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Iran

November 7, 2026

Tehran 12:04 pm

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Alexey BABUSHKIN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Iran turns to Putin as war, US election reshape strategic calculations

A Kremlin meeting with Iran's top security official coupled with reports of new arms deals amid looming war demonstrate Tehran's push to turn vulnerability into strategic leverage.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Tump

Can Trump turn midterm defeat into Iran breakthrough?

Although Iran may have contributed to Republican losses in midterms, the Trump administration still has a historic opportunity in the Middle East.

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

As Trump weighs Iran strikes, possible nuclear opening emerges

Sticking points include Iran's highly enriched uranium and lack of access for international inspectors.

Latest News

Russia to provide Iran with 90 missile launchers as military ties grow: Reports

Russian Mil Mi-8 military helicopters fly over a joint Russian and Turkish convoy, northeastern Hasakeh province, Syria, Feb. 4, 2021.

Turkey says soldier killed by gunfire from Iran at border: What to know

A sign marking the border of Turkey in Van, Turkey, on March 14, 2026.

Explainer

Democrats’ midterm sweep tests US-Israel ties as Eisenkot vows reset

An aerial view shows a campaign billboard depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party and President Donald Trump in Tel Aviv, on Oct. 26, 2026, on the eve of Israel's legislative elections.

Analysis

Iran cheers Democrats’ midterm victory but fears Trump's next move

Iranians walk along a building installed with a giant poster depicting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a rally in front of the former US embassy to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in Tehran on Nov. 4, 2026.

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

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Construction cranes work on a high rise buildings in the foothills of the Alborz mountains in north Tehran April 15, 2010. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked 5 million Tehranis to evacuate the capital since they know their sprawling metropolis is due for a massive earthquake. When the last major earthquake hit, in 1831, Tehran was tiny compared to the metro

Iran Revives Planning Agency To Enact Economic Reforms

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will reestablish the Management and Planning Organization, which former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had dissolved in 2006.

Free Syrian Army fighters and residents gather around a convoy of U.N. vehicles carrying a team of United Nations chemical weapons experts at one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus' suburbs of Zamalka August 28, 2013. U.N. chemical weapons experts investigating the apparent gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus made a second trip across the front line to take samples. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST

Eight Reasons Why US, Iran Must Manage Syria Crisis

A volatile Middle East makes it even more urgent that the US and Iran work together through the UN Security Council to resolve their disputes over Iran’s nuclear program and Syria.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iran's Parliament speaker Ali Larijani speaks to the media during a news conference in Tehran November 30, 2011. Britain has evacuated all its diplomatic staff from Iran, Western diplomatic sources told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after protesters stormed and ransacked its embassy and residential compound. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2UN

Report on Larijani Attack Reveals Factional Divide in Iran

A special report on the February attack on parliament speaker Ali Larijani in Qom reveals an organized campaign to disrupt the public events of political rivals.

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani (L) and Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said (C-R) review the honour guard during the latter's welcoming ceremony at Tehran's Saadabad Palace on August 25, 2013. The Iranian authorities have announced that Sultan Qaboos of Oman, the only Gulf leader to maintain good relations with Tehran, arrived in Iran for a focus on economic issues and diplomacy visit. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Sultan Qaboos, UN's Feltman Test Diplomacy with Iran

Sultan Qaboos of Oman and UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman create diplomatic flurry in Tehran.

Shoes and slippers left by Muslims who were attending Friday prayers are seen at one of two mosques hit by explosions in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, August 23, 2013. Twin explosions outside the two mosques killed at least 27 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12UE3

Is Iran Genuinely Troubled By Sunni-Shiite Conflict?

With the latest bombing in Lebanon, the sectarian overtones of the region's conflicts have crystallized.

Lebanese civilians and supporters of Hezbollah take part in a candle light vigil in solidarity with people who died in a car bomb that occurred on last Thursday in Beirut's southern suburbs August 19, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12R0W

Hezbollah-Hamas Relationship Strained

News reports suggest that Hezbollah's relationship with Hamas is under more pressure than ever, which is good news for Israel.

A woman cries at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs, August 15, 2013. Rescue workers in the southern Beirut district hit by an explosion on Thursday have found nine bodies, a witness at the scene said. The powerful blast engulfed several cars in flames and also trapped people in a nearby building. REUTERS/Mahmoud Kheir (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12MIN

Lebanon Caught in Middle Of Iranian-Saudi 'Cold War'

Lebanon’s unique position in the Arab Levant means it has been inevitably caught up in the back and forth of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in the region.

A police officer stands on the step of the Iranian Embassy in central London December 1, 2011. Britain will call for stronger economic sanctions on Iran at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday following the storming of its embassy in Tehran, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Thursday. REUTERS / Ki Price (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2UPPE

After Election Talk, Iranians Ask Rouhani to Walk the Walk

Many of Tehran's citizens are skeptical of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's ability to turn the economy around and deliver on his many campaign promises.

Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold Barcelona soccer jerseys as they stand in front of the players during a reception at Peres' residence in Jerusalem August 4, 2013. The Spanish league champions are making a brief stopover in Israel and the Palestinian territories en-route to a pre-season tour of Asia. REUTERS/Lior Mizrahi/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS SPORT SOCCER TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12A43

Israeli Left Must Stop Waiting For Its 'De Gaulle'

Israeli’s public apathy to negotiations shows its inability to connect the Iranian nuclear threat to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the country wasting its resources in “a futile war.”

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi (R) speaks during a funeral ceremony for victims who were killed in an attack by bandits in Zabol, 1,605 km (997 miles) south of Tehran March 18, 2006. REUTERS/IRNA - RTR17CL9

Rouhani Appoints Controversial Justice Minister

Hassan Rouhani's justice minister played a controversial role in executions during the 1980s, according to human rights organizations.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (R) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Cairo November 17, 2012. REUTERS/Egyptian Presidency/Handout (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR3AINS

Turkey’s 'Precious Isolation' In the Middle East

Foreign policy decisions by the Erdogan government, including on Egypt and Syria, have left Turkey without any influence over events in the Middle East.

Police stand guard outside the Iranian ambassador's house during a protest against Iran in Cairo April 5, 2013. Ultra-Conservative Islamist Salafists brought down the Iranian flag at the house of the Iranian ambassador in Egypt Mojtaba Amani on Friday, and replaced it with the Syrian revolutionary flag. Seen at the top of the fence is the Syrian revolutionary flag. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXY9NK

Iran on Egypt’s Crisis: Political Islam in Danger

Iran fears that civil war could break out in Egypt, and worries about the dangers that could pose for the region.