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Iran

May 9, 2026

Tehran 5:44 am

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Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

Getty

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Strikes on Iranian tankers and fresh exchanges in the Gulf escalate tensions as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a deal proposal.

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

The establishment of an entity seeking to control maritime transportation in the Strait of Hormuz is the latest sign that Iran wants to formalize authority in the strategic waterway.

Latest News

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

Popular Mobilization Forces

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Joyce Karam

Iran president says he held official meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei: What to know

An Iranian woman holds up an image of Iran's new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

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 kicks off naval missile drills in Gulf of Oman, to renew patrols in Red Sea

Iran's Navy will resume patrols in the Red Sea, the Chief of Staff of the armed forces said

Pompeo, Israel send message to Iran with bold airstrikes in Syria

In a rare acknowledgement, a US official said Washington provided intelligence support for the strikes.

Iran offers to help Iraq reconstruct damaged archaeological masterpiece

Iran has expressed interest in helping repair the Taq Kasra, the remains of a pre-Islamic Persian palace in Iraq with a historically significant archway.

Iran’s Rouhani expects economic relief after Trump departure

Iran’s president assured his nation of economic relief “in the months to come” following the “overthrow” of his outgoing US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Mask-clad school children hold Iranian national flags as they sit distanced apart from each other in the yard of a school while attending a speech by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani by video conference, at Nojavanan school in the capital Tehran on the first day of schools re-opening on September 5, 2020, while in the background a billboard is seen showing a boy holding a flag together with Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) next to a Farsi quote by the country's s

Khamenei's vaccine ban paints dismal picture of Iranian health care

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed shortcomings in health care systems across the globe, and Iran is no exception.

Fate of seized South Korean tanker, crew out of Iran’s hands, says foreign minister

The decision is the latest in a growing financial dispute between Tehran and Seoul ignited by US sanctions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington,DC on January 12, 2021. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Tuesday that arch-enemy Iran has become a new "home base" for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan, an assertion questioned by experts. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo dubs Iran new 'home base' of al-Qaeda

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Tehran of enabling the terrorist group by providing safe havens and logistical support.

Iran says it won’t expel nuclear watchdog inspectors

Government officials stressed that international watchdog inspectors will not be expelled from Iran’s nuclear sites, rejecting a senior lawmaker’s statement that such a plan was in the pipeline if the United States failed to lift sanctions against Tehran.

Air pollution covers the Iranian capital Tehran on December 23, 2019. - Schools in Iran's Tehran province have been ordered shut until due to severe air pollution, authorities announced, extending their closure to a full week. Tehran city was cloaked by thick toxic smog for a third successive day on Monday that blanketed out landmarks like Milad Tower and the snow-capped Alborz mountains. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s capital suffocating amid blame game over pollution

For nearly a month, residents of the Iranian capital have been exposed to record-high air pollution amid the government’s confusing explanations and failure to work out a solution.

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on October 24, 2020, shows him wearing a protective face mask as he gives a speech in the capital Tehran during a meeting of the national staff to discuss the issue of the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by - / KHAMENEI.IR / AFP) / XGTY / === RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS === (Photo by

Iran officials defend ban on US, UK COVID vaccines

Iranian officials have said they will begin vaccinating their population in the spring and do not have confidence in Western vaccines.

People gather outside Iran embassy in France on June 13, 2019 to support Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and demand her release. - Sotoudeh has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison over a case with seven charges, but she is to only serve the longest sentence, 12 years imposed for "encouraging corruption and debauchery". She has also been convicted of espionage. Sotoudeh has also been sentenced to a total of 148 lashes for appearing in court without the hijab Islamic head covering and

Iran approves 3-day release for jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is serving a decadeslong prison sentence on charges related to her work as a human rights defender.

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Tehran reveals underground missile base near Persian Gulf

Iran has announced it built a new subterranean missile base as tension between Washington and Tehran escalates.