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Iran

May 19, 2026

Tehran 11:22 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

Is Iranian state TV’s monopoly at risk?

Iran’s state TV, which is facing a crisis over viewership since some of its best directors walked out, has found a strong rival in the home video network.

Netanyahu invokes Holocaust to sow fear, hate

As Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day April 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shamelessly exploiting the tragedy against whomever objects to his policies.

The dueling ayatollahs

Khamenei, Sistani, and the fight for the soul of Shiite Islam

Have Iran, Russia and Turkey reached agreement on future Syrian state?

The second trilateral summit between the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey appears to have ushered further movement toward an understanding on the political endgame in Syria.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 09: U.S. President Donald Trump is flanked by National Security Advisor John Bolton as he speaks about the FBI raid at his lawyer Michael Cohen's office, while receiving a briefing from senior military leaders regarding Syria, in the Cabinet Room, on April 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. The FBI raided the office of Michael Cohen on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation into the president's administration. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Iranian conservatives predict limited US strike on Syria

Iranian conservatives believe that a limited US attack on Syria is likely.

Iraqi police who fought for tribal PMUs won't return to force

Local Iraqi police officers who joined the Popular Mobilization Units to fight the Islamic State seem to have no intention of returning to their old jobs.

Israel ‘alone in fight’ against Iran in Syria

Although Netanyahu failed to convince Trump to back down on his decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, it won’t change Israel’s policy on Syria.

Turkish soldiers gather in the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin in northwestern Syria after seizing control of it from Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on March 18, 2018.
Turkish-backed rebels have seized the centre of Afrin city in northern Syria, Ankara said, as they made rapid gains in their campaign against Kurdish forces. A civilian inside Afrin said that rebels had deployed in the city centre and that the YPG militia had withdrawn. / AFP PHOTO / OMAR HAJ KADOUR (Photo credit should read OM

Erdogan rebuffs Moscow’s call to hand Afrin to Syrian government

Russia wants Turkey to hand control of Afrin province to Damascus, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the territory will be returned to local residents at Ankara’s discretion.

An Iranian woman pays a 20000 rial banknote (around 70 US Cent), bearing a portrait of Iran's late founder of islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to a grocer in Tehran on September 30, 2012. Iran's currency, the rial has lost over 60 percent of its value since the end of last year, as draconian Western economic sanctions take effect that has spurred already high inflation to even greater heights, with food costs soaring more than 50 percent. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read A

What's behind Iran's massive capital flight?

While a large amount of hard currency has left Iran in the years since the implementation of the nuclear deal, the picture is more complex than a simple case of investors rushing to move their capital outside the country.

Iran MPs call on Central Bank governor to resign as rial plummets

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Central Bank Gov. Valiollah Seif have come under heavy fire over the sudden devaluation of the rial.

Iran raises minimum wage in concession to workers

Iranian laborers are set to receive an almost 20% increase in the minimum wage in a concession from the authorities.

Iran condemns chemical weapons attacks, denies Syria’s role

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that it was not logical for the Syrian army to use chemical weapons while it had the upper hand in the field of battle.