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Iran

September 13, 2026

Tehran 4:50 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

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan's (PDKI) armed wing, known as the Iranian peshmerga, located in the border near Iran continue their armed struggle against the Iranian government. They consider themselves Socialist Democrats The group practices daily training in the mountains and a nearby trading facility. The PDKi are an armed group who are trying to attain national rights within Iran. As of today Kurds who live in Iran continue under the Iranian government to have the freedom and rights that othe

Tehran courts Kurds as Washington amps up rhetoric against Iran

Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and Iran are conducting talks in Oslo, in what some see as an Iranian bid to safeguard against Kurdish collaboration with the United States.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini speaks to the media at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman - RC1220B3F080

EU says Iran deal parties trying to salvage deal, not ready to trigger dispute mechanism

The remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are not yet prepared to trigger the accord’s dispute-resolution mechanism over Iran’s decision to reduce its compliance to protest crippling US economic sanctions.

Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, gives a press conference in the capital Tehran on May 28, 2019. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran calls for concrete steps from Europe to save nuclear deal

In response to European statements regarding keeping the nuclear deal alive, Iran says it wants to see operational steps rather than statements.

Militants from the band organization Baloch Liberation Army and United Baloch Army, sit before hand over their weapons to Chieftain of Marri tribe and Pakistan's provincial minister Nawab Changaiz Marri during a surrender ceremony in Quetta on October 29, 2015. A total of 23 militants belonging to Marri tribe have surrendered to authorities with weapons in Quetta the capital of Pakistans restive southwestern province of Balochistan. AFP PHOTO/Banaras KHAN (Photo credit should read BANARAS KHAN/AFP/Ge

US ban on anti-Iran militant group could have wide-ranging impact

By expanding its terrorist watchlist, Washington is potentially making Iran, Pakistan and China happy.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) poses with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres after the two attended a High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC1BAECA4150

Updated: Iran's foreign minister receives visa, to arrive in NY Sunday

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was expected to arrive in New York on Sunday after uncertainty over whether he would receive a US visa amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 25: The President of Iraq, Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen) at 10 Downing Street on June 25, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Traps abound as Iraq charts independent course based on ‘national vision’

Iraq's new foreign policy vision promotes noninterference and economic integration; Turkey's bombing of PKK sites in Iraq's Qandil Mountains tests Baghdad's resolve.

Iran shells Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Iran follows Turkey in bombarding civilians in border areas of Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

A boy is seen at the site of an airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa, Yemen, February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RC19CF75D3A0

Intel: How Congress is curbing US support for Yemen war

U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC19027566C0

Trump’s pick for top general plays down Iran war talk

A day after Iranian boats reportedly attempted to seize a British tanker in the Gulf, President Donald Trump’s pick to become the military’s top officer downplayed the potential for conflict with Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen - RC18FCCF2B90

Rouhani out of time, support for revised nuclear deal

US sanctions and Europe's failure to come up with a satisfactory substitute for the nuclear deal are weakening the moderates in Iran's government while inflaming the hawks.

Royal Navy vessel HMS Montrose at sea during Baltic Operations in this photo taken June 15, 2014. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Adam C. Stapleton/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1E7A174850

IRGC denies it tried to capture British tanker

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has denied they attempted to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

France's top diplomat Emmanuel Bonne meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, Iran July 10, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC12F4E624A0

Tehran says it will stick to phased reduction of nuclear deal commitments

Iran told a French envoy that it will continue to scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal unless the other signatories honor their end of the deal.