Iran - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Iran cover image

Iran

September 15, 2025

Tehran 4:20 am

18°C

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.

Latest News

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

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.

Israel's Gaza war opens room for Turkey-Iran rapprochement

Turkey’s Gaza diplomacy has failed to bear fruit thus far, but it has clearly led to a rapprochement between Ankara and Tehran.

Iran Raisi

Iran's Raisi intensifies Gaza diplomacy ahead of Riyadh visit

At a regional economic summit in Uzbekistan, the Iranian president attempted to galvanize diplomatic pressure on Israel, as he prepared for a separate meeting of Muslim nations in Riyadh, his first visit to the kingdom following the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation.

Iranians shop for fruits at a market in Tehran on November 21, 2019. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/afp/AFP via Getty Images)

Can food security help forge Iran-GCC ties?

Shifting attitudes to food security have the potential to turn the agricultural and food sectors into the main platform for greater trade and investment between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Iran.

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

NORTHEASTERN SYRIA - MAY 26: U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter gunners scan the desert while transporting troops on May 26, 2021 over northeastern Syria. U.S. forces, part of Task Force WARCLUB operate from remote combat outposts in northeastern Syria, coordinating with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in combatting residual ISIS extremists and deterring pro-Iranian militia. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

US launches new airstrikes against IRGC facility in Syria as attacks continue

US F-15s bombed a facility in eastern Syria as the Pentagon's Middle East policy director openly warned that the US military may target Iranian IRGC personnel in a bid to halt militia attacks on American troops.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Nov. 6, 2023.

Iran's Khamenei urges Iraq PM to pressure US over Gaza

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's Tehran visit came only one day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Baghdad, amid an uptick in Iran-backed militia attacks on US bases in the region in response to Israel's war on Hamas.

Bita loom

Iranian artist Bita Ghezelayagh points pens and roses at censorship

Iranian artist Bita Ghezelayagh fuses ancient Iranian crafts with universal themes of rebellion, hope and alienation.

Haniyeh meets Khamenei

Hamas leader meets Iran’s Khamenei in Tehran

Iran is the main financial backer of Hamas. Its proxies across the region have increased attacks on US and Israeli targets in recent weeks.

Iran Nasrallah

Iran's caution on Gaza war resonates in Hezbollah's Nasrallah speech

The Hezbollah leader offered little beyond Tehran's reserved approach to avoid a full-blown war with Israel, in a speech that Iranian hardliners had anticipated as a milestone in shaping the region's future.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) meets with exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement Khaled Meshaal.

Iran urges sanctions on Israel, says Hamas ready for more 'surprise' attacks

Iran's leader censured the West for supporting Israel, while the country's foreign minister warned that more militant "surprise" attacks were in the offing should Israel refuse to halt Gaza bombardments.

Iran Turkey FMs

Turkey, Iran FMs warn over Israel's expansion of Gaza war, disagree on oil boycott

As Turkey and Iran are signaling unity on joint warnings over expansion of the Israel-Hamas war, Tehran’s call for a boycott against Israel has not been echoed in Ankara.

US Air Force via Getty Images

US deploys B-1B bombers to Turkey for 'long-planned' exercise amid Gaza war

The Pentagon's show of force came as Iran's top diplomat visited Ankara amid threats by Tehran and its proxies to pile on Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Tehran on Sept. 3, 2023.

Iran’s FM heads to Turkey as Erdogan slams 'Israel's barbarity'

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will pay an official visit to Turkey on Wednesday.