Iran revolution

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during press conference in Tehran on Nov. 30, 2025.

Analysis

Why Iran regime’s potential collapse spells more risk than benefit for Turkey

Iran’s leadership faces its most serious unrest in years, and rising Kurdish mobilization makes the prospect of regime collapse particularly risky for Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Fires are lit as protesters rally on Jan. 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Bruised, not broken: Iran’s regime shows no deep structural cracks — yet

One of the clearest indicators of regime vulnerability — namely defections among the elite or military positions — has not materialized yet.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

People cross a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote that reads "Sing Oh Iran" in Tehran on July, 9, 2025.

IRGC to Majlis: Who are central players in Iran's regime?

Iran’s political system concentrates ultimate authority in the supreme leader and a network of loyal institutions.

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026.

Iran dangles diplomacy as Trump weighs strikes amid protests

Despite the outreach, Iran doesn't appear willing to abandon its red lines in talks with the United States.

Latest News

Iran sees largest protest day as regime cuts internet: What to know

A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on Jan. 1, 2026.

Analysis

Beyond Venezuela, what does Maduro’s fall mean for isolated Iran?

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (L) is welcomed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on June 12, 2023. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Venezuela Monday for the start of a visit to "friendly countries" that also include Cuba and Nicaragua, all under sanctions from a common adversary, the United States. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Culture

Rape case against movie star Pejman Jamshidi rocks Iran: What to know

Iranian women without wearing hijab shout slogans while gathering around a burning dumpster during a protest near Punak square, on Oct. 1, 2022

Analysis

Iran nears 'day zero': Water crisis deepens amid drought, unrest and mismanagement

The low water inlet of the river upstream of the Amir Kabir dam along the Karaj river is pictured in Iran's northern Alborz mountain range on June 1, 2025. Tehran is facing a water shortage due to low rainfall last year and the beginning of summer. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Iranians sit with their dogs in a park in Tehran on June 8, 2025. Iranian authorities have expanded a ban on walking dogs in public to multiple cities nationwide, citing public health, social order and safety concerns, domestic media reported on June 8. Owning and walking dogs has been a contentious topic since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, though there is no law outrightly banning dog ownership. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Despite outrage, Iran expands dog-walking ban across multiple provinces

Dog ownership has become the focus of new restrictions as Iran's government looks to police public space.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with his Egyptian counterpart (not pictured) in Cairo, on Oct. 17, 2024.

Iran FM Araghchi meets Egypt’s Sisi amid diplomatic push: What we know

The Iranian foreign minister held talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during which both agreed on the need to promote relations between the two countries.

A police officer is seen in front of the Blue Mosque, housing the Islamic Centre of Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 24, 2024.

Iran summons German ambassador, furious over Islamic center closure

Iran, which has been running similar foundations in several Western countries, condemned the ban as an act of Islamophobia after Berlin found the center to be propagating "extremism and fundamentalism."

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi attend a joint press conference in Ankara, on Jan. 24, 2024.

How Raisi’s death will impact Turkey-Iran geopolitical rivalry

While leaders and some commentators in Turkey posthumously praised the late Iranian president and foreign minister, many geopolitical challenges await Ankara and Tehran once Iran elects a new president.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

As Iran heads to elections after Raisi’s death, hard-liners face legitimacy crisis

While the Iranian president's death in a helicopter crash may pose immediate questions about the country's future trajectory, little significant change is expected, as the ruling establishment's key workings remain strictly in the supreme leader's tight controls.

French police officers take part in a security perimeter near the Iranian Consulate in Paris after a person was suspected of entering the building with explosives, April 19, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: April 19, 2024, 1:43 pm

Paris police arrest man in Iran consulate incident

The motivation of the unidentified man remains unclear.

People wave Hezbollah and Iranian flags at a rally in Baalbek, Lebanon, May 13, 2022.

Britain hits Iran and its foreign proxies with fresh sanctions

The measures, coordinated with the United States, also target Iran's shipping sector and drone exports.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba, left, and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran reviewing the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in Havana on June 15, 2023.

Cuba, Iran ink economic agreements as Khamenei hosts Diaz-Canel

In its revolutionary foreign policy, Iran has for decades gone out of its way to unite like-minded nations — with a special focus on leftist nations — for an idealistic global campaign to weaken the American hegemony.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Five Israelis, Palestinians charged in Iran spy plot, Shin Bet says

Israel's security service said it had foiled a plot by five Israelis and Palestinians recruited for Iran to spy on Israeli politicians, including the far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Released American citizens landed in Qatar today.

Breaking | Last Updated: July 10, 2024, 12:33 pm

Iran frees 5 Americans in prisoner swap with US

A US-bound flight carrying a group of American detainees including Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi left Iran on Monday.

Members of the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) hold the picture of a deceased person.

Iran cheers Albania's raid on exiled MEK group, wants more

Tehran expressed satisfaction with the Albanian government's surprise crackdown on the largest exiled Iranian opposition organization, which has been engaged in violence against the Islamic Republic for over four decades.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock listens to a statement during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran, at the United Nations in Geneva on November 24, 2022. (Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD / AFP) (Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany scrambles to stop Iran from executing dual citizen

After a top Iranian court upheld the death sentence of dual citizen Jamshid Sharmahd, German Foreign Minister Annalean Baerbock says Berlin is making every possible effort to stop the execution.