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Iran

September 16, 2026

Tehran 3:50 pm

33°C

Houthi fighters marching

Analysis

How far will Iran push Houthis against Saudi Arabia amid raging conflict?

As Iran-backed Houthis broaden attacks on Saudi Arabia, Tehran's delicate calculation is exploiting the current conflict without being dragged into an escalation of its own making.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities shout slogans during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sept. 10, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia's balancing act with US, Iran, Houthis risks collapse

Houthi rebels escalated their attacks on Tuesday, triggering alerts around the holy city of Mecca, Taif and the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Houthi

Exclusive

Houthi top diplomat says no intention to shut down Red Sea shipping, group open to talks

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Acting Foreign Minister of the Houthi-led administration Abdulwahid Abu Ras said concerns over a potential closure of the Red Sea are being fueled by Saudi Arabia.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Latest News

US hits major Russian bank VTB with Iran-linked sanctions

VTB Bank in Moscow

Third Sunni cleric killed in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province: What to know

Milak border crossing near the town of Zabol, Iran

Analysis

Saudi pipeline shutdown exposes shrinking global oil-supply buffers

AFP via Getty Images

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Oil tops $109 after Houthi strikes, Saudi pipeline shutdown

A sailor from the navy of Yemen's Aden-based internationally recognized government stands at a machine-gun position aboard a vessel patrolling a shipping lane off Hanish Island in the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.

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

Iranian Jewish MP Siamak Moreh Sedq (L) and schoolboys read prayers during a demonstration in front of the United Nation's building in Tehran on November 19, 2013 in support of Iran's nuclear program and Iranian negotiators on the eve of the new round of nuclear talks with world powers in Geneva. Talks are scheduled to restart on November 20, as the P5+1 group aims to convince Iran to roll back its work that Western power suspect is masking a military nuclear drive in exchange for some sanctions relief. AFP

Iranian Jewish MP dismissive of Netanyahu, senators' letter

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Siamak Moreh Sedgh shares his thoughts on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress and the letter sent by US senators to the Iranian leadership.

U.S. Rep. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (C) and Republican congressional colleagues listen as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 20, 2015. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4M87B

On Iran deal, Republicans cut off their nose to spite their face

A letter written by 47 Republican senators to the Iranian government highlights the deepening divide in US Congress on the pending Iran nuclear agreement.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attends Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. Rafsanjani lost his position on Tuesday as head of an important state clerical body after hardliners criticised him for being too close to the reformist opposition. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2JLGP

Rafsanjani supporters upbeat despite another election defeat

Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani suffers another political defeat, though his supporters remain upbeat.

Iranian women attend the 28th International Islamic Unity Conference chaired by the Iranian President in the capital Tehran on January 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

How Iranian women are using Sharia to their benefit

Given the important role that religion plays in Iran, Iranian women are working within the system to gain rights and achieve equality.

Workers move a fuels rod at the Fuel Manufacturing plant at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility 440 Km (273 miles) south of Tehran April 9, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN POLITICS ENERGY) - RTXDTPP

Would 'sunset' of nuclear deal end restrictions on Iran?

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty would restrain Iran's actions in several ways after the terms of a prospective nuclear deal expire.

Iran's former Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi (L), chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani (R) attend a conference on Iran's Nuclear Policies and Prospects in Tehran April 25, 2006. Larijani said on Tuesday his country would suspend its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if sanctions were imposed, as advocated by the United States. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi - RTR1CS06

Rouhani adviser denies he called for Iran's return to empire

President Hassan Rouhani's Ethnic and Religious Minorities adviser had called for a union between the countries bordering Iran, to wide criticism in the Arab-language media.

A view of a cottage in fog at Daryasar field in Mazandaran Province, 300 km (186 miles) north of Tehran September 21, 2005. Picture taken on September 21. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl - RTRP68C

Khamenei warns against destruction of Iran's forests

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that illegally privatizing public forests and mountains is harming the country's environment and the world at large.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (C), a deputy parliament speaker, is surrounded by police officers as he walks on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2GKI0

Danon: Bibi's speech to Congress sent the right message

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech succeeded in shifting the international community's focus back to the essential debate on the imminent agreement with Iran.

Iran holds first ever fashion week

Contrary to Western stereotypes, Iranian women are avid followers of fashion and increasingly prominent in an industry that they hope to expand even to US customers.

Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriyah Farm in Diriyah March 5, 2015. Kerry met Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh on Thursday to brief them on progress in the nuclear talks with Iran and offer reassurance that any deal would not damage their interests. Kerry arrived in Riyadh late on Wednesday from Montreux, Switzerland, where he said he had made progress in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that aim to conclude an atomic deal b

Saudi Arabia prepares for Iran nuclear deal

Saudi Arabia has been pulling out the diplomatic stops in an effort to contain Iran in anticipation of what it sees as an unfavorable nuclear deal between the West and the Islamic republic.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) (L), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (R), speaks at a news conference after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 3, 2015. The White House has said President Barack Obama would veto the Iran Nuclear Review Act, which was introduced by Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the panel, to require Obama to

Senate seeks to unblock path for war on Islamic State

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will address the week of March 9.

An Iranian employee of the anti-drug police walk past 50 tons of drugs seized in recent months burning in eastern Tehran on June 26, 2014 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The Iranian security forces seized some 575 tons of drugs between March 2013 and March 2014, the Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian minister slammed for warning of 'dirty money' in politics

Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has been forced to walk back his claims that money from illegal drug smuggling has entered politics.