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Iran

May 6, 2026

Tehran 9:24 pm

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In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, talks to his Iranian Counterpart Abbas Araghchi, left, during the bilateral meeting in Beijing, Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

Iran, China discuss Hormuz reopening amid potential US-Iran talks

China’s foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart that “persisting in negotiations is particularly important.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 5, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Rubio warns Iran of 'total defeat' if it refuses deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for Iran "to make a sensible choice" and resume negotiations.

A billboard with the image of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wraps the front of a building in Tehran on May 5, 2026.

Analysis

Iran's Gulf gambit: Attacking the UAE to shift US calculations

Tehran is escalating pressure on the United Arab Emirates through strikes and rhetoric, signaling a strategy to widen the conflict and indirectly force Washington to ease its blockade on Iranian ports.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Iran’s Araghchi heads to China as US presses Beijing over Hormuz: What to know

Parker Song / Getty Images

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Sabena Siddiqui

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

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Benjamin Houghton

In Durham, reporting on China in the Middle East

Rahim Rahimov

In Baku, reporting on Middle East-Caucasus ties

Mehrnaz Samimi

In Washington, DC, reporting on Iranian culture

Erdogan Putin

Erdogan, Putin set to meet in Tehran

The Turkish, Iranian and Russian leaders are set to meet in Tehran next week amid lingering Turkish threats against Syrian Kurdish groups. Putin and Erdogan will separately discuss the Ukrainian grain crisis.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's Raisi links regional dust storms to Western hegemony

Tehran recently hosted a regional summit on addressing the dust storms that have ravaged the area over the past two years.

An Iranian woman leaves a pharmacy next to shuttered shops at Valiasr Square, Tehran, Iran, Aug. 16, 2021.

Iranian pharmacy has new take on 'wall of kindness'

The measure helps poor people obtain medicine amid rising inflation in Iran.

Debris from a destroyed car litter the street at the scene of an explosion near a grocery store, following bombardment at in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv on April 18, 2022.

US: Iran aims to send drones to Russia for use in Ukraine

White House releases intel linking Iran to Russia's war on Ukraine just days before President Joe Biden is set to meet Israeli, Arab leaders.

A picture taken on February 18, 2017, shows a general view of a bridge in the Iranian city of Ahvaz during a sandstorm.

UAE, Iran to cooperate to fight dust storms

Dust storms in the region have been severe.

A giant poster featuring Iranian director Jafar Panahi is displayed in front of the Berlinale Festival Palace.

Iran arrests three filmmakers over protests

Iran arrested Jafar Panahi after he was looking into the case of two other filmmakers accused of involvement in anti-government protests.

Iran economy

Unprecedented inflation hammers Iran

Iranians have grown accustomed to high inflation and rising prices, yet recent macroeconomic trends are unprecedented.

Abdollahian

Why IRGC issue won’t go away

Even if the US terrorist designation is not lifted, and there is agreement on the JCPOA, the IRGC will still be the power broker of Iranian domestic politics.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (L) meets Josep Borell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (R), as Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora (C) looks on, at the foreign ministry headquarters in Iran's capital Tehran on June 25, 2022.

Analysis

Ahead of Biden Mideast trip, Iran nuclear deal looms large

US president to blend diplomacy and deterrence in approach to Iran, region.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

Iran galvanizes regional diplomacy amid impasse in nuclear talks

Iran's chief negotiator traveled to Oman a day after Qatar's foreign minister visited Tehran in what seemed to be diplomatic efforts for an impetus to US-Iran nuclear talks.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian gives a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

US unveils fresh sanctions on Iranian oil trade network

The Biden administration designated 15 individuals and entities located in Iran, Vietnam, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran denies asking for new concessions in nuclear deal

Iran’s foreign minister says that economic guarantees from the nuclear deal are nothing new.