Xi Jinping’s promise to Donald Trump that China would not arm Iran is being tested by Tehran’s alleged pursuit of Chinese MANPADS, relatively cheap weapons that could make future US and Israeli air campaigns more dangerous and expensive.
A dual British and Azerbaijani national has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of carrying out hostile surveillance for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the first overseas investigation under Britain's National Security Act.
Signs of reluctance to widen the conflict are emerging in Tehran, with conservative politicians and media urging restraint even as they accuse the United States and Israel of orchestrating Ukraine's attack on an Iranian vessel.
US President Donald Trump's most likely response to the conflict with Iran will be to intensify air strikes against a broader range of targets rather than withdraw or launch a ground invasion, former senior Pentagon official David Des Roches told Iran International TV.
President Donald Trump's repeated vow to "finish the job" in Iran appears to extend well beyond Tehran's nuclear program, according to experts, pointing instead to a broader plan to permanently weaken its military power, regional reach, and potentially its hold on power.
US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed forces in Iraq hours after the Revolutionary Guards launched missiles at a US base in Jordan signaled a sharp widening of the conflict, despite continuing indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran.
Iran is expected to receive within weeks the first shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers under a deal worth $60 million-$70 million, three sources familiar with the agreement told Reuters.
Iran says it is negotiating with Oman over an interim shipping arrangement for the Strait of Hormuz but insists it must exercise effective oversight over key parts of both shipping lanes, even if lasting peace is restored.
Ukraine's attack on an Iranian merchant ship has sparked a debate in Tehran over whether retaliation would restore deterrence or draw Iran into a broader confrontation involving Europe and NATO.
If President Donald Trump expands US strikes on Iran, Washington could target several remaining nuclear facilities beyond Pickaxe Mountain, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing former officials and nuclear experts.
President Donald Trump's hint at a larger military operation against Iran has intensified debate in Washington, with Republican allies rallying behind the president while Democrats accuse him of violating the Constitution and seek to curb his war powers.
A meeting at Ali Khamenei's office where he was killed in February was focused on preparations to manage future protests as well as responding to what officials believed was an imminent US-Israeli attack, according to Noor News, a security-linked media outlet.
Recent statements by officials in Tehran and Washington illustrate how public rhetoric has shifted beyond military deterrence toward explicit threats against civilian and energy infrastructure across the Middle East.
Bulgaria moved Tuesday toward allowing US aerial refueling aircraft to support Middle East operations, drawing a warning from Tehran and raising the risk of the NATO member being pulled into the Iran-US conflict.
Criticism of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's recent interview has spread across Iranian conservative media, with critics arguing he disclosed sensitive information about wartime security and internal decision-making following its publication this week.
The United States intensified its military campaign against Iran after the first confirmed American combat deaths of the conflict, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted Washington remained open to diplomacy with Tehran.
US strikes have destroyed bridges, tunnels and rail links across southern Iran in a seventh straight night of attacks, severing roads to the Strait of Hormuz coast and feeding talk in Washington and Tehran that a ground assault may follow.
The latest US strikes on southern Iran may offer the clearest indication yet of how Washington's campaign around the Strait of Hormuz is evolving from retaliation to the systematic degradation of Iran's military infrastructure.
Britain formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a threat to national security on Friday, making public support for the organization or assistance to it punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Britain's decision to create a new legal framework targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guards was driven less by political pressure than by the scale of alleged Iranian activity on British soil, according to Jonathan Hall, the UK government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws.
A senior Iranian cleric said on Wednesday that Iranian officials should not continue negotiations with the United States by citing concerns over damage to the country's infrastructure, after President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran's power plants and bridges.
US President Donald Trump said he would expand military strikes on Iran to power plants and bridges unless Tehran returned to negotiations, warning in a Fox News interview broadcast on Tuesday that attacks would intensify next week.