ANALYSIS

A British inquiry into a pro-Iran charity reflects a mounting Western struggle to balance freedom of religion with efforts to confront Iranian political influence as Tehran's ties with Western Europe and North America plumb new lows.

Almost half a century after young revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei once again defended the move, leaning into the original break between the arch-foes and all but ruling out rapprochement.

Tehran is in a tougher position after the 12-day war and the return of UN sanctions but may not be as close to collapse as some Iranians might like.

A new report by Iran’s Statistical Center (ISC) reveals a sharp acceleration in food inflation, hitting millions of families where it hurts most.

ExxonMobil’s return to southern Iraq this month underscores how far Baghdad has surged ahead of Tehran in exploiting their shared border oilfields—and how the two neighbors’ fortunes are diverging.

Tehran may be preparing for confrontation rather than calm, if the recent remarks of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are any indication, preferring the uncertainties of further conflict over meeting US peace demands seen as humiliating.

The return of UN sanctions has deepened Tehran’s isolation and tested Beijing’s pragmatic balancing act in a region shaken by Donald Trump’s new peace plan and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Tehran’s behavior after the June war with Israel reflects a state of suspended decision-making—a fragile equilibrium that may nevertheless endure, sustained by continuing control and the absence of any obvious alternatives.

Despite years of official rhetoric about a “strategic partnership,” new data show that Russia has slipped from Iran’s list of main trading partners.

As the world races to meet the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Iran faces a bleak environmental outlook given the scale of its problems and authorities' record of short-term policymaking.

For the first time in more than seven years, Iranian-flagged oil tankers are broadcasting their location accurately and without spoofing—raising eyebrows among longtime watchers of Tehran’s sanctions-busting efforts.

US President Donald Trump appeared to suggest in a passing remark during a speech before Israel's Knesset on Monday that his son-in-law Jared Kushner could lead US diplomacy with Tehran.

Invitation to the Islamic Republic to attend the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit can be seen as one of the most significant signs of a shift in the strategy of the United States and its Arab allies toward Tehran.

Tehran is shifting its sanctions-busting strategy away from crude oil toward more lucrative and less scrutinized petroleum products to boost revenues even as restrictions tighten.

The reported detention of two Iranian green card holders marks “a profound erosion of due process,” international human rights lawyer Gissou Nia told Iran International, saying it represents a growing threat to lawful residents.

Two years after the October 7 attack, the Middle East drifts between competing promises and stubborn realities: Khamenei’s dream of regional “de-Americanization” lies in ruins while Netanyahu’s “new order” remains elusive.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blocked any potential signal of compromise before President Masoud Pezeshkian even landed in New York—a move some saw as a reckless gamble but in fact a calculated strategy rooted in decades of survival.

On the eve of the return of UN sanctions against Iran, all sides insist the doors of diplomacy remain open, but the table beyond those doors looks less like one for negotiation than for autopsy—an exercise in assigning blame for a failure long deemed inevitable.