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Iran

June 28, 2025

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Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin arrives to attend a church service for former French President Jacques Chirac at the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris on September 30, 2019. - Former French President Jacques Chirac died on September 26, 2019 at the age of 86.

Interview

Former French PM says Trump has ‘immense opportunity’ in Mideast

Dominique de Villepin, who recently announced a new political party, says in an exclusive written interview with Al-Monitor that France has a vital role to play in promoting regional cooperation.

Dominique de Villepin

Dominique de Villepin

Former French prime minister

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2025.

Analysis

How Trump’s call to end Netanyahu’s trial is linked to broader Gaza deal

The coordinated effort, involving an agreement with Hamas and expansion of the Abraham Accords, also envisions a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump and a pardon for Netanyahu.

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

Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN, speaks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters on June 16, 2025 in New York City.

Interview

Iran open to regional consortium, enriched uranium transfer in US nuclear talks

Iran’s UN ambassador says his country would consider transfer of enriched uranium stockpiles and outside investment in energy sector if there is an agreement with the US, but that the country is unwilling to accept restrictions on its missile program or domestic enrichment.

Amir Saeid Iravani

Amir Saeid Iravani

Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN

Latest News

In first speech after war, Khamenei strikes defiant tone against US, Israel

ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

A new era? Why Israel-Iran war didn't spook global markets as expected

Fire and smoke rise from a building, reportedly hit by a missile fired from Iran, in central Tel Aviv on June 13, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Why Netanyahu accepted Trump’s ceasefire deal with Iran

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is briefed.

Iran defense chief visits China, first trip after war with Israel: What to know

Aziz Nasirzadeh

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

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order "reimposing maximum pressure on Iran" in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Iran's reply to Trump arrives as US messaging mixed on nuclear deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi doubled down on Tehran's refusal to participate in face-to-face talks with Washington.

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker 06 April 1999 during an air strike mission in support of NATO Operation Allied Force in an undisclosed location.

US B-2 bombers deployed to Indian Ocean amid Trump-Iran escalation

The stealth bombers are some of the only warplanes in the US arsenal capable of delivering the massive conventional bombs thought to be needed to effectively damage Iran's underground nuclear facilities.

A pickup truck is carrying two Iranian missile mockups during a rally that marks the 46th anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 10, 2025.

Iran's IRGC unveils underground facility housing thousands of ballistic missiles

As it navigates crises at home and abroad, Iran has released video footage of an underground “missile city” in an attempt to flex its military might.

Urmia

Analysis

How unrest in Iran's Urmia exposes deep-seated ethnic fault lines

The situation escalated as stick-wielding government loyalists chanted inflammatory slogans against Sunni Kurds, whose cultural celebrations coincided with a key Shiite mourning ritual.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Iranian rials are displayed in Tehran, on July 31, 2019.

Iran’s currency drops to more than 1 million rials to US dollar: What to know

This is yet another record low for Iran’s currency, as the country navigates intense sanctions and US pressure.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a joint press conference with Russia's foreign minister at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Tehran on Feb. 25, 2025.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Iran-Armenia ties as Araghchi visits Yerevan?

Iran is looking to bolster regional alliances amid Turkey’s rise in influence and remains opposed to the Zangezur Corridor plan, according to experts.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

A woman uses her mobile telephone as she walks past a mural painted on the outer wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, dubbed the "Den of Espionage," on March 8, 2025.

Analysis

As Iran faces looming Trump deadline, is Khamenei shifting strategy?

Washington's warning to Iran over its support for Yemen's Houthi rebels has brought the two archenemies closer to the brink of a direct military conflict.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

The United States aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, anchored off the coast at Tien Sa Port on March 5, 2018 in Danang, Vietnam.

Pentagon sends second aircraft carrier to Middle East as Trump warns Iran

The USS Carl Vinson is expected to vastly increase Washington's strike capabilities in the Gulf region as Trump gives Tehran a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear agreement.

An Iran-made missile and its launchers are exhibited during a rally that marks the 46th anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel to push Trump on Iran attack plan on high-stakes Washington visit

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will lead the multiagency Israeli team to the talks with US national security adviser Michael Waltz and State Department and Pentagon officials in Washington next week.

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

The Iranian-flagged oil tanker Fortune is docked at the El Palito refinery after its arrival to Puerto Cabello in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuela, on May 25, 2020.

US slaps sanctions on Iran's oil tankers, targets China 'teapot' refinery

Targets of the sanctions include a refinery allegedly purchasing Iranian oil from a vessel linked to Yemen's Houthi militant group.

A man pays using Iranian rials at a shop, in Tehran on July 31, 2019. - The government in sanctions-hit Iran on Wednesday approved a plan to remove zeros from the rial and rename the currency -- something its people have long been doing to simplify transactions. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

With rial in free fall, Trump’s warning to Iran over Houthis poses strategic dilemma

Iran is once again facing the difficult prospect of distancing itself from another regional proxy ally after the US president's warning suggested possible direct US attacks on the Islamic Republic.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed on March 16,2023. — UAE Presidency

Analysis

As Gargash delivers Trump letter, can UAE play mediator role on Iran?

While the UAE seeks a greater mediator role in the region, covert rivalries among Gulf states and fragile Emirati-Iranian ties may limit its role.

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

By Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics