Iran protests

A man checks old banknotes in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran on March 3, 2025. Iran's parliament sacked the country's finance minister on March 2 after impeaching him over soaring inflation and a plunging currency, state television reported. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Public backlash as Iran closes $3.7B corruption case, largest in its history

With only two former ministers receiving lenient sentences, the $3.7 billion embezzlement scheme has reignited national debates on systemic corruption amid an increasingly dire economic climate.

A general view shows the Milad Tower in Iran's capital, Tehran, on Feb. 23, 2025.

Analysis

Iran steps up crackdown on Sunni militancy: How far could it go?

The question of Sunni militancy, which stems from decades-long systematic marginalization of Iran's Sunni minority, has added to an array of challenges Tehran's radical Shiite government is currently grappling with.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

People carry a banner during a march demanding truth and justice for Kurdish activists, Paris, Jan. 11, 2025.

27 Kurdish civilians, activists arrested in Iran following protests

After protests over the death sentences of Kurdish political prisoners, Iranian authorities arrested at least 27 people across the Kurdistan region.

Iranians lift up a flag and the mock up of a missile during a celebration following Iran's missiles and drones attack on Israel, on April 15, 2024, at Palestine square in central Tehran.

Analysis

Iran's turbulent 2024: Regional losses, economic pains and impending threats

Iran is bidding farewell to a 2024 rife with severe setbacks ranging from the Gaza war and escalating tensions with Israel to major geopolitical shifts and a faltering economy at home.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

Iran coal mine tragedy highlights prevalent corruption, workers' plight

Iranian miners look on at the scene of a blast at a coal mine in Tabas in Iran's Khorasan province on September 22, 2024. The blast caused by a gas leak at the coal mine in eastern Iran has killed at least 50 people, state media said on September 22, in one of Iran's deadliest work accidents in years. (Photo by Mohsen NOFERESTY / IRNA / AFP) (Photo by MOHSEN NOFERESTY/IRNA/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

What’s behind Javad Zarif's resignation from Iran’s new government?

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former Iranian Foreign Minister, flashes victory sign during an election rally in support of Iranian presidential election candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, Iran, on June 24, 2024. Iran is holding snap presidential elections to choose the next president after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. After the election with a historically low turnout on Friday, Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's presidential election candidate and former reformist member of the Iranian parliam

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Even as Iran denies $500M arms deal with Armenia, foothold in Caucasus is priority

Armenia's foreign minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, meets with his counterpart from Iran in Tehran on July 24, 2023.

Women activists face 'severe sentences' in Iran, as new president vows easing of restrictions

Two Iranian women are walking in the street of Tehran with optional covering.

Iran protest

Teen deaths mark new episode in Iran's crackdown on protests

While the case of Mahsa Amini's death in custody is still far from being settled, Iranian officials have been embroiled by one report after another on the killing of teenage protesters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Iran protests put Turkish government in tight spot

As their Western partners strongly react to the Iranian protests, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his administration remain curiously quiet.

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran on Sept. 21, 2022, shows Iranian demonstrators taking to the streets of the capital Tehran during a protest for Mahsa Amini, days after she died in police custody.

Breaking | Last Updated: October 6, 2022, 6:03 pm

US targets senior Iranian officials with new sanctions

Those sanctioned include Iran's interior and communications ministers.

The flag of Iran is seen in front of the building of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Headquarters ahead of a press conference by Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, about the agency's monitoring of Iran's nuclear energy program on May 24, 2021 in Vienna, Austria.

Analysis

The Takeaway: As protests rage, is Iran moving toward nuclear deal?

Netanyahu weighs in on Israel-Lebanon gas deal; Russia relies on Iranian drones in Ukraine; Israel escalates raids in West Bank; Lebanon pegs lira to dollar; democracy under siege in Tunisia.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

A boy looks on during a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to those who have died protesting the death of Mahsa Amini.

Iran says average age of arrested protesters is 15

According to Iranian authorities, those protesting Mahsa Amini's death are some of the youngest ever seen in the country.

A protestor shouts slogans during a demonstration against the Iranian regime.

Iran unrest takes new turn as schoolgirls join protests

A fresh episode was seen in raging protests across Iran as schoolgirls defiantly twirled headscarves and chanted against Iran's supreme leader, who ordered a crackdown on the protesters.

Turkish pop star Gulsen performs during a concert in Aydin, Turkey, on March 27, 2022.

Once a safe haven, Iranians in Turkey say civil liberties are at risk

Many Iranians feel that space for culture, freedom of speech and a secular lifestyle is steadily shrinking in Turkey, which until now has been serving as a safe haven for many Iranians to live freely.

Mohammad Ali Karimi, a nominee for AFC Player of the Year, speaks at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 28, 2012.

Iran’s legendary soccer player under fire for backing protests

Ali Karimi’s name is being chanted out loud by his fans on the street since the day he threw his support behind the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran that started Sept . 16.

Smoke billows following an Iranian cross-border attack in the area of Zargwez.

Breaking | Last Updated: October 14, 2022, 10:29 am

US confirms American citizen killed in Iranian rocket attack in Iraq

Omar Mahmoudzadeh's family confirmed to Al-Monitor that he died in an Iranian strike Thursday in the Iraqi-Kurdish town of Koya.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: September 29, 2022, 6:42 pm

US unveils new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sales

The Biden administration on Thursday blacklisted entities in China, Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged involvement in Iran’s petrochemical trade.

Smoke billows on the horizon in the village of Altrun Kupri, in the Sherawa region, south of Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan, where a base of the Kurdistan Freedom Party is located, on Sept. 28, 2022.

Tehran strikes Kurdish opponents in Iraq as protests over Mahsa Amini’s death convulse Iran

Iran ramps up its bombing campaign in northern Iraq in what Iraqi Kurds argue is an attempt to divert the world's attention from the killing of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.

A woman reacts as she takes part in a protest over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

Mounting deaths in Iran protests as internet blackout drags on

As protests entered a 12th day, the government's deadly crackdown under severe internet disruptions appeared to have failed to soothe the boiling anger.