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Iran

September 11, 2026

Tehran 6:33 pm

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Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on Aug. 31, 2026.

Analysis

Could Iran’s nuclear ambitions harden as war escalates?

A new report has raised alarm about the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site that President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran’s Pickaxe mountain tests limits of Trump’s military options

A secretive Pentagon innovation agency has hastened to test munitions that may penetrate deeper than the GBU-57 bombs dropped on Iran’s two main enrichment facilities.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

Iran's IRGC set to declare new ‘sanctions zone’ beyond Hormuz: What to know

The latest Iranian effort to assert control over waterways in the region follows heavy US strikes targeting oil tankers.

AFPTV / AFP via Getty Images

Brent crude sails past $100 as Middle East war intensifies

The Iran war escalated this week as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked four southern Saudi Arabian cities and oil facilities.

Latest News

US strikes Iranian tankers after attempted attack on Navy ship

Vessels transit the Hormuz Strait off the coast of Iran's southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 7, 2026. Iran's top negotiator threatened on September 6 of a more forceful response to any further US attacks after Tehran targeted American warships in their latest round of clashes. The exchanges of fire, which began with US raids last week, come amid a deadlock in the six-month war between the two foes. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

What Houthi setbacks in Yemen mean for Iran's regional influence

Forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed government

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Israel braces for Iran attack as Trump’s economic squeeze on Tehran intensifies

TOPSHOT - Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that the Iranian supreme leader had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

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

US hits 27 Iranian airlines with latest sanctions

A picture take on September 14, 2017 shows an Airbus A340 of Mahan Air at the tarmac at Dubai's International Airport. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via 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

Iraq sends Khamenei's envoy back to Iran with little to show

It appears Iran is trying to draw Iraqi Shiites together, but many religious leaders aren't willing to be herded.

Hamas finds itself at Egypt's mercy

Despite Hamas' apparent rapprochement with Iran, the movement is finding it can only pursue relations as Cairo allows.

Court could force Israel to rethink nuke policy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps issuing warnings on Iran’s nuclear program, but refuses to discuss the hazards of Israel’s own nuclear policy.

A Syrian national flag flutters next to the Islamic State's slogan at a roundabout where executions were carried out by ISIS militants in the city of Palmyra, in Homs Governorate, Syria April 1, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki SEARCH "PALMYRA SANADIKI" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES - GF10000368423

Don’t let Islamic State slip the noose in Syria

As Russia beefs up its offensive in Syria, the situation there looks promising, but it’s time for Moscow and Washington to cooperate in a final push to eliminate the Islamic State.

URMIEH, IRAN - JANUARY 23: Iranian university student Vahid Rezaei (R) and his brother Saeed Rezaei collect water samples from the salt-encrusted former lakebed of Iran's shrinking Lake Urmieh, which presents a risk of salt storms and future health and environmental problems on January 23, 2015 in Urmieh, northwest Iran. Once one of the largest salt lakes in the world, it has lost 90 percent of its volume in the past decade and symbolizes the scale of the water crisis facing Iran today. Decades of overuse,

US-Iran exchanges hang in balance as Trump weighs decision on nuclear deal

The State Department has spent no money this year on US-Iran exchanges amid uncertainty over the fate of the nuclear agreement.

Iran, Turkey to send aid to Myanmar’s Muslims

Iranians condemn the inaction of the United Nations with respect to the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Shiite iconography electrifies Iranians on Syria

The beheading of an Iranian fighter on the Syrian frontier is proving to be a watershed moment in the Iranian public’s view of the country’s military intervention in Syria.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir gestures during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in Riyadh January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - GF20000088982

Is Saudi Arabia 'ready to turn page' on Iran?

A shifting regional landscape may force a reset in Riyadh and Tehran; armed groups backed by the United States and Turkey battle outside Aleppo.

Stock market employees work at Tehran's Stock Exchange, Iran, January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMAATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - GF20000097701

Iranian shareholders face rocky road ahead

While the Tehran Stock Exchange has recently reversed its downward trend, fundamental interest rate and exchange rate reform are necessary to maintain the upward momentum.

Will Abbas be forced to choose war against Israel?

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is starting to understand that the current situation cannot go on for much longer and soon he will have to choose between peace and war.

Iranian Sunni leader voices concerns to Khamenei

Iran’s most prominent Sunni leader thanked Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for publicly addressing his concerns about discrimination.

Iranian Foreign Ministry set for sweeping change

Having spent most of his first term negotiating the nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister is now set to implement sweeping structural changes in the Foreign Ministry.