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Iran

May 20, 2026

Tehran 4:52 pm

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Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (C) waves as he returns to his car after visiting the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, on October 12, 2024. At least 22 people were killed in Israeli strikes on a densely populated area of central Beirut on October 10, the Lebanese health ministry said, with a security source saying a Hezbollah figure was the target. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Speaker, negotiator, China envoy: What Ghalibaf's accumulated powers mean for Iran

Iran's appointment of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to oversee the China relationship demonstrates his ability to operate across Iran's fractured institutional landscape and produce political outcomes.

Jamshid Jamshidi

By Jamshid Jamshidi

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

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

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

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 president Hassan Rouhani arrives for his swearing-in ceremony for a further term, at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, August 5, 2017. Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/TIMA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RTS1AIIV

Rouhani’s proposed second-term Cabinet draws ire

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's proposed second-term Cabinet draws criticism from both moderates and Reformists.

Iran steps up pressure on Iraqi Kurds to halt referendum

Iran is stepping up pressure on Iraqi Kurdish political parties to refrain from holding their upcoming referendum on independence.

Iranian MPs face backlash over selfies with Mogherini

Iran's parliamentarians are under fire for taking selfies with visiting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

A man takes a picture of his daugther near the Kurdistan flag at the castle of Erbil, Iraq, July 29,2017. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily - RTS19OL9

Iraqi Kurdistan’s risky independence referendum

Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani may seek leverage from Sunni Arabs to balance opposition from Baghdad, Tehran and Ankara.

Rouhani uses inauguration to send message of moderation

Endorsed by Iran's supreme leader and sworn in at the parliament, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani begins his second term with a message of moderation and continued focus on constructive engagement with the world.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia July 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RTS19RFJ

Saudi Arabia engages Iraq after a quarter century

A resurgence of Saudi diplomacy with Iraq is aimed at keeping Iranian regional power in check.

A picture taken in the capital Tehran on July 16, 2017 shows the front pages of Iranian newspapers bearing portraits of the top female scientist Maryam Mirzakhani, who died of cancer a day earlier.
Iranian-born mathematician, who became the first woman to win the coveted Fields Medal in 2014, died on July 15 in a US hospital after the breast cancer she had been battling for four years spread to her bone marrow, at the age of 40. / AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Get

Talent continues to leave Iran in droves

The untimely death of Iranian-American math genius Maryam Mirzakhani gives rise to renewed debate on the issue of "brain drain" in Iran.

Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi take part in a training at Makhmur camp in Iraq December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2UHUL

Iraq, Iran struggle for control over Popular Mobilization Units

The Popular Mobilization Units are divided into two rival groups, with some wanting to join the Iraqi army and others wanting to remain independent.

Clouds pass behind the White House in Washington, U.S., August 3, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RTS1AASJ

Iran hawks, Bannon loyalists booted in White House purge

A civil war for the soul of the Donald Trump administration has emerged into the open, pitting a motley array of anti-globalists and Iran hawks against more moderate national security professionals.

Rouhani officially begins second term

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is set to begin his second term after being officially endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves as he stands next to a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after he registered for February's election of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses the supreme leader, at Interior Ministry in Tehran December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1ZKHQ

Rouhani, Reformists battle over Cabinet picks

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is facing pushback over his second-term Cabinet appointments.

A picture taken on August 1, 2017 in Istanbul shows attendees participating in the Executive Committee Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran-Saudi handshake offers glimmer of hope for talks

Iranian media welcome the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers’ handshake in Istanbul, viewing it as a possible beginning of talks between Tehran and Riyadh.