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Iran

September 12, 2026

Tehran 9:26 pm

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Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities gather in Sanaa on Sept. 10, 2026.

Analysis

As Houthis seize Bab el-Mandeb, Iran appraises value of new Red Sea card

Iran is celebrating the Houthis' rapid advance toward Bab el-Mandeb, but appears reluctant to act on the win.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

member of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces firing a heavy machine gun

Claude AI used for missile, influence projects in UAE, Iran, Yemen: Anthropic

Military and government actors across the Middle East — from Iran to Yemen to the United Arab Emirates — have used Anthropic's Claude AI model for war planning and influence campaigns.

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

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran’s Pickaxe mountain tests limits of Trump’s military options

A secretive Pentagon innovation agency has hastened to test munitions that may penetrate deeper than the GBU-57 bombs dropped on Iran’s two main enrichment facilities.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Latest News

Iran's IRGC set to declare new ‘sanctions zone’ beyond Hormuz: What to know

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

Brent crude sails past $100 as Middle East war intensifies

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

US strikes Iranian tankers after attempted attack on Navy ship

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. Iran's top negotiator threatened on September 6 of a more forceful response to any further US attacks after Tehran targeted American warships in their latest round of clashes. The exchanges of fire, which began with US raids last week, come amid a deadlock in the six-month war between the two foes. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

What Houthi setbacks in Yemen mean for Iran's regional influence

Forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed government

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds her weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC2GYD9XTDUW

Anti-war groups gain new traction with Democratic leaders after Soleimani strike

House Democrats are considering a three-pronged offensive to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war with Iran after abandoning the effort last year.

U.S. military vehicles are seen in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, November 7, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - S1AEULMKDCAB

US set to reposition forces in Iraq after strike on Soleimani

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq is set to reposition forces throughout the country after the Iraqi parliament urged international troops to leave over the weekend.

Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, speaks at an event in Ashraf-3 camp, which is a base for the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) in Manza, Albania, July 13, 2019.REUTERS/Florion Goga - RC1B40AAA200

Iran opposition lobbied Giuliani, CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran

New lobbying disclosures raise new questions about the ties between the hawkish organization United Against Nuclear Iran to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leaves after the Global Refugee Forum at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, December 17, 2019, REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC24XD926X0X

Erdogan treads carefully on Soleimani killing

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was cautious in his first comments on the US killing of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani, criticizing the move but being careful not to align Ankara with Tehran.

Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi (R-2) holds hands with former presidential candidate and mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (L), as he greets his supporters during a campaign rally at Imam Khomeini Mosque in the capital Tehran on May 16, 2017.
Iran's presidential election on May 19 is effectively a choice between moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani and hardline jurist Raisi, with major implications for everything from civil rights to relations with Washington. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE

Iran's fractious hard-liners hold edge as parliamentary election approaches

Despite their divisions, Iran's conservatives and hard-liners are still likely to dominate the legislative elections next month, as many progressives are rejecting the vote entirely.

Iranian guards hold a picture of the late Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, during a protest against the killing of Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in front of United Nation office in Tehran, Iran January 3, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2L8E9X2X49

Pentagon pushed back internally on strike against Iranian military leader

In the days preceding President Donald Trump's order for the drone strike that took out Qasem Soleimani, Pentagon officials were split over whether to carry out the strike.

Large turnout in Iran for Soleimani funeral

Iran witnessed some of its largest crowds for the funeral of Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike Jan. 3.

US expresses hope troops will stay in Iraq after parliament vote

Iraq's parliament votes for a nonbinding resolution to expel US troops as the United States pauses operations against the Islamic State.

Kataib Hezbollah Iraqi militia gather ahead of the funeral of the Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Baghdad, Iraq, January 4, 2020. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RC2V8E9HPESK

Iraqi armed factions vow revenge for Shiite commanders’ killings

Iraqi politicians and leaders of Shiite armed groups now incorporated into government forces have vowed to get revenge for the US drone attack that killed IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Iraqi protesters, including members the Hashed al-Shaabi, a mostly Shiite network of local armed groups trained and armed by powerful neighbour Iran, smash the bullet-proof glass of the US embassy's windows in Baghdad after breaching the outer wall of the diplomatic mission on December 31, 2019 to vent their anger over weekend air strikes that killed pro-Iran fighters in western Iraq. - It was the first time in years protesters have been able to reach the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, which is sheltered

White House defiant as Iraq threatens to expel US troops over Soleimani strike

Iraq’s potential vote to expel US forces for assassinating Maj, Gen. Qasem Soleimani could spell trouble for the campaign against the Islamic State.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani walks near an armoured vehicle at the frontline during offensive operations against Islamic State militants in the town of Tal Ksaiba in Salahuddin province March 8, 2015. Picture taken March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS) - GM1EB3I1GNY01

What Iran lost with Soleimani’s killing

The top military commander’s influence went beyond his military prowess, and will be something that no successor can likely replicate.

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2, reinforce the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, January 3, 2020. U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Kyle C. Talbot/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2H8E91F118

US prepares for potential Iranian escalation and Iraq expulsion

The Donald Trump administration is bracing for potential Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East after a Pentagon strike killed the paramilitary leader Qasem Soleimani Jan. 3.