Iran-US tensions

Drones are displayed on the back of a vehicle during an official military parade marking the ninth anniversary of the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21, 2023.

US sanctions firms in China, Turkey, UAE over Iran drone network

The entities are accused of facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in weaponized drones used by Iran-backed groups such as Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Gaza-based Hamas.

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

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.

Latest News

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

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

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 and Saudi tanks take part in the "Eager Lion" multinational military manuever, in the Al-Zarqa governorate, some 85km northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, on September 14, 2022. (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

US, Saudi Arabia to conduct first counter-drone exercise without allies

As tensions heat up with Iran, the Pentagon hopes the Red Sands exercises will convince allies in the Middle East that Western counter-drone technology is still better than China's.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley arrives to hold a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group during a two-day meeting of the alliance's Defence Ministers at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on February 14, 2023. (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Top US general visits Israel amid increasing tensions with Iran

The Pentagon’s top-ranking officer, Gen. Mark Milley, landed in Israel on Friday to coordinate with senior military officials on Iran strategy.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 2, 2023, 2:44 pm

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt

The Pentagon chief's second tour of the Middle East comes as diplomatic efforts to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal appear to have run out of gas.

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020. - The first of five Iranian tankers carrying much-needed gasoline and oil derivatives docked in Venezuela on Monday, Caracas announced amid concern in Washington over the burgeoning relationship between countries it sees as international pariahs. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's oil, petrochemical trade hit with new US sanctions

The designated firms are located in Iran, China, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran nuclear

Iran enriched uranium at 83.7%, close to weapons grade: UN watchdog

The news is alarming for Israel, but Iran denied other recent reports that asserted they enriched uranium close to the 90% threshold for a nuclear weapon.

Austin

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to visit Middle East as Iran threat builds

Lloyd Austin's visit to the region as Biden's defense secretary is intended as a signal of reassurance as Iran continues to arm and fund proxy militias throughout the region.

Jared Szuba

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

Undated photo of Afghanistan Embassy in Tehran.

Taliban releases Iran border guard, moves into Afghanistan's Embassy in Tehran

Iran has had a complicated relationship with the Taliban since the group resumed control over Afghanistan.

Iran nuclear

Analysis

Ukraine war at year 1: Iran’s drones to Russia derail nuclear diplomacy

Plus, the family of a US resident on death row in Iran speaks out, and a deadly Israeli raid on Nablus raises State Department concerns.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

A man reads the Iranian newspaper Etemad, with the front page title reading in Farsi "The night of the end of the JCPOA ", and cover photos of Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his deputy and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, in the capital Tehran on Aug. 16, 2022.

Analysis

Iran floats adherence to NPT, dialogue on Ukraine as JCPOA fades

Iranian officials say a nuclear deal is still possible, but US says it’s up to Tehran.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani at the Elysee Presidential Palace, Paris, France, Jan. 26, 2023.

In Iraq, Macron seeks bigger sphere of influence for France

In less than a month, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted both Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani as Paris works to revive its influence in the region and counter China and Iran.

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army official website on September 11, 2020, shows an Iranian navy warship during the second day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. (Photo by -/Iranian Army office/AFP via Getty Images))

US Military: Iranian drone hit Israeli-owned tanker in Arabian Sea

The drone attack on the Campo Square tanker is at least the fourth suspected Iranian attack targeting a commercial vessel linked to Israeli businessmen in just two years.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) drill held by the Iranian army in Semnan, Iran, on Jan. 5, 2021.

US defense intelligence confirms Iran’s drone use in Ukraine

The Pentagon report comes a day after the UK government turned over weapons and other evidence to the United Nations that Iran had attempted to ship to Yemen's Houthi rebels in violation of international law.