Sanctions

A pedestrian passes by the Treasury Building in Washington, DC on Jan. 18, 2023.

US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over Hormuz payments

The US government says the exchange was used to channel payments from an Iranian maritime-insurance scheme to the regime.

Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on Aug. 31, 2026.

Analysis

Could Iran’s nuclear ambitions harden as war escalates?

A new report has raised alarm about the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site that President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

A picture take on September 14, 2017 shows an Airbus A340 of Mahan Air at the tarmac at Dubai's International Airport. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

US hits 27 Iranian airlines with latest sanctions

The targets include Iranian airlines and operators in Malaysia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, including Mahan Air.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

US sanctions Turkey-based bank over Iran ties

The Treasury Department said Golden Global Bank was facilitating transactions for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Latest News

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Analysis

Can Iran’s economic buffers withstand new US sanctions?

A shopkeeper in Tehran

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Bessent defends sanctions push as US, Iran trade strikes

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent

In 'warning shot,' US threatens sanctions on Iran’s trading partners

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent addresses the audience during opening remarks at the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism at the State Department on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Bessent spoke alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as they discussed the rise of far-left political terrorism as a transnational threat. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

Iranian rials are displayed in Tehran, on July 31, 2019.

Iran’s currency drops to more than 1 million rials to US dollar: What to know

This is yet another record low for Iran’s currency, as the country navigates intense sanctions and US pressure.

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.

US slaps sanctions on Iran's oil tankers, targets China 'teapot' refinery

Targets of the sanctions include a refinery allegedly purchasing Iranian oil from a vessel linked to Yemen's Houthi militant group.

People gather to celebrate an iftar meal organized by a humanitarian organization, as they break their fast on March 4, 2025, amid the ruins of the Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.

Feature

Syria’s post-Assad economy falters as US stalls on sanctions relief

Three months after Syria's rebel takeover, all eyes are on Ahmed al-Sharaa and whether he can stabilize the economy as promised.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

US President Donald Trump shows an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies in the Oval Office of the White House on February 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing his country from a number of United Nations bodies, including its Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and setting up a broader review of US funding for the multilateral organization. The executive order said it withdrew Washington from UNHRC and the main UN relief agency

US formally rebrands Yemen's Houthis as foreign terrorist organization

Critics say the Houthis' blacklisting will hamper aid delivery in the war-torn country.

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

US sanctions on Iran’s 'shadow' oil fleet target brokers in UAE, China

The latest sanctions come after President Donald Trump pledged his administration would drive Iran's oil sales down to zero.

US President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 13, 2025.

Analysis

India’s Chabahar dilemma: US sanctions on Iran threaten key port

India faces a delicate diplomatic challenge as US sanctions threaten its strategic investment in the Chabahar port, a vital trade link to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

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

drones

Iran unveils new drones in military drill: What to know

Amid heightened tensions with the United States and Israel, Iran is flexing its military might.

Iranian Basij militia members display their drones during military drills on Jan. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran.

Iran unveils underwater suicide drone as US tensions grow: What we know

The showcasing of the unmanned aerial vehicle follows the unveiling of a new drone carrier warship and plans to develop a supersonic cruise missile.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he signs an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 3, 2025.

Analysis

Will Trump’s maximum pressure on Iran restart talks or force escalation?

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to impose “maximum pressure” on Iran, a campaign that — during his first term — levied intense sanctions on the country in hopes of bringing it back to the negotiating table for nuclear talks.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

LAURENS VAN PUTTEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Senate blocks ICC sanctions bill after Israel arrest warrants

Democrats in the Senate voted on Tuesday to block a bill to place US sanctions on the International Criminal Court, which in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

A car belonging to Palestinian villagers set on fire during clashes after the Israeli settlers stormed the village of Qusra in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Wahaj Bani Moufleh / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by WAHAJ BANI MOUFLEH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump revokes sanctions on Israeli settlers in West Bank: What we know

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders from withdrawing from the World Health Organization to reversing one that sanctioned violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti), now de facto deputy military leader, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022.

US sanctions Sudan's Hemedti, declares RSF committed genocide

The United States also placed sanctions on companies in the United Arab Emirates it said were procuring weapons for the Rapid Support Forces.