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Iran

September 13, 2025

Tehran 9:51 pm

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Protesters hold placard against executions in Iran during a rally against the Iranian regime in Rome on July 30, 2025.

Iran executions hit 913 this year as postwar crackdown deepens: What to know

The latest spree comes in the aftermath of the war with Israel and amid deepening domestic crises facing the Islamic Republic, which has repeatedly turned to executions when its survival is on the line.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (C) meets with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi (L) and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi in Cairo, on Sept. 9, 2025.

Iran FM signs preliminary deal with IAEA chief in Cairo amid diplomatic push

The announcement of the agreement comes less than two weeks after the European signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal triggered snapback sanctions, which will likely mean the automatic reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran within 30 days.

Chinese President Xi jinping attends a photo session for participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit 2025 on Sept. 1, 2025, in Tianjin, China.

China calls on BRICS to boost multilateral trade as Iran, UAE eye closer ties

The UAE’s and Egypt’s trade with BRICS members is on the rise, while Iran’s efforts to increase economic ties are complicated by sanctions.

A picture obtained on Dec. 14, 2013 from Iran's ISNA news agency allegedly shows the launch of the Pajohesh (research) rocket containing a live space monkey named Fargam (Auspicious) at an undisclosed location in Iran.

Iran eyes launch of 4 satellites, open Chabahar space port by spring 2026

Iran is set to launch four domestic-made satellites into orbit by next March, in the latest milestone for Iran's space program.

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Analysis

Iran turns to China, Russia to bolster air defenses as it preps for next Israel war

Traffic flows past a huge billboard showing a missile falling on Israel with the slogan "The missile has fallen amidst the demons," on a main road in central Tehran on July 16, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Analysis

Old sanctions, new risks: Iran’s economy hampered by war fallout, China reliance

Stacks of Iranian rials and US dollars sit counted on a table in an unofficial currency exchange shop, Tehran, Iran, Aug. 6, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Iran, IAEA officials meet in Vienna as UN sanctions clock ticks

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Inside Israel's Yemen operation that decapitated Houthi leadership

MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's atomic energy department, and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi take part in a press conference in Isfahan on May 7, 2024.

Iran warns it will change ‘nuclear doctrine’ if threatened by Israel

The remarks come less than a month after an unprecedented Iranian drone attack in Israel and apparent retaliatory strikes in Iran’s Isfahan.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (L) welcomes Nechirvan Barzani, the regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, during an official visit to Tehran on May 6, 2024. (Photo: KRG Presidency)

Analysis

In Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani welcomed by Khamenei, IRGC

Nechirvan Barzani’s trip to Tehran follows tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Islamic Republic over Kurdish armed groups and attacks by Iran-backed militias.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdoulahian meets with UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in Tehran, Iran, May 6, 2024.

Iran urges IAEA to dodge US, Israeli 'pressure' over nuclear program

The visit by the UN nuclear watchdog's chief comes two months after he raised concerns about losing track of Tehran's enrichment program and its possible capabilities to produce nuclear weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on April 29, 2024.

Why Iran is concerned about a possible Israeli-Saudi deal

The US government's pushes to revive diplomacy for Israel-Saudi normalization has fueled serious worries in Tehran, where officials were hoping the Gaza war would sabotage the efforts altogether.

A Palestinian man looks at a ravaged neighborhood from a destroyed apartment in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, May 2, 2024.

Iran slaps sanctions on US, UK entities over support for Israel's war effort

Iran announced a series of measures against US and UK entities and individuals over their support for Israel in its war in Gaza, which has raised fear of a full-blown conflict in the region.

A female protester holds up photographs of Mahsa Amini before cutting her hair with scissors as an act of solidarity with women in Iran during a demonstration against the death Amini on Sep. 23, 2022, in Berlin, Germany.

Iran’s case against the BBC over killed teenage girl: What we know

Nika Shakarami disappeared after attending an anti-government protest in Iran in 2022 and became a symbol of the demonstrations.

Director Mohammad Rasoulof attends the "Lerd (Un Homme Integre)" photocall during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2017, in Cannes, France.

Crew of Iranian film barred from traveling to Cannes: lawyer

Mohammad Rasoulof, the director of "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," has been persecuted for his work by the Iranian government.

An Iranian Navy vessel participates in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps special forces military drill in the Gulf of Oman at an undisclosed location near Iranian southern port town of Bandar-e Jask on Thursday, April 6, 2006.

Iran conducts naval drills with missile-corvette amid Gulf maritime tensions

Several leading warships and speedboats were shown off in the Persian Gulf exercise, accompanied by fresh warning messages, only two weeks after the Islamic Republic directly targeted Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles.

Iranians attend the funeral procession for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Syria, which Iran blamed on Israel, in Tehran on April 5, 2024.

Iran's hold on Syria strong despite 'withdrawals' after Israeli attacks

While Tehran has been withdrawing some military commanders from Syria in response to Israeli targeting, reports of a large-scale drawdown in Iranian forces in the country are exaggerated, analysts say.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (C) inspects the guard of honor upon his arrival for a state visit at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare on July 13, 2023.

What's behind Iran's ambitious push for influence in Africa?

With a key Tehran conference hosting African nations, the Islamic Republic is moving to catch up with such heavyweight investors as China and Russia, pursuing geopolitical interests in Africa through both trade ties and the shipment of military equipment.

People rally near the Congress building before marching along Avenida de Mayo avenue in the "Marcha del silencio"(March of Silence) called by Argentine prosecutors in memory of their late colleague Alberto Nisman in Buenos Aires on February 18, 2015. President Cristina Kirchner urged Argentines to be on guard Wednesday ahead of a mass protest over the mysterious death of Nisman who had accused her of a cover-up in his probe of a 1994 bombing. Nisman was found in his Buenos Aires apartment with a bullet thro

Analysis

How will Argentina's 1994 bombing probe impact Iran-Latin America ties?

Argentina’s implication of Iran in the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires will not deter the Islamic Republic from pursuing relations with other countries in Latin America, says one expert.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Russia enhance security cooperation in Kazakhstan meeting

Long-friendly Iran and Russia are growing closer amid the Gaza war and sanctions on both countries.