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Iran

September 17, 2026

Tehran 3:07 am

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China presses Iran, US to reopen Hormuz as disruptions threaten oil supply

Conflicts in the region are disrupting two key routes for oil bound for China, with Iranian crude affected by the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi shipments facing growing risks in the Red Sea.

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Senior Israeli intelligence sources told Al-Monitor that Israel seeks to avoid involvement in the conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, despite concerns that Yemen could further unravel and that Iran is backing the group.

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

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Exclusive

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

Houthi

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

US hits major Russian bank VTB with Iran-linked sanctions

VTB Bank in Moscow

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 car used as a taxi drives through the streets of Havana December 19, 2014. With Washington agreeing to restore full diplomatic ties that were cut in the early 1960s, Cuba's communist government may not be able to blame its old Cold War nemesis so readily. Cuba has repeatedly sought to dispel the idea that it secretly wanted the embargo in place, saying if the Americans believed that they should challenge Cuba by lifting it. REUTERS/Enrique De La Osa (CUBA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTR4IPO9

Iran sees failure of US sanctions in Cuba decision

Iranian officials are pointing to the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba as an admission that the US policy of sanctions was ineffective.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - MARCH 18: Firemen and rescue workers continue to dig through the ruins of the Israeli Embassy early 18 March 1992 in Buenos Aires after a night of search following the 17 March explosion of a powerful car bomb which virtually destroyed the diplomatic building, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 250. The pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad organization claimed responsability for the attack. (Photo credit should read DANIEL LUNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Lebanon, Argentina arrive at consensus over 1992 attack

Lebanese and Argentine officials recently discussed the 1992 suicide bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, with both sides arriving at the conclusion that Lebanon held no responsibility.

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement about an agreement reached with Iran on its nuclear program at the White House in Washington November 23, 2013. Obama said on Saturday that a deal between Iran and six major powers was an important first step toward a comprehensive solution to Iran's nuclear program. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15QME

Obama: Diplomacy with Iran has restrained nuclear program

US President Barack Obama says that since the start of the nuclear talks with Iran, it is "probably the first year-and-a-half in which Iran has not advanced its nuclear program in the last decade."

TEHRAN, IRAN: Iranian reformist MP Ahmad Shirzad objects to the disqualifying of a large number of reformists from the upcoming legislative elections after their resignation in the parliament in Tehran, 01 February 2004. The head of Iran's main reformist party Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), and brother of the president Mohammad Reza Khatami warned powerful conservatives today not to force the holding of parliament elections on February 20, saying such a step would be tantamount to a "coup d'etat"

Iran media slams domestic critics of nuclear program

Domestic critics of Iran's nuclear program have been chastised in a number of conservative Iranian media outlets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini at the Kremlin in Moscow July 9, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3XUXK

EU decision boosts Russian, UN diplomacy on Syria

Russia, the United Nations and Iran lead diplomatic initiative in Syria; Iran and Turkey discuss counterterrorism; al-Qaeda-linked group advances in Syria; Aleppo’s radicalization; Hamas seeks to rebuild ties with Iran.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

Russian (L and R) and Iranian operators monitor the nuclear power plant unit in Bushehr, about 1,215 km (755 miles) south of Tehran, November 30, 2009. Russia plans to start up Iran's first nuclear power station in March 2010 to coincide with the Iranian New Year, two sources closely involved with the project told Reuters. Russia agreed in 1995 to build the 1,000 megawatt

Iran conference panelists criticize nuclear program

Panelists at a conference about Iran's nuclear program have spoken out publicly about its steep costs to the country.

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

Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a ceremony to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, in Tehran's Azadi square February 11, 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2XN6M

Hamas asks Iran for money, weapons

A senior Hamas delegation visited Tehran last week to ask Iran to resume its financial and military aid to the beleaguered Palestinian Islamist movement.

Clerics speak on the campus of the Seminary in Qom, 120 km (75 miles) south of Tehran February 3, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN) - RTXB72L

Qom, Najaf call for improved relations with Saudi Arabia

Prominent religious authorities in both Qom and Najaf have called on political leaders in their countries to improve their relations with Saudi Arabia after the latter took a strict stance against Salafist jihadism.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, attends a news conference in Tehran February 7, 2011. REUTERS/STRINGER (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXXKFA

IRGC responds to Rouhani's comments

Following the president's warning against the consolidation of power, the head of the IRGC has criticized interpretations of strife between the president and his organization, which he credits with maintaining Iran's opposition to the United States.

A policeman lays a floral tribute with thousands of others near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16-hours, in central Sydney December 16, 2014. Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed a number of hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which three people including the attacker were killed. REUTERS/David Gray (AUSTRALIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR4I5JB

Iran warned Australia about Sydney attacker

Sydney hostage-taker Man Haron Monis had long been wanted by Iran for fraud.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) arrives with the Islamic republic's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the opening session of a two-day conference on combatting extremism on December 9, 2014 in Tehran. Delegations from 40 countries, including Syria and Iraq, are attending the meetings. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Shiites, Sunnis unite to denounce and condemn extremists

The recent surge of Islamist extremists movements has had a positive effect in uniting Shiite and Sunni clerics, from Tehran to Cairo, to denounce the waves of intolerance and radicalism.

A Shi'ite Houthi rebel walks at a checkpoint in Sanaa December 11, 2014. The Houthis are an armed Shi'ite faction whose fighters had swept down from the north and stunningly captured Sanaa from the army about a month earlier. Their arrival following anti-government protests threatens to further destabilise Yemen, already wracked by political turmoil since the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011. To match Insight YEMEN-HOUTHIS/ REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST TRANSPORT) - RTR4HNFD

Iran's role in Yemen draws Israel, Saudi Arabia closer

The Houthi takeover of the Yemen port city, the tribe's strong ties to Iran and its latest contacts with Palestine Islamic Jihad have both Israel and Saudi Arabia worried.