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Iran

May 20, 2026

Tehran 10:22 am

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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Senate advances resolution to limit Trump's Iran war powers

The measure marks a symbolic win for Democrats and a growing number of Republicans who have questioned the Trump administration's war with Iran.

Baluch Iranian youths cross a street in Zahedan, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan, on Dec. 18, 2025.

Analysis

Iran tightens wartime crackdown across Kurdish, Baluch ethnic regions

Arrests in Baluchistan and Kurdistan highlight widening wartime security operations that are deepening mistrust between the state and disadvantaged minorities.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

A bride and group couple rides in a military jeep arriving for a public mass wedding ceremony at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran on May 18, 2026. Iran said on May 18 that it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue despite Iranian media reports describing Washington's demands as excessive. Washington and Tehran have been swapping proposals in an effort to end the conflict which the US and Israel launched on February 28, but they have held only a sin

Analysis

Israel pushes for full Iran blockade as it awaits Trump's next move

Israel’s preferred strategy, sources told Al-Monitor, calls for a comprehensive naval, economic, land and air blockade of Iran, alongside tighter sanctions and covert activity aimed at destabilizing the regime.

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

Latest News

US extends Russian oil sanctions waiver as Iran war squeezes supply

A tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, northwestern Cuba, on March 31, 2026.

Oil swings as UAE nuclear plant strike, Iran diplomacy push roil markets

Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images

Iran confiscates assets of 129 alleged ‘traitors’ in West Azerbaijan province

Amid FARAHI / AFP via Getty Images

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

Are Yemeni rebels imploding?

Saudi Arabia's hope to exit the Yemen scene could depend largely on Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Yemeni rebel factions' falling apart.

Iranian Kurds urge Iraqi brethren to stay united ahead of referendum

As Iraqi Kurds increasingly quarrel ahead of the Sept. 25 independence referendum, Iranian Kurds are urging their western neighbors to stay united and press ahead with the vote.

Who censors access to Iran's Khamenei?

A young Iranian cleric explained the vetting process a cleric must go through to give a speech in front of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian former vice president and candidate for parliamentary election Mohammad Reza Aref and his wife show their ink-stained fingers after casting their ballots during elections for the parliament and Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint and dismiss the supreme leader, in Tehran February 26, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - GF10000324077

Talk of 'good genes' provokes nepotism outcry in Iran

Comments by the son of prominent Reformist leader Mohammad Reza Aref concerning his "good genes" have caused furor among Iranians.

Hamas’ dangerous gamble on Iran

The decision by the Hamas leadership to renew its alliance with Iran seals the already miserable fate of Gaza's people and ensures permanent control of the territory by the movement's military wing.

Netanyahu, a gift to Israel's enemies

By perpetuating the occupation and the settlement enterprise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is impairing the dreams of a Zionist state in Israel.

With Iran's help, Hamas reaches out to Syrian regime

Iran is working as mediator as Hamas' new leadership takes steps to restore its severed ties with Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by military personnel as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RTS1D28A

Trump keeps world guessing on Iran deal’s future

Even as Iran hawks complain they are shut out from the White House, proponents of the nuclear deal are not confident they will prevail with the president.

Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attend a joint news conference in Doha, Qatar, July 11, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon - RTX3B08M

Iran’s role in Qatar’s new foreign policy

Rather than forcing Qatar to sever ties with Tehran, the Saudi-led boycott on Qatar has instead pushed the emirate closer to Iran.

Iran-Israel soccer row apparently much ado about nothing

The reported suspension of two Iranian soccer players from the national team for having competed against Israelis appears to have vanished into thin air.

Rouhani: Trump lacks means to pressure Iran

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the United States is no longer able to isolate and pressure Iran.

Senior Counselor to the President Steve Bannon arrives before the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Win McNamee/Pool - RTSWKL4

Russia weighs in on Bannon-free White House

Analysts examine what foreign policy changes Washington might make concerning the Mideast now that Steve Bannon is gone, and what that could mean for Moscow.