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Iran

July 4, 2026

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Iranians walk past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Getty

Analysis

Iran set to bury Khamenei, but his hard-line legacy may endure

The elaborate funeral for the late supreme leader is becoming more than a farewell; it serves as a carefully staged test of regime continuity after his decades-long rule.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Israeli officials believe the US failure to attain the kind of agreement with Iran that it originally sought stems from the strategic mistakes made during and after the recent war.

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

Nathan Howard / AFP via Getty Images

As Trump touts nuclear progress, US-Iran talks show little momentum

With a final nuclear agreement far from reach, the US-Iran conflict risks settling into a new status quo.

Crude oil tankers, bulk carriers and vessels sit anchored around Qaboos Port on June 22, 2026, in Muscat, Oman.

Oil falls below $71 as US-Iran talks continue, Gulf exports rebound

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an X post on Wednesday that Iran and the United States had made "positive progress."

Latest News

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

General view of the Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall on Dec. 10, 2022, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Culture

Nobel Foundation rescinds Iran's invitation to 2023 Prize ceremony

Iran was excluded from last year’s ceremonies following the government’s violent crackdown against protesters.

An oil tanker unloads imported crude oil at Qingdao port in China's eastern Shandong province on May 9, 2022. - China OUT (Photo by AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's oil production bounces back as exports to China rise despite sanctions

Iran's oil industry was hurt by the reimposition of US sanctions in 2018, but has largely recovered since then, in part due to increased exports to China.

An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying "Down with Israel" in Hebrew at a defense exhibition in Isfahan, February 8, 2023.

Iran claims to foil Israeli plot against its missile operations

The announcement follows Iranian officials saying they had dismantled “Zionist-linked” cells across the country and amid an escalating proxy war between Iran and Israel.

Iran protest

Iran claims to dismantle Israeli-linked ‘Zionist’ cells across the country

The announcement follows another attack on a Shiite shrine in the country, as well as renewed Iranian threats towards Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi holds a press conference in Tehran on Aug. 29, 2023.

Raisi says revival of nuclear deal not Iran's priority

Talks to restore the 2015 accord have been in a state of impasse for 18 months, as both Iran and the United States appear to be increasingly reluctant for a breakthrough.

Employees work at headquarters housing Alibaba, Iran's largest online travel booking service, in the capital Tehran on February 17, 2020 - Iran's startup sector, which began to develop in the 2000s, took off from 2013. But new technology and the use of smart phones were hit hard by the reinstatement of US sanctions in 2018, after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. An unexpected effect of the sanctions has been that Iranian entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity to launch startups. (Ph

Iran's startups will continue to face pressure from hardline agenda

The security establishment has recently targeted entrepreneurs and entities in the country's startup ecosystem — but how far are Iran's hardliners prepared to go and what will be the reaction of constituents?

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images

Republican says Congress 'kept in dark' as Iran envoy saga develops

Congressional Republicans are furious after the Tehran Times published a letter purportedly from the State Department discussing the suspension of Malley’s security clearance.

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

Iran renews ultimatum for Iraq to disarm Kurdish opposition groups

A September deadline set to disarm the groups will “not be extended in any way.”

The President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Aug. 24, 2023.

Raisi pushes anti-US agenda in BRICS as Iran celebrates ascension

The Islamic Republic hopes that BRICS membership will remedy its ailing economy and open a new front against American influence in the global sphere.

A boy waves an Iranian national flag as supporters of Iran's newly-elected president Ebrahim Raisi celebrate his victory in Imam Hussein square in the capital Tehran on June 19, 2021.

Can US-Iran prisoner deal build trust for broader talks?

Experts say the release of five Americans held in Iran could lay the groundwork for a resumption of nuclear talks between the longtime adversaries.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

4 Arab Israelis arrested for Hezbollah ties, smuggling Iranian explosives

The Shin Bet announced today that four Arab Israelis suspected of involvement with Hezbollah's smuggling activities were arrested last month.

BRICS summit 2023

Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE to join BRICS

The Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank, or so-called “BRICS bank”, had already admitted the UAE and Egypt as shareholders.