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Iran

July 19, 2026

Tehran 6:23 am

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People wave flags of Kurdistan during a march in Erbil, Iraq, on April 21, 2026, expressing support for the unity of Iranian Kurdish parties and condemning Iranian missile strikes and military actions against Kurdish groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Analysis

Why Iran's Kurdish front is becoming a growing wartime concern

A Friday Iranian strike on a Kurdish dissident base underscores Tehran's concern that its oldest internal security challenge has now become a wartime vulnerability.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement brandish their weapons as they rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon in Sanaa on April 10, 2026.

Yemen's Houthis raise Red Sea stakes for Trump

With President Donald Trump ratcheting up his threats, will Iran play its Houthi card?

The sun sets behind overhead power lines in Kuwait City, June 19, 2024.

Iran strike damages Kuwait power, desalination plant: What to know

Kuwait, the world’s most water-stressed country, urged residents to reduce electricity and water use following the attack.

Latest News

Ahmadinejad denies alleged Mossad plot to install him as Iran leader: What to know

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 13: Lebanese people wave flags and hold portraits of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (not pictured) as he arrives in southern suberb of Beirut on October 13, 2010 in Lebanon. The controversial visit is seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah. According to reports Mr Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel - the site of recent deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese forces. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

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

Rocket strikes Baghdad’s Green Zone

A rocket has hit Baghdad's Green Zone near the US Embassy, ramping up US-Iranian tensions even further.

Russia may have designs on Iran's trade with Syria

Observers wonder whether Russia will cut into Iran's trade volume with Syria.

Why Saudi Arabia is focused on tensions with Iran

The Saudis have called an Arab summit for May 30 in Mecca to likely brand Iran as a terrorist state, with the apparent hope that the United States will strike Iran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on military aviation in Sochi, Russia May 15, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1B14947F40

Intel: How Russia is trying to help defuse US-Iran tensions

TEHRAN, IRAN - MAY 4, 2008: People visit book stands with pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini (R) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) displayed outside, at the 21st Tehran International Book Fair on the city's congregational prayer site on May 4, 2008 in Tehran, Iran. The annual event showcases 200,000 titles from 1700 domestic and 840 international publishers from 75 countries. The books will be presented under categories for General, Academic, Educational and Children's books. (Photo by Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

Iran's burgeoning ‘resistance literature’: A new front?

Despite an ongoing “paper crisis” that has engulfed both print media and publishers, “resistance literature” promoted by the Iranian political establishment is reaching new heights.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (3rd L) meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (not pictured) at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, May 17, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/Pool - RC121FD92050

Iran should take up Trump’s offer to talk

If not directly, at first, then there might be a channel through trusted partners.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem May 5, 2019. Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS - RC11FA84D670

Why Netanyahu's so quiet on US-Iran conflict

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being cautious about engaging Israel in the US-Iran tensions, though he would surely not object to an American attack on Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks on immigration reform in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC19026CFA70

Republicans rush to extinguish Iran war talk

GOP lawmakers insist that Trump’s show of force is the best way to prevent an immediate Iranian attack, even as a long-term solution to tensions remains elusive.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends a news conference in Vienna, Austria, July 4, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger - RC1BB998E3E0

If Rouhani’s Europe outreach fails, nuclear deal could collapse

The Rouhani administration has pinned its hopes on Europe to save the nuclear deal, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) is guided to his seat as he meets Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Tokyo, Japan, May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon - RC1DA976F800

Iranian FM calls military action against Iran 'political suicide'

Iran’s foreign minister traveled to Japan to discuss how to reduce tensions in the region and responses to "bullying" from the United States.

Masked Shi'ite fighters hold their weapons in Al Hadidiya, south of Tikrit, en route to the Islamic State-controlled al-Alam town, where they are preparing to launch an offensive on Saturday, March 6, 2015. Iraqi government forces and Iran-backed militiamen entered a town on the southern outskirts of Saddam Hussein's home city Tikrit on Friday, pressing on with the biggest offensive yet against Islamic State militants that seized the north last year. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNR

Iraqi factions a wild card in US-Iran blame game

Armed militias in Iraq will have to determine whether their loyalties lie with their neutral government or against the United States in a standoff with Iran.

A partial view of the Iraqi capital Baghdad is reflected in the visor of a U.S. Army helicopter crew member as he looks out of a Chinook helicopter flying from the U.S. Embassy to Baghdad International airport, following the helicopter of U.S. secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Iraq, January 9, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC1A9F707880

Could Iraq play a role in easing US-Iran tensions?

Iraqi political leaders, alarmed by the escalating proxy war between Iran and the United States taking place in their country, are trying to serve as mediators between the two.