean characters read,"(We) celebrate ardently success of the third underground nuclear test!". REUTERS/KCNA (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY

Israel Fears North Korea to Become Nuclear Supplier of Middle East

The nuclear test conducted by North Korea delivers a message to Iran and to other potential customers in the region, writes Alon Ben David: Why work hard to develop a bomb if you can simply buy one off the shelf?

A man looks at the new Apple Iphone 3G in a computer centre in northern Tehran November 1, 2008. The unlocked Apple Iphone 3G retails from $900 to $1200. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTXA5AF

Fatwa Issued Against 3G Internet Operator in Iran

Iranian grand ayatollahs and conservative parliamentarians are moving to shut down a new 3G mobile Internet operator because of its video capability, reports David Jones from Iran.