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Iran

May 16, 2026

Tehran 2:57 pm

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Women shop from a street vendor at Enghelab Square in the capital Tehran on Nov. 11, 2025.

Analysis

From hoarding to unemployment: Iran's economy buckles under US pressure

Iran's fast-rising inflation is driving aggressive state market controls, exposing deeper structural strains from war, sanctions and declining consumer confidence.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Explosions rattled buildings in Dubai and a large cloud of smoke hung over a central area of the Middle East financial hub on March 13, 2026.

Analysis

How the Iran war is exposing a growing Saudi-UAE divide

Reports on Emirati and Saudi strikes suggest Gulf monarchies moved beyond passive defense — but followed sharply different strategies.

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Latest News

Uptick in Chinese tankers transiting Hormuz amid Trump-Xi summit

Jag Vasant, an Indian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that transited through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, remains docked at an offloading terminal along the coast in Mumbai on April 1, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Iran looms large over Trump’s China visit, but breakthrough unlikely

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump (C) is escorted by China's Vice President Han Zheng (R) upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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

Iran eyes major role in post-war Syria via reconstruction

Iranian involvement in the reconstruction of Syria offers Tehran the opportunity to cement its influence, boost its economy and forge closer ties with China.

A vendor counts money in a shop in Tehran's Grand Bazaar January 19, 2009. Tumbling oil prices could make it harder for Iran to shrug off U.S. and U.N. sanctions and add to pressure on the world's fourth-largest crude producer to halt nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs. Iran says it can cope even if oil falls much more and shows no sign that economic problems may prompt it to soften its nuclear defiance, even if it is promised an end to isolation as well as enhanced trade and other swee

Tehran careful to frame steps against money laundering as independent move

Iran is moving cautiously forward on legislation to combat money laundering and terror financing, as the steps crucial to the health of Iran's economy must not be seen as concessions to outside pressure.

Newly re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures after delivering a televised speech in the capital Tehran on May 20, 2017. A portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen in the background.
Iranians have chosen the "path of engagement with the world" and rejected extremism, President Hassan Rouhani said following his resounding re-election victory. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Rouhani moves closer to Khamenei amid bipartisan backlash

President Hassan Rouhani’s appearance before parliament to answer economic questions did not satisfy Principlists or Reformists. It did, however, please Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

US Rebuplican senator John McCain (R) walks with Abdul Hafiz Ghoqa, spokesman of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), during his tour to the rebel headquarters in their eastern stronghold city of Benghazi on April 22, 2011. McCain is the highest-ranking US politician to visit Libya's rebel-held east since a popular uprising began against Moamer Kadhafi's rule in mid-February. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN NAAMANI (Photo credit should read MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

US friends in the Middle East lose a champion in John McCain

The late senator from Arizona leaves behind a legacy as one of the Senate’s last prominent proponents of US interventionism.

Why did Putin disregard his Turkish partner?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared lonely and ignored at the Tehran summit.

Three things the Tehran summit exposed about Russia, Turkey, Iran 'alliance'

The summit in Tehran exposed important underlying dynamics within the Astana trio and made it clear the three actors see the US presence as a problem, albeit each for their own reason.

Osama bin Laden (L) sits with his adviser and purported successor Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network, during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir (not pictured) in an image supplied by the respected Dawn newspaper November 10, 2001. Al Qaeda's elusive leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital Islamabad, U.S. President Barack Obama said on May 1, 2011. REUTERS/Hamid Mir/Editor/Ausaf Newspaper for Daily Dawn (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: POLITI

Expediency and betrayal: Iran’s relationship with al-Qaeda

Contrary to Trump administration assertions of Iranian support for al-Qaeda, relations between the two have historically been poor, a new report argues.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan arrives for a news conference with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia following their meeting in Tehran, Iran September 7, 2018. Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool via REUTERS - RC1DC2377000

Turkey's Erdogan gets no love from Russia on Idlib

Disagreements between the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey were evident at a televised meeting today as they struggled to negotiate a solution on Syria.

Political differences ignite conflict between PMU factions

As the escalation rises between Shiite parties over the formation of the new government, the pro-Iranian factions in Popular Mobilization Units show strong objection against Abadi second term.

Mortars hit Iraq's Green Zone as violent protests continue

As Iraq's political parties have failed to form a new government, unrest continues in Basra, where hundreds of people are being hospitalized each day due to a lack of basic services, especially clean water.

Iran's Central Bank signals possible interest rate hike

While a reversal on current interest rate caps could help the Central Bank of Iran tackle rampant liquidity, the long-term effects of such a policy could unleash far broader crises.

Trump touts Mideast moves as Washington reels from 'Crazytown' accounts

As accounts emerge of White House aides' internal resistance to some of Trump's controversial policy decisions, the president boasts of his decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, cut off Palestinian aid and pull the plug on the Iran nuclear deal.