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Iran

May 19, 2026

Tehran 8:55 pm

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A bride and group couple rides in a military jeep arriving for a public mass wedding ceremony at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran on May 18, 2026. Iran said on May 18 that it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue despite Iranian media reports describing Washington's demands as excessive. Washington and Tehran have been swapping proposals in an effort to end the conflict which the US and Israel launched on February 28, but they have held only a sin

Analysis

Israel pushes for full Iran blockade as it awaits Trump's next move

Israel’s preferred strategy, sources told Al-Monitor, calls for a comprehensive naval, economic, land and air blockade of Iran, alongside tighter sanctions and covert activity aimed at destabilizing the regime.

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

A tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, northwestern Cuba, on March 31, 2026.

US extends Russian oil sanctions waiver as Iran war squeezes supply

The waiver temporarily lifts sanctions on Russian oil for 30 days.

Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images

Oil swings as UAE nuclear plant strike, Iran diplomacy push roil markets

International benchmark Brent crude futures whipsawed on Monday as markets digested a dangerous new escalation alongside signs of diplomatic progress.

Latest News

Iran confiscates assets of 129 alleged ‘traitors’ in West Azerbaijan province

Amid FARAHI / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Pakistan’s six corridors offer Iran a trade lifeline, could outlast Hormuz crisis

Iranian cargo trucks cross into the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, Balochistan province, on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

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

Analysis

From hoarding to unemployment: Iran's economy buckles under US pressure

Women shop from a street vendor at Enghelab Square in the capital Tehran on Nov. 11, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

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

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he boards Air Force One upon departure from West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., on his way back to Washington April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC112A919C40

Trump has threatened to blow up the Iran deal — here are his options

While the US president vows that he’s done waiving sanctions, the amount of damage he intends to do — from letting Tehran’s trade partners off the hook to reinstating UN sanctions — remains an open question.

Notorious Iranian prosecutor to begin serving prison sentence

Iranian prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi has been apprehended and will began serving a two-year sentence over the 2009 death of a protester in prison.

Hezbollah and Syrian flags are seen fluttering in Fleita, Syria August 2, 2017. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki - RC15E3E7FA20

Confrontation looms as Iran-Israel tension high in Syria

While far from a new phenomenon, Iran and Israel are at a heightened risk of conflict in their confrontation in Syria.

Israeli soldiers stand next to mobile artillery units near the border with Syria in the Golan Heights January 27, 2015. At least two rockets from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday and Israel returned fire, the military said, nine days after an Israeli air strike in Syria killed an Iranian general and several Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - GM1EB1S00W201

Is Israel-Iran clash imminent?

A consensus has emerged among Israel’s political and security establishments that a military clash with Iran is likely.

A demonstrator runs during clashes with Israeli troops at a protest where Palestinians demand the right to return to their homeland, at the Israel-Gaza border in the southern Gaza Strip, April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1B7BFE3220

How long can Saudi Arabia ignore Gaza protests?

Saudi king clarifies approach to Jerusalem, but Arab League statement silent on the Gaza Strip; Will Macron and Merkel use North Korea as blueprint for US approach to JCPOA?

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool? - UP1EE1A1NCZOZ

Iran FM: Trump administration 'never in' nuclear deal

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke about Tehran’s potential response as the United States weighs pulling out of the nuclear deal.

Why Iran moved to unify dual exchange rates

Iran’s government was left with no choice but to resort to unifying the official and open market currency exchange rates to tame the rial's slide during a currency crisis, which has spurred some positive efforts.

Iranian workers offload waste plastic, collected from Tehran, from a pick-up truck in the southern outskirts of the Iranian capital on February 25, 2012. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Iran's 2011 Growth Domestic Product (GDP) was 480 billion dollars at the official exchange rate, around 2.5 percent higher than the previous year. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

How an anti-waste challenge went viral in Iran

A campaign to get ordinary people involved in devising solutions to Iran's growing waste problem has gone viral.

Scientist's departure from Iran blow to Rouhani policies

The departure of Iranian scientist Kaveh Madani has served as a reminder that certain organizations in Iran will continue to counter Rouhani’s policies of reversing Iran’s brain drain.

Will Iran’s banking sector collapse?

While Iran is certainly on the brink of a major banking crisis, the likely outcome won’t be financial collapse but rather a restructuring of banks.

Telegram in Iran on verge of being blocked

Iran’s supreme leader leaves Telegram as talk increases of the imminent blocking of the popular messaging app.

At 70, Israel sits atop a volcano

Israel’s army holds a definitive advantage over the rest of the region, but the 70-year-old country is confronted by multiple enemies and points of conflict.