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Iran

May 9, 2026

Tehran 10:12 pm

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China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

A woman walks past a banner featuring Iran's late supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), next to newly elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why Iran's wartime behavior risks lasting rupture with Gulf states

Iran's rhetoric and policies toward Gulf states have sharply escalated, raising questions about whether years of painstaking regional rapprochement can survive mounting distrust and maritime confrontations.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

Getty

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Strikes on Iranian tankers and fresh exchanges in the Gulf escalate tensions as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a deal proposal.

Latest News

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

Popular Mobilization Forces

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Joyce Karam

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

Biden reaffirms pledge to revive Iranian nuclear deal

In an interview with The New York Times, Biden said rejoining the landmark agreement is the best way to avoid a nuclear buildup in the region.

Iran identifies perpetrators as it probes scientist’s killing

The Iranian government said it has identified those linked to the assassination of one of its top nuclear scientists and will retaliate after the investigation is concluded.

Iranian president rejects bill calling for breaches of nuclear agreement

Hassan Rouhani said the bill would harm Iran's diplomatic efforts. Parliamentarians put forward the initiative following the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

Swedish-Iranian academic faces 'imminent' execution in Iran

Rights groups are urging Iranian authorities to halt their planned execution of Ahmadreza Djalali.

Iran MPs vote for nuclear deal breaches after scientist’s assassination

Four days after a top Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated, the country’s conservative parliament overwhelmingly adopted a draft bill calling for significant breaches of Tehran’s obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran vows revenge after nuclear scientist's assassination

A number of Iranian officials have said they will continue the path that the assassinated scientist was on.

Students of Iran's Basij paramilitary force burn posters depicting US President Donald Trump (top) and President-elect Joe Biden, during a rally in front of the foreign ministry in Tehran, on November 28, 2020, to protest the killing of prominent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh a day earlier near the capital. - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani accused arch-foe Israel of acting as a "mercenary" for the US and seeking to create chaos, blaming it for the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist. (P

Nuclear scientist's assassination puts Tehran at crossroads

As Iran investigates the assassination of a top nuclear scientist, fingers are already pointing at Israel and the United States, whose outgoing administration clearly wants to minimize the chances of reviving the nuclear deal.

TOPSHOT - Iranian electoral posters and fliers are pictured on the last day of election campaign in Tehran on February 19, 2020. - Iran's electoral watchdog today defended its decision to disqualify thousands of candidates for a crucial parliamentary election in two days, as a lacklustre campaign neared its end. Conservatives are expected to make an overwhelming resurgence in Friday's election, which comes after months of steeply escalating tensions between Iran and its decades-old arch foe the United State

Iran hard-liners set up roadblocks around Reformist candidates for president

Half a year away from Iran’s presidential election, the country’s hard-liners are already hard at work to ensure the next president is on their side.

Australian-British academic reportedly released from Iranian prison

Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested in 2018 and charged with espionage, which she denied throughout her harsh confinement in Iran's notorious Evin and Qarchak prisons.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during the inaugural session of the new parliament following February elections, in Tehran on May 27, 2020. - The 11th legislature since the Islamic revolution of 1979 opened as the country's economy, which has been hard hit by the novel coronavirus, gradually returns to normal. Rouhani, who is in the final year of his second and final term, called on MPs, collectively and individually, to place the "national interest above special interests", "party intere

Iran's president says post-Trump de-escalation with US can be 'easy'

President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran could ease tensions with the new US administration, only one day after Iran’s supreme leader expressed disappointment at negotiations.

Talks ‘got us nowhere’: Iran’s supreme leader casts doubt on future negotiations

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments come as the Trump administration ramps up its maximum pressure campaign on Iran.

Iran taps into emergency fund to compensate Ukraine flight victims

The Islamic Republic is to pay families of the victims of the Ukrainian flight it downed earlier this year. But the payment has been secured not from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for the missile attack but from an emergency fund meant for the public interest.