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

Iran cover image

Iran

February 24, 2025

Tehran 7:08 am

1°C

US President Donald Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 13, 2025.

Analysis

India’s Chabahar dilemma: US sanctions on Iran threaten key port

India faces a delicate diplomatic challenge as US sanctions threaten its strategic investment in the Chabahar port, a vital trade link to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Masked Iranian Basiji men carry a mock up of a missile past the saluting dais during a parade of the paramilitary Basij and IRGC forces in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 10, 2025.

Analysis

Covert with calculated risk: How Iran is shifting its Israel strategy

Tehran appears to be keeping pressure on Israel mainly through its network of proxies, resorting to calculated restraint and deniability to avoid risks of a devastating full-scale war.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 9: Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcoming ceremony November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China. Trump is on a 10-day trip to Asia. (Photo by Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Iran's oil exports to China are surging despite Trump's 'maximum pressure'

Data from shipping analytics firm Kpler suggests Iran is offloading more crude from its floating storage off the coast of Malaysia and Singapore.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds flowers next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they meet at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 30, 2020. (Photo by MAXIM SHEMETOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MAXIM SHEMETOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Will US-Russia rapprochement increase odds of Israel striking Iran?

Israeli leaders hope the thaw in relations will lead Moscow to stem strategic cooperation with Tehran, leaving Iran vulnerable to an attack on its nuclear facilities after a US green light.

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

Latest News

Will Trump heed Israel's call to strike Iran's nuclear program?

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 18:: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks after signing an executive order on expanding access to IVF at his Mar-a-Lago resort on February 18, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. Later today, Fox News will air a joint interview between President Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Iranian officials trade blame as energy crisis, outages worsen: What to know

Traffic flows on a main road past electricity transmission towers in Tehran on December 16, 2024. Iran has suspended operations at several power plants over fuel shortages that have been intensified by rising demand during a spell of freezing weather. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's IRGC dismantles alleged spy network linked to Israel, US: What to know

Tehran

Iran's FM hosts Sudan counterpart, eyes larger influence: What we know

TOPSHOT - Black smoke billows behind buildings amid ongoing fighting in Khartoum on June 9, 2023. Sudan's warring generals have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire from June 10, US and Saudi mediators said, acknowledging that previous attempts to pause a conflict now nearing its third month had proved abortive. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

State Department Correspondent

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

Andrew Parasiliti

President and Chief Content Officer

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

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

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

drones

Iran unveils new drones in military drill: What to know

Amid heightened tensions with the United States and Israel, Iran is flexing its military might.

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C), Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and Syria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani pose for a group photograph during the International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference Center, in Paris on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

France sees opening in Trump's USAID cuts to lead Syria humanitarian aid

The Paris conference on Syria positions France at the forefront of international efforts to support the interim regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A man walks past a banner depicting missiles along a street in Tehran on April 19, 2024.

Analysis

Iran is surging weapons production, but will it deter Israeli strikes?

Despite a series of setbacks last year, Iran has recently been bolstering its defenses, unveiling one missile or drone after another, as reports suggest that its sworn enemy, Israel, is mulling a major strike in the months to come.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

In SPACE - MAY 19: This image captured by a satellite on May 19, 2001 shows the Bushehr Reactor in Iran. The nuclear facility is located approximately 17 kilometers south of the city of Bushehr. The reactor complex occupies a 2.5 Square Kilometer site area, which includes assembly halls, a concrete channel for cooling water that runs from the reactors to the Gulf, and a the harbor, which supports loading and unloading of foreign materials needed for construction and reactor operation. There are two reactor

Exclusive

Trump, Netanyahu have 'full understanding' on Iran as Israel mulls strikes on nuclear sites

A senior Israeli diplomatic source confirmed to Al-Monitor, on condition of anonymity, that Israel and the United States have reached a “full understanding” on the Iranian issue. This includes agreed steps if Iran rejects a stricter nuclear deal than the 2015 accord abandoned by Trump in 2018.

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

A commercial aircraft takes off from the runway of Beirut's international airport near the city's southern suburbs on Aug. 9, 2024.

Lebanon bars Iranian flight from landing in Beirut, sparking protests

The incident marks the latest in a series at the Beirut airport, which has been a key point of tension between Iran and people within Lebanon’s government who are cautiously distancing themselves from Iran’s influence.

Iranian Basij militia members display their drones during military drills on Jan. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran.

Iran unveils underwater suicide drone as US tensions grow: What we know

The showcasing of the unmanned aerial vehicle follows the unveiling of a new drone carrier warship and plans to develop a supersonic cruise missile.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, gives a joint press conference with the Omani foreign minister in Tehran on Dec. 30, 2024.

Iran pushes diplomatic blitz to thwart Trump's Gaza relocation plan

With its regional proxies decimated in Israeli attacks, Iran is seeking to restore its position within the new regional dynamics by encouraging Islamic countries to mobilize against President Donald Trump's Gaza policies.

A picture shows copies of Iranian daily newspapers

Iran's Pezeshkian rejects Trump's call for talks, denounces 'plots' against Tehran

US President Donald Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" strategy against Iran while simultaneously calling for negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

This handout picture provided by the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him praying inside the tomb of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on Jan. 30, 2025.

Analysis

What's next as Khamenei rejects Trump's offer for US-Iran diplomacy?

The Iranian supreme leader's adamant refusal laid bare divisions within Iran's political structure and has shaken pro-engagement camps that pinned hopes of economic reform on recent overtures from the US president.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Shiite worshippers at all women’s section of the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in Damascus on Jan. 28, 2025.

Feature

After Assad’s fall, Iran hopes to creep back through Syria's back door

Iranian officials admitted they were "defeated very badly" with the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and their prospects for building influence under the new government are limited.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he signs an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 3, 2025.

Analysis

Will Trump’s maximum pressure on Iran restart talks or force escalation?

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to impose “maximum pressure” on Iran, a campaign that — during his first term — levied intense sanctions on the country in hopes of bringing it back to the negotiating table for nuclear talks.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Iran’s Shahid Bagheri drone carrier joins the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' (IRGC) naval fleet during a ceremony in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on February 6, 2025.

Iran’s IRGC unveils first drone carrier warship

The new warship is the latest locally made addition to Iran’s growing military arsenal.