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Iran

April 30, 2026

Tehran 10:02 pm

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In defiant message, Iran’s Khamenei threatens US but appeals to Gulf

The address was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s third since coming to power and included a pledge to rid the Gulf of the US.

QESHM ISLAND, IRAN - APRIL 28: Boats navigate the sea on April 28, 2026 on Qeshm Island, Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's latest proposal for ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz calls on the United States to end its naval blockade of Iran's ports, and sets aside questions about what to do with Iran's nuclear program. The United States has not formally responded to the latest proposal, which was delivered by Iran's foreign minister to Pakistan two days ago. (Photo by Asghar Besharati/Getty Images

US blockade tests Iran's limits, but will global pain force Trump’s hand?

President Trump is doubling down on economic warfare against Iran, betting a naval blockade and sanctions can force a nuclear deal and end the war.

Local residents look on from outside a cordoned off area in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London on April 29, 2026, following the stabbing to two people nearby.

Iran-linked group claims stabbing in Jewish area in London: What to know

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya has been linked to a number of attacks on Jewish targets in Europe, as well as an anti-regime Iranian news outlet.

Latest News

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Iranian rial hits new record low as blockade, war take toll: What to know

An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on Feb. 3, 2012.

Pentagon: Iran war has cost US estimated $25B so far

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 3, 2026 in the Mediterranean Sea.

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

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on April 29, 2024.

Why Iran is concerned about a possible Israeli-Saudi deal

The US government's pushes to revive diplomacy for Israel-Saudi normalization has fueled serious worries in Tehran, where officials were hoping the Gaza war would sabotage the efforts altogether.

A Palestinian man looks at a ravaged neighborhood from a destroyed apartment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, May 2, 2024.

Iran slaps sanctions on US, UK entities over support for Israel's war effort

Iran announced a series of measures against US and UK entities and individuals over their support for Israel in its war in Gaza, which has raised fear of a full-blown conflict in the region.

A female protester holds up photographs of Mahsa Amini before cutting her hair with scissors as an act of solidarity with women in Iran during a demonstration against the death Amini on Sep. 23, 2022, in Berlin, Germany.

Iran’s case against the BBC over killed teenage girl: What we know

Nika Shakarami disappeared after attending an anti-government protest in Iran in 2022 and became a symbol of the demonstrations.

Director Mohammad Rasoulof attends the "Lerd (Un Homme Integre)" photocall during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2017, in Cannes, France.

Culture

Crew of Iranian film barred from traveling to Cannes: lawyer

Mohammad Rasoulof, the director of "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," has been persecuted for his work by the Iranian government.

An Iranian Navy vessel participates in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps special forces military drill in the Gulf of Oman at an undisclosed location near Iranian southern port town of Bandar-e Jask on Thursday, April 6, 2006.

Iran conducts naval drills with missile-corvette amid Gulf maritime tensions

Several leading warships and speedboats were shown off in the Persian Gulf exercise, accompanied by fresh warning messages, only two weeks after the Islamic Republic directly targeted Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles.

Iranians attend the funeral procession for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Syria, which Iran blamed on Israel, in Tehran on April 5, 2024.

Iran's hold on Syria strong despite 'withdrawals' after Israeli attacks

While Tehran has been withdrawing some military commanders from Syria in response to Israeli targeting, reports of a large-scale drawdown in Iranian forces in the country are exaggerated, analysts say.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (C) inspects the guard of honor upon his arrival for a state visit at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare on July 13, 2023.

What's behind Iran's ambitious push for influence in Africa?

With a key Tehran conference hosting African nations, the Islamic Republic is moving to catch up with such heavyweight investors as China and Russia, pursuing geopolitical interests in Africa through both trade ties and the shipment of military equipment.

People rally near the Congress building before marching along Avenida de Mayo avenue in the "Marcha del silencio"(March of Silence) called by Argentine prosecutors in memory of their late colleague Alberto Nisman in Buenos Aires on February 18, 2015. President Cristina Kirchner urged Argentines to be on guard Wednesday ahead of a mass protest over the mysterious death of Nisman who had accused her of a cover-up in his probe of a 1994 bombing. Nisman was found in his Buenos Aires apartment with a bullet thro

Analysis

How will Argentina's 1994 bombing probe impact Iran-Latin America ties?

Argentina’s implication of Iran in the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires will not deter the Islamic Republic from pursuing relations with other countries in Latin America, says one expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Russia enhance security cooperation in Kazakhstan meeting

Long-friendly Iran and Russia are growing closer amid the Gaza war and sanctions on both countries.

Image of Toomaj Salehi.

Culture

Iranian rapper Toomaj sentenced to death over protest support

Toomaj Salehi is the latest musical artist to be sentenced in relation to the 2022 anti-government protests in Iran.

Carl Court/Getty Images

North Korean economic delegation makes rare visit to Iran

The visit comes amid growing US concerns about military cooperation between Iran and North Korea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, hold a meeting in Tehran on July 19, 2022.

Russia hosts Iran, China security chiefs after escalation with Israel

Iran's highest-ranking security official traveled to Russia to meet with other like-minded advisers and to promote its fight against "Western hegemony."