Iran-US tensions

ALIREZA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

US sanctions China-Iran network aiding Tehran missile program

The Trump administration is stepping up sanctions on Iran as it conducts talks over its rapidly expanding nuclear program.

Iranians pass by the recently repainted, famous anti-American mural that depics the US flag with bombs and skulls in Tehran, Iran on April 10, 2025, two days before the first round of indirect nuclear negotiations with President Trump's administration hosted and mediated by Oman. (Photo by Mohammadali Najib / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMADALI NAJIB/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

'Out of loop': Israel increasingly fears being blindsided by a Trump-Iran deal

The Israeli prime minister had wanted to keep the military option on the table, but for now must grit his teeth and let US-Iranian negotiations run their course.

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

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attends a press conference in Baghdad, April 23, 2025.

France, Germany, UK to reapply Iran sanctions if US talks fall through: Barrot

US and Iranian diplomats have in recent weeks held three rounds of Oman-mediated talks aimed at reaching a new deal on Iran's nuclear program.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

A firefighting helicopter flies through thick clouds of smoke after a deadly explosion at Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on April 27, 2025. The blast, believed to have originated from hazardous chemicals, killed at least 40 people and injured over 1,200, according to local sources. (Photo by Rahim / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAHIM/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

As fires rage at Iran's largest port, IAEA team visits Tehran for nuclear talks

The Iranian Foreign Ministry stressed on Monday that the country's right to enrich uranium domestically and the removal of sanctions are nonnegotiable.

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Analysis

Iran-US talks set to resume in Oman amid differences over enrichment: What to know

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi (R), and Oman's foreign minister, Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, give a joint press conference in Tehran on Dec. 30, 2024.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Trump willing to meet Iran's Khamenei but 'will be leading' war pack if no deal

LEESBURG, VIRGINIA - APRIL 24: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Leesburg Executive Airport on April 24, 2025 in Leesburg, Virginia. Trump is attending the MAGA Inc. fundraiser dinner at Trump National Golf Club. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Top US general visits Israel ahead of next round of US-Iran nuclear talks

Kurilla

Iran, Russia, China envoys present joint front to Grossi on nuclear talks

ALEX HALADA/AFP via Getty Images

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends breakfast with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on September 18, 2023 in New York.

Blinken defends Iran prisoner swap at meeting with Gulf counterparts

The US secretary of state also touted the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, seen as competition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, ahead of the discussion with Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

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.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi delivers remarks at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters on Sept. 21, 2022 in New York City.

Analysis

Will US-Iran prisoner exchange jumpstart diplomacy at UNGA?

Iran rejects IAEA inspectors; One year after the death of Mahsa Amini; Al-Monitor/Semafor "Middle East Global Summit" features King Abdullah of Jordan and Prime Minister Sudani of Iraq.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

Demonstrators hold placards reading "Women, Life, Freedom" as they demonstrate against the persecution of women in Iran, on Whitehall in central London on March 8, 2023.

Analysis

Mahsa Amini protests hardened Europe's view on Iran, but nuclear strategy unchanged

Experts believe that Iran's export of drones to Russia for the Ukraine war more fundamentally shifted European policy toward the Islamic Republic than the protests.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

U.S. Capitol Building on May 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Later today the House Rules Committee will meet to consider The Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bill made after a deal House Republicans and U.S. President Joe Biden's negotiators struck up to raise the debt ceiling until 2025. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Analysis

Where does Congress stand on Iran one year after the Mahsa Amini protests?

Members of both parties in Congress are critical of Iran’s crackdown against protesters, though there is disagreement over President Joe Biden’s approach towards Iran, including with regards to a recent prisoner exchange.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat cruises past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

Iran's IRGC claims to seize 2 oil tankers in Gulf

Iran claims to have captured two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf carrying smuggled fuel and arrested their crews.

Bahrain's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sign a security integration and prosperity agreement at the US Department of State on September 13, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

US touts Bahrain defense agreement as model for Middle East strategy

The upgrade to US-Bahrain ties marks the latest sign of Biden's emerging Middle East strategy following the announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor at the G20 summit last week.

A general view shows the Iranian capital Tehran on January 7, 2023, with the Iranian flag fluttering in the wind. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran reveals names of 5 citizens sought in US prisoner deal

Washington and Tehran are on the verge of a deal that would see the exchange of five Americans for five Iranians, most of whom were accused or convicted of sanctions violations.

Iran UAE

Iran's thaw with regional rivals threatened by UAE, Kuwait disputes

The Islamic Republic's recent reconciliation efforts with its Arab rivals appeared to be on a bumpy road over disputes arising from the ownership of three Gulf islands and shares from the Durra gas field.

Oil tanker

How significant is latest US seizure of illicit Iranian oil shipment?

The US government said entities affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had sought to smuggle the oil to China.

One tanker transfers Iranian crude oil from another tanker off the shore of Karystos, Greece, for its transport to the United States at the request of the US judiciary, May 29, 2022.

Shipping company in Greece fined $2.4B for breaching Iran sanctions

In an agreement with the US, the illegal oil export was kept secret for almost five months amid fears of retaliation from Tehran.

Alireza Bigdeli (R).

Saudi Arabia, Iran exchange ambassadors as thaw continues

The exchange of ambassadors between Saudi Arabia and Iran is the first since 2016 and follows the resumption of relations between the two countries in March.