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Parisa Hafezi
A mural depicts Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday. Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests and an intensified street presence based around checkpoints.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war with Israel
Iranian rights group HRNA said it had recorded the arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war, many of them accused of spying for Israel.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's grandson Hassan Khomeini stands next to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the 36th anniversary of the death of the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, at Khomeini's shrine in southern Tehran on June 4.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2025
Search for successor to Iran's Khamenei hastens as tensions erupt into conflict
Israel attacked Iran and threatened to assassinate its veteran leader.
Mourners attend a funeral for those killed in Israeli strikes, in Qazvin, Iran, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 20, 2025
Israel-Iran air war enters second week as Europe pushes diplomacy
The role of the United States remains uncertain. The White House said on Thursday President Trump would decide in the next two weeks whether to get involved in the war.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei listens to the national anthem as Air Force officers salute during a meeting in Tehran in February.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 18, 2025
Iran supreme leader sees his inner circle hollowed out by Israel
The killings of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's main military and security advisers has left major holes in his inner circle, raising the risk of strategic errors.
People in Tehran protest Israeli attacks on Iran on Friday. Iran’s supreme leader and government are facing what many regard as an existential moment as they try to decide how to respond to Israel’s ongoing attacks on its military hierarchy, air defenses and nuclear program.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 14, 2025
Israeli strikes back Iran's leadership into a corner
Iran's leaders, humiliated and increasingly preoccupied with their own survival, cannot afford to appear weak in the face of Israeli military pressure, officials say.
An Iranian newspaper, with a cover photo featuring the flags of Iran, Oman and the U.S., is seen in Tehran on May 11. Tehran is poised to reject a U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal presented to it on Saturday by Oman's foreign minister, an Iranian diplomat says.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Iran poised to dismiss U.S. nuclear proposal, Iranian diplomat says
The proposal fails to address Tehran's interests or soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment, the diplomat says.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2025
Iran faces U.S. without Plan B as nuclear red lines collide
Iran may turn to China and Russia as a "Plan B," but with Beijing's trade war with Washington, and Moscow distracted with its war in Ukraine, the backup plan seems shaky.
The flags of the U.S. and Iran hang on the road leading to the Muscat International Book fair in Oman on April 25.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2025
Iran and U.S. to resume nuclear talks amid clashing red lines
Though Tehran and Washington both have said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decadeslong dispute, they remain deeply divided on several red lines.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in which Trump announced nuclear talks with Iran, in Washington on April 7.
WORLD
May 3, 2025
How Trump blindsided Netanyahu with his Iran nuclear gamble
In just three weeks, the U.S. and Iran have held three rounds of talks aimed at preventing Tehran from building a nuclear weapon in return for sanctions relief.
A general view of Muscat, ahead of the awaited negotiations between U.S. and Iran, in Oman on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025
Iran proposes meeting with Europeans before next talks with U.S., diplomats say
Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States that resumed in Oman on Saturday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei looks on during a meeting with students in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 15, 2025
Despite tough talk, economic woes may force Iran to bargain with Trump
Behind the defiant rhetoric of Iran's leaders in public, there is a pragmatic willingness within Tehran to strike a deal with Washington.
A S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade in Tehran on April 17, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025
Russian missile experts flew to Iran amid clashes with Israel
It could not be determined what the seven specialists were doing in Iran.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami reviews military equipment during an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, on Oct. 17, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2024
Iran's Revolutionary Guards extend control of oil exports, sources say
All aspects of the oil business have come under the growing influence of the Guards.
A damaged poster of Syria's ousted leader, Bashar Assad, in Aleppo on Nov. 30
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 15, 2024
Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight
Hours before he fled to Moscow, Assad assured army and security chiefs that Russian support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out.
Hezbollah fighters take part in a funeral procession for one of the movement's commanders who was killed in an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's penetration of Hezbollah
The Hezbollah leader had been even more cautious than usual since the Sept. 17 pager blasts, out of concern Israel would try to kill him.
Houthi fighters march in a parade during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Houthi takeover in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 25, 2024
Iran brokering talks to send advanced Russian missiles to Yemen's Houthis, sources say
Seven sources said that Russia has yet to decide to transfer the Yakhont missiles.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian President addresses the "Summit of the Future" in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 24, 2024
Iran president warns of 'irreversible' consequences of wider regional war
The European Union's foreign policy chief described the current situation in the Middle East as nearly a full-fledged war.
People walk past a banner with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a street in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024
Only Gaza cease-fire can delay Iran's Israel response, Iranian officials say
Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, could launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations.
A billboard with a picture of the presidential candidates is displayed on a street in Tehran on June 17.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024
Iran’s presidential election dominated by Khamenei loyalists
The next president will likely be closely involved in the eventual process of choosing a successor to Iran's supreme leader.
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police," in Tehran on Sept. 21, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024
For Iran's youth, legacy of 2022 clashes shapes presidential race
Contrasting views of the worth of the election have underscored the division in Iran between supporters and opponents of the 45-year-old Islamic Republic.

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