https://www.rferl.org/z/660 RFE/RL's latest news, features, commentary, and multimedia content on Iran. https://www.rferl.org/Content/responsive/RFE/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.rferl.org/z/660 en Copyright 2026 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Tue, 19 May 2026 04:18:50 +0200 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL The US Treasury Department has extended for another 30 days a sanctions waiver allowing at-risk countries to purchase Russian oil shipments at sea, as supply disruptions linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continue to roil global energy markets. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-renews-russian-oil-waiver-iran-conflict-energy-markets/33759619.html https://www.rferl.org/a/us-renews-russian-oil-waiver-iran-conflict-energy-markets/33759619.html Mon, 18 May 2026 20:01:02 +0200 NewsIranRussiaThe Rundown Stories An armed Iranian state TV presenter fired at a United Arab Emirates flag during a broadcast amid signs of growing public militarization in Iran. It came as US President Donald Trump issued threats of renewed attacks on Iran if it didn't reach a deal to end the nearly three-month-long conflict. https://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-tv-presenter-fires-gun-at-uae-flag/33759595.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-tv-presenter-fires-gun-at-uae-flag/33759595.html Mon, 18 May 2026 18:49:01 +0200 Iran Iran's appointment of parliament speaker and chief US negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as special envoy for China signals Tehran is playing its most valuable political card on two fronts at once. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-qalibaf-envoy-china-us-talks/33759380.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-qalibaf-envoy-china-us-talks/33759380.html Mon, 18 May 2026 14:13:28 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown StoriesChina As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and Iranian service, Radio Farda, deliver ongoing updates and analysis. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-war-us-hormuz-oil-blockade-gulf-israel/33640284.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-war-us-hormuz-oil-blockade-gulf-israel/33640284.html Mon, 18 May 2026 06:00:00 +0200 IranNewsThe Rundown Stories The Trump administration has allowed a controversial waiver on sanctions targeting Russian seaborne oil to expire, reimposing restrictions that had temporarily enabled countries such as India to continue purchasing Russian crude despite Western efforts to curb Moscow’s wartime revenues. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-seaborne-oil-waiver-iran-energy-war/33758687.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-seaborne-oil-waiver-iran-energy-war/33758687.html Sun, 17 May 2026 09:07:28 +0200 IranNewsRussiaUkraineRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown Stories The Trump-Xi summit offered fresh clues about how Beijing is positioning itself on Iran amid growing tensions over sanctions, regional security, and the future of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-china-iran-war-/33758314.html https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-china-iran-war-/33758314.html Sat, 16 May 2026 14:27:38 +0200 News AnalysisIranThe Rundown StoriesMiddle EastChina A major military museum in the western German city of Koblenz is denying entry to nationals from 26 countries, causing tense scenes with some visitors who arrive with children. https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-military-museum-bans-ukrainians-russians-security-risk/33756719.html https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-military-museum-bans-ukrainians-russians-security-risk/33756719.html Sat, 16 May 2026 13:28:17 +0200 FeaturesAfghanistanArmeniaAzerbaijanBelarusGeorgiaIranKazakhstanKyrgyzstanMoldovaRussiaTajikistanTurkmenistan UkraineUzbekistanTatar-BashkirPakistanPicksThe Rundown Stories A leaked EU threat assessment seen by RFE/RL warns that terrorism and violent extremism “pose a significant threat to the EU,” citing heightened risks from Afghanistan and Iran as well as negative spillover effects from the war in Ukraine. https://www.rferl.org/a/leaked-eu-report-rising-terror-risk-iran-afghanistan-russia/33758305.html https://www.rferl.org/a/leaked-eu-report-rising-terror-risk-iran-afghanistan-russia/33758305.html Sat, 16 May 2026 13:21:43 +0200 FeaturesAfghanistanIranRussiaUkraineRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown HeadlineEurope Iran's publishing industry is staging a virtual book fair amid compounding wartime crises: physical damage to bookshops from US-Israeli strikes, an Internet blackout, and a paper shortage worsened by sanctions. