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Iran Insights

What is Pickaxe Mountain, and why does Trump keep saying he will bomb it?

What is Pickaxe Mountain, and why does Trump keep saying he will bomb it?

Donald Trump said again on Friday that the United States may soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, the underground complex near Natanz that is the last significant site linked to Iran's nuclear program still untouched after two wars.

Iran's appliance industry is collapsing, and so is the market it was built for

Iran's appliance industry is collapsing, and so is the market it was built for

When a refrigerator breaks in Iran now, the family often cannot replace it, and increasingly cannot afford to repair it either. Behind that is an industry losing its raw materials, its customers and, since March, two of the industrial hubs that supplied it.

Debate grows over whether Iran is burning its strongest card in Hormuz

A debate is widening in Tehran over whether Iran is exhausting one of its most powerful weapons against the United States, with growing warnings that the Strait of Hormuz could lose its effectiveness the longer restrictions continue.

'If I'm not happy, they'll execute me': Iran's new grammar of dissent

Iranians have found a way to complain about prices that no prosecutor can touch: they film themselves dancing beside the groceries, insist they are delighted, and explain that if they were not, they would be executed.

US strikes deepen Tehran debate over compromise or confrontation

US strikes deepen Tehran debate over compromise or confrontation

The latest round of US and Iranian attacks has shifted the debate in Tehran from whether the country is in crisis to a more fundamental question: what does survival now require—compromise or continued confrontation?

Xi snub reignites Iran’s doubts about China

Xi snub reignites Iran’s doubts about China

A fleeting encounter between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and China’s Xi Jinping in Bishkek has reignited an uncomfortable debate in Tehran: just how strategic is Iran’s much-vaunted partnership with Beijing?

Five years ago, Iran’s planners put today’s crisis on paper

Five years ago, Iran’s planners put today’s crisis on paper

An economic forecast produced by Iran’s own government planners more than five years ago projected where continued sanctions would leave inflation and the national currency by 2026—and the numbers have proved strikingly accurate.

Women footballers came home under pressure. Now Iran wants them on camera

Women footballers came home under pressure. Now Iran wants them on camera

Five months after Iran's women footballers sought asylum in Australia, the football federation has called the squad back into camp, not to train but to film a documentary about what happened there. Some of the players it wants on camera are the ones who came home under pressure.

US-Iran escalation prompts debate in Iran over preemptive strikes

US-Iran escalation prompts debate in Iran over preemptive strikes

Calls for preemptive strikes on US forces are growing in Iran after renewed US attacks, intensifying debate over whether Tehran should shift away from a mainly retaliatory strategy.

Trump dismisses Iran deal after Tehran pushes return to Islamabad memorandum

Trump dismisses Iran deal after Tehran pushes return to Islamabad memorandum

Hours after Tehran called on Washington to return to the Islamabad memorandum, President Donald Trump dismissed the value of any agreement with Iran, ordered massive strikes on southern Iran and threatened an even larger attack if Tehran retaliates.

 Hackers without borders: serving Tehran, stealing on the side

Hackers without borders: serving Tehran, stealing on the side

An Iran International investigation into five US-wanted hackers linked to the IRGC and Intelligence Ministry found they combined state-directed espionage with selling stolen data, extortion and attacks on Iranian citizens and companies for profit.

The republic of magic: How Iran turned the unseen into an instrument of rule

The republic of magic: How Iran turned the unseen into an instrument of rule

The Islamic Republic moved beliefs about the unseen from the margins of society to the center of power, and used oil money to give them institutions, budgets and a propaganda apparatus, so that its rulers could draw legitimacy from a source no citizen can question.

President's son questions enrichment, ignites fierce debate in Tehran

President's son questions enrichment, ignites fierce debate in Tehran

A dispute over Iran’s nuclear enrichment program has escalated into a broader political fight after President Masoud Pezeshkian’s son and adviser Yusef Pezeshkian defended remarks questioning whether enrichment is worth its costs during wartime.

Iran bets on China to blunt Trump’s economic offensive

Iran bets on China to blunt Trump’s economic offensive

China’s refusal to bow to US sanctions has raised hopes in Tehran that Beijing could blunt Washington’s new economic offensive, but a debate inside Iran reveals doubts over how far China is willing or able to go on Iran’s behalf.

War or deal? Rezaei begins to define Iran’s price

War or deal? Rezaei begins to define Iran’s price

Mohsen Rezaei on Friday set out four Iranian conditions for an agreement with the United States, another sign that the former IRGC commander who once championed an “offensive doctrine” may be moving from advocating war to contemplating a deal at the right price.

Iranians are selling their own graves to pay for living

Iranians are selling their own graves to pay for living

Dying has become one of the costs Iranians can no longer meet. Burial plots are advertised at years of wages, families are selling the graves they had reserved for themselves, and some are taking their dead to villages where burial is still free.

Tehran debates austerity as US targets sanctions lifelines

Tehran debates austerity as US targets sanctions lifelines

As Washington targets the financial and trading networks Iran has used to withstand years of sanctions, economists and analysts in Tehran are debating how much more economic hardship the country can absorb to survive a prolonged economic war.

Three mediators in three days seek path back to Iran-US talks

Three mediators in three days seek path back to Iran-US talks

Three regional mediators have visited Tehran in three days in an intensifying diplomatic push to revive Iran-US talks, even as the two sides remain deeply divided over the Strait of Hormuz and Washington’s economic pressure campaign.

Tehran debates waiting out Trump’s economic war

Tehran debates waiting out Trump’s economic war

As Washington intensifies its economic campaign, Iranian politicians and analysts are offering sharply different prescriptions for dealing with the United States: from resistance and phased negotiations to new trade routes or waiting Donald Trump out.

What Operation Economic Outcast means for Iran, and for everyone trading with

What Operation Economic Outcast means for Iran, and for everyone trading with

Washington has launched a global campaign to cut off Iran's remaining trade, and its central message is aimed at third countries: keep doing business with Tehran and lose access to the United States. Treasury is calling it an economic D-Day.

Who speaks for Iran? Rezaei’s threats fuels divide over war and diplomacy

Who speaks for Iran? Rezaei’s threats fuels divide over war and diplomacy

Mohsen Rezaei’s threats to halt Iranian oil exports, target countries cooperating with the United States and comments suggesting a possible nuclear shift have triggered a debate in Tehran over his authority to outline such policies as tensions escalate.

Iran shrugs off US economic war as analysts sound alarm

Iran shrugs off US economic war as analysts sound alarm

Iranian officials have dismissed Washington’s “Economic D-Day” as another failed attempt to cripple the country, but analysts inside Iran warn that an economy weakened by war may be far less capable of absorbing the latest US pressure campaign.