Mideast Crisis

Iranian officials and hardline media are signaling a tougher stance toward Washington after the most serious US-Iran military exchange in weeks, even as President Donald Trump says negotiations are progressing and an Iran deal may still be within reach.

As Iran grapples with its most severe crisis since 1979, a new book by journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin is revisiting how a revolution built on promises of justice and equality turned into what the authors describe as a mafia state.

Supporters of the ultra-hardline Paydari Front were removed earlier this week from nightly state-organized rallies backing the Islamic Republic, in an apparent effort to contain hardline pressure as talks with the United States continue, Iran International has learned.

Lebanon has emerged as a key obstacle to negotiations between Tehran and Washington, as Israel says it will continue striking Hezbollah and Iran insists that any ceasefire must apply across the region.

Israel's new Mossad chief Roman Gofman took office Tuesday with a clear message: the campaign against Tehran is far from over, as Israel's outgoing spy chief and prime minister openly framed regime change in Iran as an achievable goal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday night that the foundations of Iran’s ruling system had “cracked” and that it would eventually fall.

By suspending talks with Washington over Israel's campaign in Lebanon, Tehran has raised the stakes of postwar diplomacy and posed a critical question: is it successfully increasing its leverage, or overplaying its hand?

Iran International has obtained documents indicating that a Chinese company, working with firms in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) acquire chemicals used in the production of ballistic missiles.

The Iran war left the Islamic Republic weaker than it had been in years. The question now is whether Washington will turn that weakness into leverage – or give Tehran room to recover through a new deal.

Shayan Kabiri came to Canada with his family seven years ago. Today, he sees many friends who arrived from Iran alone, hoping to build a more stable future, trapped in a crisis that threatens not only their education but also their mental health and immigration status.

South Korea summoned Iran’s ambassador on Wednesday to protest an attack on a South Korean-operated vessel in the Strait of Hormuz after investigators found the ship was likely hit by Iranian-developed anti-ship missiles, Yonhap reported.

Israel could return to military action against Iran if diplomacy with Tehran fails to meet core objectives, Israel’s ambassador to Australia told Iran International in an exclusive interview.

As Washington says a deal with Tehran is drawing closer, Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday echoed his slain father’s call for Israel’s destruction while Hezbollah intensified drone attacks on northern Israel, raising questions over the timing.

More than six weeks after Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the United States moved to enforce a naval blockade, the confrontation increasingly appears to be entering a new phase: negotiations driven by exhaustion.

The release of frozen Iranian assets has emerged as the main sticking point in talks between Iran and the United States, with officials in Tehran insisting that guaranteed access to funds must come before any preliminary agreement can move forward.

US President Trump’s approach toward Iran may better be explained by the political timing of the World Cup and the culture of New York real estate dealmaking: performance, delay, leverage and spectacle.

The Trump administration’s most powerful pressure point against Tehran may not lie in military action but in China’s deep financial and energy ties with Iran, a former US Treasury sanctions official told the Eye for Iran podcast.

Pakistani top general Asim Munir’s trip to Tehran has fueled speculation about a possible temporary Iran-US agreement to end the war and resume broader talks, although Tehran says the high-profile visit does not necessarily mean a deal is close.