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Iran

May 10, 2026

Tehran 2:10 am

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China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

A woman walks past a banner featuring Iran's late supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C), next to newly elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Analysis

Why Iran's wartime behavior risks lasting rupture with Gulf states

Iran's rhetoric and policies toward Gulf states have sharply escalated, raising questions about whether years of painstaking regional rapprochement can survive mounting distrust and maritime confrontations.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

Getty

US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

Strikes on Iranian tankers and fresh exchanges in the Gulf escalate tensions as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a deal proposal.

Latest News

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

US sets expectations for Iraq’s next PM to confront Iranian militias

Popular Mobilization Forces

Analysis

China shores up Iran support as Trump seeks exit

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China in Beijing on May 6, 2026. Credit: Telegram

Joyce Karam

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

Ali Rabiei

Iran spokesman says powerful body rejects nuclear deal with US

The statement by the spokesman for the moderate government confirmed a push by hard-liners in Tehran to make it impossible for a deal between the outgoing Rouhani government and the US administration to get final approval.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif looks on during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Baghdad, Iraq, April 26, 2021.

Will Raisi follow Zarif’s path for reviving Iran nuclear deal?

Outgoing Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s final report on the Iran nuclear talks is self-serving in parts, but nonetheless charts a path to closing the JCPOA talks.

Three protesters killed during demonstrations against the water crisis are seen, from left to right: Ali Mazraeh, killed in Ahvaz, Mostafa Naeemawi, killed in Shadegan and Qasem Khozeiri killed in Kut Abdollah.

Iranians protesting water crisis killed in southwest Khuzestan province

After protests, officials have promised to address the water issue in Iran’s southwest region.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu reportedly urged Trump to attack Iran

The New Yorker has revealed former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's role in former US President Donald Trump's push to strike Iran during his final days in office.

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Whither the Iran nuclear deal? Ask Raisi

Rouhani has transfered JCPOA file to Iran’s new hard-line president, who just might close the deal.

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Facebook says Iranian hackers spied on US military personnel using fake accounts

The social media company said the hackers baited targets into clicking on malicious links that would infect their devices with malware.

iranian weapons afghanistan 1998

Grand ayatollah warns against Iran's Taliban approach

The rare criticism came as the Iranian establishment is accused of attempting to canonize the Taliban amid shifting regional dynamics.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Iran calls US kidnapping allegations 'Hollywood-like'

The US government has accused Iran of seeking to kidnap an American journalist in New York, but the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the allegations "ridiculous."

Jen Psaki

US says nuclear talks to continue, despite alleged Iran kidnapping plot

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington is "ready to go" ahead with talks, after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the task of renegotiating the deal had been handed over to the next administration.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (C) addresses parliament in the capital, Tehran, on Sept. 3, 2019.

Rouhani says nuclear talks will be handed to successor

Iran's president said the next administration will take up the nuclear negotiations.

Journalist and Author Masih Alinejad.

Who is Masih Alinejad, target of an alleged Iranian kidnapping plot?

Prosecutors say the four Iranian defendants plotted to forcibly take the Brooklyn-based author and activist to Iran where her "fate would have been uncertain at best.”

A picture taken on June 20, 2018, shows a propaganda billboard for the pro-Iran Hezbollah Brigades militia.

IRGC official urged Iraq militias to continue hitting US, report

The IRGC intelligence chief's visit to Iraq last week followed one by top commander Ismail Ghaani.