Iran-US tensions

Protesters wave Iranian and Palestinian flags in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza during a demonstration in Tehran on Oct. 10, 2025.

Analysis

Iran publicly praises Gaza ceasefire but frets over its isolation and Israel’s gains

Iran has officially welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and has called for accountability over Israeli "genocide." Yet, sidelined from the US-Arab diplomacy, Tehran risks exposing its diminishing regional clout as it weighs the strategic costs of the conflict.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

Latest News

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

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 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

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Facebook says Iranian hackers spied on US military personnel using fake accounts

The social media company said the hackers baited targets into clicking on malicious links that would infect their devices with malware.

An Iranian policeman checks the travel document of a pilgrim at the Mehran border point between Iran and Iraq.

Iran presses for visa waiver from Iraq

Iranian authorities continue to pressure the Iraqi government into waiving its travel visa between the two countries.

Jen Psaki

US says nuclear talks to continue, despite alleged Iran kidnapping plot

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington is "ready to go" ahead with talks, after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the task of renegotiating the deal had been handed over to the next administration.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (C) addresses parliament in the capital, Tehran, on Sept. 3, 2019.

Rouhani says nuclear talks will be handed to successor

Iran's president said the next administration will take up the nuclear negotiations.

Journalist and Author Masih Alinejad.

Who is Masih Alinejad, target of an alleged Iranian kidnapping plot?

Prosecutors say the four Iranian defendants plotted to forcibly take the Brooklyn-based author and activist to Iran where her "fate would have been uncertain at best.”

A picture taken on June 20, 2018, shows a propaganda billboard for the pro-Iran Hezbollah Brigades militia.

IRGC official urged Iraq militias to continue hitting US, report

The IRGC intelligence chief's visit to Iraq last week followed one by top commander Ismail Ghaani.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) meets with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi

Zarif's final defense for Iran deal infuriates hard-liners

Iran's foreign minister faced scathing attacks from hard-liners in parliament after his upbeat assessment of the status of the nuclear talks.

KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says US prisoner swap negotiations underway

The Iranian comments followed US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley's pledge that the United States would not accept a partial deal that does not bring home all four detained Americans from Iran.

Pompeo and Jansa

Pompeo speaks at conference by controversial Iran opposition group

Slovenia's prime minister and other former US officials also speak at virtual event held by Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on January 31, 2021, shows Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) meeting with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C) of the Taliban in Tehran.

Iran hosts Afghan government, Taliban for talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif celebrated the looming US withdrawal from Afghanistan during the event.

pmu march in baghdad

The Takeaway: Does Iran want to scuttle nuclear deal talks with militia attacks in Iraq?

Also: Fresh reporting from Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Gaza; high oil prices may undercut GCC reforms; a cure for termites in Egypt; and more.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State, shows a bulldozer clearing debris from Ain al-Asad military air base in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

Militias launch spate of attacks on US positions in Iraq

Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base was hit with the second rocket attack in just over 48 hours.