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Iran

February 21, 2026

Tehran 9:52 pm

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(EDITOR'S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images' editorial policy.) In this handout photo obtained from the U.S. Defence Department, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) sails alongside Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) and Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) in the Arabian Sea, Feb. 6, 2026. According to the U.S. government, the Abraham Lincoln

Analysis

Iran scrambles to shape endgame amid growing US military pressure

With Washington tightening deadlines and deploying assets, Tehran is mounting a rapid diplomatic campaign while preparing for what is increasingly seen as some level of unavoidable confrontation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Oil, gas and Iran nuclear impasse: Can business deals sway Trump’s calculus?

As Iran-US nuclear negotiations continue, Tehran has been pushing the idea of striking business deals rather than military sites, with proposals spanning oil and gas to aviation.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands amid debris outside the Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran on June 19, 2025. Israel's defence minister warned that Iran's supreme leader "can no longer be allowed to exist" after a hospital was hit in an Iranian missile strike on June 19, spiking tensions in the week-old war. (Photo by Marc Israel SELLEM / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Despite warnings from Israel's defense elite, Netanyahu pushes for Iran strike

Although Israeli advisers warn against appearing to drag the US into war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not hidden his desire to help topple the Islamic Republic.

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

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on upon his arrival to deliver a speech during a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian talks with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear program, in Geneva, on Feb. 17, 2026.

Iran's FM says US didn’t demand zero enrichment in nuclear talks

The top Iranian diplomat said the two sides have instead discussed “confidence-building measures" related to its nuclear program.

Latest News

Iran, Russia hold naval drills as Araghchi briefs Saudi FM on nuclear talks

This handout photo made available by the Iranian Army Office on March 11, 2025 shows the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer Baotou (133) during joint military drills between Iran, Russia, and China in the Gulf of Oman.

US readies warships, jets, tankers for potential weekslong Iran war

DENMARK-NORWAY-US-FRANCE-NATO-ARMY-DEFENCE-EXERCISE Picture taken on September 24, 2025 from the French Navy frigate Bretagne shows F-18 fighter jets on the deck of the the world's largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford as both ships are taking part in the NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise in the North Sea. According to NATO, more than 10,000 sailors, soldiers, aviators and marines from 13 allied nations took part in the large-scale multinational enhanced Vigilance Activity, running from September 22 to

As Hezbollah vows to defend Iran, Lebanon braces for potential spillover

Joseph EID / AFP via Getty Images

Israel steps up Iran war preparations, keeps plans within small inner circle

Members of the Israeli security forces check the apparent remains of an Iranian ballistic missile lying on the ground in the Golan Heights, Northern Israel, on Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Photo by Michael Giladi / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL GILADI/Middle East Images/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

Footage shows crowds gathered the moment the first explosion occurred in Kerman, Iran, Jan. 3, 2023.

Explosions in Iran near Qasem Soleimani‘s burial site, 84 killed

The explosion comes amid concerns that the Gaza war will expand across the region.

An Iranian navy missile is displayed during the army day military parade, outside the mausoleum of the late founder of Islamic republic, Ayatollah Khomeini (poster) in Tehran, April 18, 2007.

Iran hails Houthi rebels, deploys warship as Red Sea simmers

As the Houthi spokesman visited Tehran, the Iranian army dispatched a leading destroyer to the Red Sea, where the United States has been mobilizing an international coalition to end disruptions by the Tehran-backed militant group.

Wang Yi speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations headquarters on Nov. 29, 2023.

With confidence at all-time high, can China emerge as Mideast peace broker?

China is riding a wave of support since its Iran-Saudi agreement, but experts say the Palestinian-Israeli brokerage is a different matter.

11/24/2023 Tehran, Iran. Two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) armed military personnel are monitoring an area while standing guard next to an Iranian Majid anti-aircraft missile system during the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

2023 in review: Iran sees opportunity in Gaza war, steps up crackdown at home

Iran's theocratic establishment engaged in a flurry of foreign diplomacy to try to ease the international isolation it is facing, while at home it intensified its crackdown on dissent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi hold a meeting in Tehran on July 19, 2022. - Iran's president will host his Russian and Turkish counterparts for talks on the Syrian war in a three-way summit overshadowed by fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei SAVOSTYANOV / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

What is behind Iran-Russia de-dollarization deal as sanctions bite?

The long-awaited agreement was one among several solutions the two countries have sought to salvage their battered economies, which remain cut off from key international banking systems.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Naftali Bennett: Israel attacked Iran drone base, killed IRGC commander in 2022

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused the current government of ignoring the war Iran is waging against it and letting its leaders off the hook.

An Iranian woman holds a poster with a picture of Sayyed Razi Mousavi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, during his funeral ceremony at the Imam Hossein Square in Tehran, Dec. 28, 2023.

Iran executes four alleged spies for Israel as regional tensions flare

The executions follow accusations that Israel was responsible for the death of Sayyed Razi Mousavi, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria.

Honor guards carry the coffin of Sayyed Razi Mousavi.

Funeral held for Iran's IRGC commander killed by Israel as Tehran vows revenge

Iran said Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in an Israeli strike in Syria. The death of the commander, who was mourned in Syria and Iraq, could ignite war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow Dec. 7, 2023.

Iran in tight spot as Russia backs UAE claim on disputed Gulf islands

Russia-Iran ties were in the spotlight again, and Tehran was put in the unwanted position of having to reservedly criticize the key ally, after Moscow supported the Arab stance on three Iran-controlled disputed islands.

Sara Massoumi in an undated photo

Iranian journalist Sara Massoumi sentenced to prison over tweet: lawyer

Sara Massoumi criticized the Islamic Republic over the death of teenage girl Armita Geravand, who some allege was beaten for not wearing the hijab.

Yemeni coastguard members loyal to the internationally-recognised government ride in a patrol boat cruising in the Red Sea off of the government-held town of Mokha in the western Taiz province, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, on December 12, 2023. (Photo by Khaled Ziad / AFP) (Photo by KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran launches new naval unit as Red Sea attacks intensify

Equipped with rocket-launching vessels, the additional force is introduced amid increasing encounters between Iranian and American vessels in the Persian Gulf.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SALAM FARAJ An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on February 3, 2012. Tens of thousands of Iranian visitors have been finding difficulty in using the Iranian currency in Iraq due to a depreciation of the rial against the dollar. AFP PHOTO/ ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/GettyImages)

How will uncertainty and government policies impact Iran’s economic outlook in 2024?

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics