Iran - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

May 17, 2026

Tehran 10:00 am

19°C

Women shop from a street vendor at Enghelab Square in the capital Tehran on Nov. 11, 2025.

Analysis

From hoarding to unemployment: Iran's economy buckles under US pressure

Iran's fast-rising inflation is driving aggressive state market controls, exposing deeper structural strains from war, sanctions and declining consumer confidence.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Explosions rattled buildings in Dubai and a large cloud of smoke hung over a central area of the Middle East financial hub on March 13, 2026.

Analysis

How the Iran war is exposing a growing Saudi-UAE divide

Reports on Emirati and Saudi strikes suggest Gulf monarchies moved beyond passive defense — but followed sharply different strategies.

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Latest News

Uptick in Chinese tankers transiting Hormuz amid Trump-Xi summit

Jag Vasant, an Indian-flagged tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that transited through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East war, remains docked at an offloading terminal along the coast in Mumbai on April 1, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Iran looms large over Trump’s China visit, but breakthrough unlikely

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump (C) is escorted by China's Vice President Han Zheng (R) upon his arrival at Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

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

A view shows the swearing-in ceremony for Iranian president Hassan Rouhani 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. - RC18FF0579A0

Iranian MPs pass anti-terror funding bill despite death threats

Iran has taken an important step in gaining access to the international banking system.

Opposition to US plans for east Syria unites fragile Astana trio

No daylight among Iran, Turkey and Russia in opposing US policies in Syria; Can Iraq mediate between the United States and Iran?

An Iraqi fisherman pulls in his nets as his wife helps in their dug-out on the al-Huwaiza marshes northern Amara, 420 km south of Baghdad on June 13, 2011, considered to be the demarcation line with neighbouring Iran and which were drained by the regime of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the Iraqi-Iranian war. Following the collapse of the previous regime, and the entrance of the US-led forces into Iraq in 2003, the water source was opened with fifty percent of the marsh land flooded allowing

Wildfires ravage marshlands on Iran-Iraq border

The destruction of important marshlands and other natural reserves in wildfires in Iran may be caused by humans as well as nature.

US scraps treaty with Iran while calling for another treaty

The US withdrew from a treaty with Iran after the treaty was used in a UN court to complain about its sanctions.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini talks to the media as she arrives for the informal meeting of European Union leaders ahead of the EU summit, in Salzburg, Austria, September 19, 2018. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner - RC1BCA4F9070

Will EU’s ‘SPV’ be able to sustain Iran trade, investment?

While a welcomed step, the SPV mechanism that Iran and the EU are working on is only the starting point of a process that needs to be further consolidated in order to enable trade and investment between the two sides.

A general view shows smog over northwestern Tehran November 23, 2010. Tehran is choking. Gridlock on urban highways makes the city feel more like Los Angeles than the Middle East, while adding a toxic yellow halo of smog to otherwise perennially blue skies. Picture taken November 23, 2010. To match feature IRAN-METRO/ REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT CITYSCAPE) - GM1E6C800LV01

Intel: Why the Trump administration suddenly cares about Iran’s poor environmental record

Barham Salih, Iraq's newly elected President walks during a handover ceremony at Salam Palace in Baghdad, Iraq October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani - RC1B3C02FD00

Iraq offers to mediate between Trump, Iran

Optimistic about its new government but concerned that brewing tensions between the United States and Iran could negatively impact Iraq, a senior Iraqi diplomat offered that Iraq could mediate between the nations.

Barham Salih, Iraq's newly elected president, walks with Iraq's new Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi at the parliament headquarters, in Baghdad, Iraq October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily - RC1CC4B29CE0

Intel: What Iraq is doing to avoid being caught in tug of war between US and Iran

The Iraqi embassy in Washington is working overtime to avoid getting caught up in the feud between the United States and Iran.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters after announcing that the U.S. will withdraw from the Vienna protocol and the 1955 "Treaty of Amity" with Iran as White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders looks on during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC17A0C7F6B0

Intel: How the Trump team uses ‘America First’ playbook on Iran

People walk in front of a currency exchange shop in the Iranian capital Tehran on August 8, 2018. - US President Donald Trump warned the world the previous day against doing business with Iran as Washington reimposed "the most biting sanctions ever" on the Islamic republic, triggering a mix of anger, fear and defiance in Tehran. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Consumer prices dropping in Iran as currency regains value

Consumer prices are reportedly dropping in Iran after a period of untamed jumps rarely seen in the country's recent history.

A security personnel stands in front of the Mahshahr petrochemical plant in Khuzestan province, 1032 km (641 miles) southwest of Tehran, September 28, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY INDUSTRIAL) - GM1E79T0EIF01

How Iran’s quasi-state firms intensify currency crisis

The clash between the Rouhani administration and Iranian petrochemical companies over foreign currency earnings is another chapter in the battle between the government and quasi-state actors.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - HP1EE9P189Y2Y

How can Turkey survive US sanctions on Iran?

At the United Nations, Turkey repeated its intention to ignore US sanctions. How the Erdogan administration will calculate costs and benefits of subverting the US sanctions remains a mystery.