Iran-US tensions

People walk past a branch of Turkish bank HalkBank on Dec. 1, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Supreme Court clears path for Turkey’s Halkbank trial over Iran sanctions

The Turkish president personally raised the Halkbank case with US President Donald Trump at the White House, as Ankara pushes for a settlement to avoid a drawn-out legal battle.

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addresses members of parliament in Tehran on March 2, 2025.

Analysis

Reeling from Israel war, Iran expands espionage law, bans Starlink use

Iran has officially enacted a sweeping new espionage law imposing harsher measures — including the death penalty — for collaboration with Israel, as rights activists decry what they say is a new campaign of arbitrary arrests and deeper repression.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

A woman walks past a deactivated Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile in front of a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran's Bahrestan Square on Sept. 27, 2025, as part of an exhibit to mark the "Sacred Defense Week" commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

US targets Iran's military tech with sanctions after allies trigger snapback

New sanctions aim to increase pressure on Iran to restrict the IRGC’s relentless development of ballistic missiles and military aircraft, but risk pushing Tehran further into the orbits of Russia and China.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - MAY 30: A U.S. Army soldier looks onto Baghdad from a guardhouse on the perimeter of the International Zone on May 30, 2021 in Baghdad, Iraq. Coalition forces based in Baghdad's International Zone are part of the U.S.-led Military Advisor Group of 13 nations supporting the Iraqi Security Forces. The United States currently maintains 2,500 military personnel in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. Alpha Company 769th brigade Engineer Battalion, Louisiana National Guard is providing for

US troops in Iraq shift to Erbil to focus on ISIS in Syria

The US mission against the Islamic State is relocating its headquarters and most of its troops from Baghdad to Erbil as the prime minister's coalition faces reelection in November.

Latest News

Analysis

How far will China, Russia go in shielding Iran from UN sanctions?

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) welcomes Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov (L) and Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazeem Gharibabadi.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

How Afghanistan's Bagram base became focal point of US-China-Iran rivalry

Taliban military vehicles parade to celebrate the third anniversary of Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Base, in Bagram, Parwan province on Aug. 14, 2024.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Analysis

UN snapback sanctions deepen Iran’s 'sense of siege,' fuel fears of reprisal

Iranians walk past shops in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran on Aug. 13, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

US, Saudi Arabia wrap up drone drill after Iran’s top security chief visits Riyadh

A US Army Mobile Low, Slow, Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (MLIDS) vehicle equipped with counter-drone sensors and weapons. Similar systems were fielded during the Red Sands 2025 exercise in Saudi Arabia.

US seizes Iranian missile parts in Arabian Sea headed to Yemen's Houthis

The United States has struggled to choke off Iran's smuggling of weapons components to Yemen's Houthi rebels.

A pedestrian walks past a branch of a Lloyds Bank in London on Feb. 24, 2021.

Analysis

Iran's use of 2 UK banks to evade sanctions tests West's financial systems

The Financial Times reported earlier this week that Lloyds Bank and Santander UK provided accounts to companies with links to Iran’s intelligence services.

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

A civil defence team carries out search and rescue operations in a damaged building following a missile strike launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Kurdistan region's capital of Arbil, on January 17, 2024. The IRGC have launched missile attacks on multiple "terrorist" targets in Syria and in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Iranian state media reported on January 16

Are Iran-backed militias turning their drones against Syria’s Kurds?

Syria’s Kurdish-led militia has increasingly found itself in the crosshairs of attacks by Iran-backed militias amid tit-for-tat strikes between US forces and Iran’s proxies.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

People watch as a vehicle that was hit by a drone strike, reportedly killing three people including two leaders of a pro-Iran group, is carried away in Baghdad on Feb. 7, 2024.

US brings retribution to Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad strike

The assassination of a Kataib Hezbollah commander in Baghdad on Wednesday came as the US military has struggled to intimidate Iran-backed groups without escalating towards direct conflict with Iran amid tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Baghdad

Breaking | Last Updated: February 7, 2024, 10:37 pm

US strike in Baghdad kills Kataib Hezbollah commander as Iraq tensions simmer

A Telegram channel affiliated with Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) reported that Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a commander in Kataib Hezbollah, was killed in the attack.

An Iranian Navy warship takes part in the "National Persian Gulf day" in the Strait of Hormuz on April 30, 2019.

Iran plans joint naval exercise with Russia, China as Red Sea tensions soar

The trilateral drills will be the first this year that Iran is holding with the two powers, as it remains under Western pressure over involvement in attacks on international navigation in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Two bank employees count dollars and Iraqi dinars in Baghdad on Sept. 28, 2000.

Why Iraq's dinar is trading below official dollar rate amid new restrictions

A top US official visited Iraqi officials last week to discuss countering illicit finance and strengthening Iraq’s financial system.

A Royal Air Force Typhoon FRG4s is being prepared to conduct further strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen at RAF Akrotiri on Feb. 3, 2024.

Pentagon vows more strikes against Iran-backed groups, rejects open-ended campaign

The Pentagon says it isn't planning for an open-ended campaign of retaliation against Iran-backed groups, even as Israel vows to expand its war in Gaza on to the Rafah area.

A vehicle of the Syrian Democratic Forces is pictured along a road as fighters deploy to impose a curfew in the town of al-Busayrah during a guided media tour organized by the SDF, in northeastern Deir ez-Zor province, Syria, Sept. 4, 2023.

6 Kurdish SDF forces killed in Iran-linked attack on Syria base housing US troops

The drone attack left at least six dead among the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during the funeral ceremony for victims of twin explosions near the cemetery where the grave of Iran's former top military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani is located on Jan. 05, 2024, in Kerman, Iran.

Iran-Israel intel war rages as Tehran says it identified Israeli spies worldwide

The announcement came in the wake of a chain of Israel-blamed targeted assassinations of senior Iranian officers in Syria, which have left Tehran in a tight spot for revenge.

A US Air Force B-1 Bomber fires flares while providing air support for a US Army recon mission Oct. 27, 2006 in the Paktika province of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

Breaking | Last Updated: April 10, 2024, 9:50 pm

US strikes Iran-affiliated targets in Syria & Iraq in response to Jordan attack

US launches unprecedented volley in conflict with Iran-backed groups, hitting more than 85 IRGC and militia targets in Iraq and Syria.

US President Joe Biden greets military personnel on arrival at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on Feb. 2, 2024, to attend the transfer of the remains of three US service members killed in the drone attack on the US military outpost in Jordan.

Analysis

Biden should respond to Iran with more than military strikes

The United States could reset the terms of engagement with Iran ahead of a Gaza cease-fire.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti