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 special envoy to Iran Robert Malley.

Pentagon, State Department officials in Saudi Arabia to talk Iran strategy

Like its predecessors, the Biden administration wants Gulf Cooperation Council states to share air defense intel to defuse potential attacks by Iran, but will they work together?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speak to the media prior to a meeting, in the Treaty Room of the US State Department in Washington, DC, on February 9, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraq's FM: We are in touch with the US, Iran to reduce tensions

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Fuad Hussein discusses US-Iraq economic relations, regional economic integration and sanctions on Russia and Iran.

STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

US unveils new sanctions on Iran's petroleum industry

The sanctions targeted nine entities the Treasury Department said were involved in producing, shipping and selling Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum.

Amir-Abdollahian

Iran’s FM visits Venezuela, Nicaragua to shore up 'anti-Western' alliances

The US recently eased sanctions on Venezuela, and the South American country’s openness to repair ties with Washington is worrisome for the Iranian government.

People demonstrate outside the Iranian embassy in Ukraine on October 17, 2022 in Kyiv, after the city was hit by swarms of kamikaze drones sold by Iran to Russia, leaving at least three dead. (Photo by SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: May 15, 2023, 1:44 pm

New US sanctions target Iran’s drone supply to Russia

The targets include eight senior executives of an Iran-based firm involved in the manufacture of drones used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Jordan's King Abdullah II (R) escorts Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani (L) along with other dignitaries at the start of the "Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership" in Sweimeh by the Dead Sea shore in central-west Jordan on December 20, 2022. (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trilateral Biden-Abdullah-Sudani call reiterated support for Iraq

The Iraqi prime minister also discussed Iraq’s economic situation with the president as the dinar continues to slide against the dollar. Jordan's King Abdullah II was also on the call.

US Central Command supported maritime operations

France's seizure of Iranian weapons to Yemen is a win for Pentagon

French forces seized some 3,000 assault rifles, 23 anti-tank rockets and more than half a million rounds of ammunition bound for Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Iran's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami.

Iran rejects latest IAEA report, claims it is 'not up to date'

Despite Tehran's outright rejection, the UN watchdog's report on alleged secrecy at a leading Iranian facility has once again highlighted concerns that the Islamic Republic could be inching closer to developing a nuclear bomb.

An Israeli Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter jet performs during a graduation ceremony of Israeli Air Force pilots, at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern city of Beer Sheva, on December 28, 2022. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

US CENTCOM pulls closer to Israeli military as Mossad tests Iran

Training exercise represents the tightest collaboration ever, but CENTCOM's deputy commander told Al-Monitor the US had no involvement in recent strikes attributed to Israel in Isfahan, Iran and eastern Syria.

People demonstrate outside the Iranian embassy in Ukraine on October 17, 2022 in Kyiv, after the city was hit by swarms of kamikaze drones sold by Iran to Russia, leaving at least three dead. (Photo by SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran summons Ukraine's top diplomat after Isfahan drone strike

Iran's summoning relates to a Ukrainian presidential adviser's tweet that implicitly welcomes the suspected Israeli attack over the weekend.

Iran protest

The Takeaway: Can sanctions curb Iran's protest crackdown?

Plus, a top Republican lawmaker questions the Biden administration's Syria policy and the US announces support for Lebanon's security forces.

An oil tanker unloads imported crude oil at Qingdao port in China's eastern Shandong province on May 9, 2022. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran bolsters ties with China and Venezuela despite US sanctions

Iranian oil exports to China are on the rise, and the Islamic Republic’s relations with Venezuela are moving beyond energy matters, as the South American country recently received 1,000 vehicles from the Iranian automobile firm Saipa.