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Iran

September 13, 2026

Tehran 8:05 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

Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi (C) arrives with crowds of supporters to cast his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2017. TIMA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RC115996ACD0

Iran chief justice dismisses 60 judges to uproot internal corruption

An iron-fisted policy against corruption promoted by Iran's new chief justice, Ebrahim Raisi, has seen 60 judges dismissed within a few weeks.

Can fiction help an anti-death penalty campaign in Iran?

A 456-page semi-autobiographical work by prominent Iranian rights activist Emadeddin Baghi aims to turn the public against the death penalty in the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a lunch meeting with Poland's President Andrzej Duda in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 12, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC120F191060

Pompeo visits CENTCOM amid mixed messaging from US on Iran

In a strange move for a top US diplomat, Mike Pompeo visited a US military command solo to avow that the United States doesn't want war with Iran.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and head of delegation Sergey Ryabkov attend a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference in Beijing of the UN Security Council's five permanent members (P5) China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, China, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/Pool - RC15C6930520

As Jerusalem meeting nears, Russia seeks ways to ease US-Iran tensions

Russia is urging the United States to cease provocations of Iran and also is seeking to persuade Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal.

Is Iran’s Reformist-moderate coalition coming to an end?

With Iran’s next parliamentary elections just eight months away, the moderates and Reformists are talking about ending their coalition, raising concerns that the hard-liners will return to power.

Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran October 26, 2010. Iran has begun loading fuel into the core of its first nuclear power plant on Tuesday, one of the last steps to realising its stated goal of becoming a peaceful nuclear power, state-run Press TV reported on Tuesday. REUTERS/Mehr News Agency/Majid Asgaripour (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1E6AQ1G1401

Iran says not seeking war after announcing boost in uranium stockpile

A day after announcing that its stockpile of low-enriched uranium will soon surpass limits under the nuclear deal — earning praise from across a divided domestic political spectrum — Iran says it is not seeking military confrontation with any nation.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf of Oman May 22, 2019. Picture taken May 22, 2019. U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matt Herbst/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC1CD6851E40

US lines up partners to protect oil tankers after Gulf attacks

Gen. Paul Selva, the second-ranking US military officer, said today that the Donald Trump administration is asking for the help of Asian nations that import Gulf oil to help protect tankers from suspected Iranian attacks.

Iranian women holding electoral leaflets attend a reformist campaign for upcoming parliamentary election, in Tehran February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - GF10000314042

Iran’s women’s movement, civil society come under ‘maximum pressure’

While the declared aim of Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is to pressure the Islamic Republic to alter its policies, Iranian women and civil society are also being subjected to extreme constraints.

A general view of the Arak heavy-water project, 190 km (120 miles) southwest of Tehran January 15, 2011. A group of ambassadors to the U.N. atomic watchdog toured an Iranian nuclear site on Saturday, state television reported, and Tehran accused the European Union of missing an historic opportunity by boycotting the visit. REUTERS/ISNA/Hamid Forootan (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY SCI TECH BUSINESS) - GM1E71G09FT01

Iran announces it will soon exceed nuclear deal limits

Iran has announced that in 10 days it will exceed the 300-kilogram limit on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium.

Iranians navigate the traffic in the capital Tehran on the eve of the presidential elections on May 18, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian hard-liners praise taxi driver for booting passenger over 'poor' hijab

Divisions in Iranian society over the country's hijab laws are being exposed in a massive backlash over a taxi driver's clash with a female passenger he found in violation of veiling norms.

A man holds a poster of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during a rally in support of Mousavi, after Friday prayers in Tehran May 29, 2009. Iranians vote on June 12 in an election that pits hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against two moderate challengers and one fellow conservative. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN POLITICS ELECTIONS) - GM1E55T1JXM01

Iran’s Reformists teetering on electoral boycott as polls approach

Faced with declining social capital, Iran’s Reformists are wary of electoral participation without requisite political authority.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC117DD2EDF0

Erdogan seeks lifeline from Trump to salvage US-Turkey ties

It will take Donald Trump to close a deal with Turkey on a Syrian "safe zone."