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-book-fair-publishing-industry-war/33758285.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-book-fair-publishing-industry-war/33758285.html Sat, 16 May 2026 12:55:37 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on national security and transatlantic relations, told RFE/RL in an interview that Iran appears to be borrowing directly from Russia’s negotiation strategy. https://www.rferl.org/a/coffey-hudson-iran-kremlin-negotiation-russia/33757144.html https://www.rferl.org/a/coffey-hudson-iran-kremlin-negotiation-russia/33757144.html Sat, 16 May 2026 10:35:24 +0200 IranNewsRussiaRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown StoriesMiddle East In an interview with RFE/RL, Sam Brownback argued that Russia, China, and Iran are increasingly operating as part of a “dark alliance” of authoritarian states -- one built on surveillance technology, censorship, ideological control, and the suppression of religious and civil society groups. https://www.rferl.org/a/sam-brownback-religious-freedom-russia-iran-china/33757881.html https://www.rferl.org/a/sam-brownback-religious-freedom-russia-iran-china/33757881.html Fri, 15 May 2026 20:42:15 +0200 IranFeaturesRussiaRussia Invades UkraineThe Rundown StoriesChina Iranian traders are smuggling over 6 million liters of fuel to neighboring Pakistan each day, traders and transporters in the South Asian country told RFE/RL. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pakistan-smuggling-fuel/33757626.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pakistan-smuggling-fuel/33757626.html Fri, 15 May 2026 15:48:04 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi entered talks in Beijing confronting the growing risks that the conflict in Iran poses to global markets and their uneasy relationship. https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-iran-war-china-hormuz-nuclear-trade/33757431.html https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-iran-war-china-hormuz-nuclear-trade/33757431.html Fri, 15 May 2026 07:00:02 +0200 ChinaIranThe Rundown HeadlineThe Rundown StoriesNews Analysis Some Iranians in exile who are advocating a return of the monarchy in Tehran have been displaying symbols associated with the notorious secret police, SAVAK, used by the former shah to repress political opponents before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pahlavi-shah-savak-demonstrations-regensburg-manchester-copenhagen-1979-islamic-revolution/33757076.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pahlavi-shah-savak-demonstrations-regensburg-manchester-copenhagen-1979-islamic-revolution/33757076.html Thu, 14 May 2026 19:03:47 +0200 IranVideo ArchiveVideosThe Rundown Stories Iran has executed at least 29 prisoners since the start of the war, including two on the same day on May 13, including a cybersecurity specialist hanged on espionage charges and a protester convicted of killing a security officer. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-executions-war-fear-human-rights/33756791.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-executions-war-fear-human-rights/33756791.html Thu, 14 May 2026 13:47:13 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Despite warm rhetoric and ceremonial pageantry, analysts say strategic rivalry between the United States and China is set to endure. https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-trade-iran-taiwan-minerals-nvidia-china/33756553.html https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-xi-summit-trade-iran-taiwan-minerals-nvidia-china/33756553.html Thu, 14 May 2026 06:44:02 +0200 News AnalysisFeaturesIranThe Rundown HeadlineChina The war and its global ripple effects are a through line influencing many of the issues that the two leaders will discuss in Beijing, from rare earth minerals to Taiwan. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-trump-xi-meeting-taiwan/33756180.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-trump-xi-meeting-taiwan/33756180.html Wed, 13 May 2026 18:34:43 +0200 ChinaIranVideosThe Rundown Stories The conflict involving Iran is revealing new lessons about how artificial intelligence is being weaponized in modern warfare and statecraft. https://www.rferl.org/a/lego-hip-hop-deepfakes-iran-ai-propaganda/33756098.html https://www.rferl.org/a/lego-hip-hop-deepfakes-iran-ai-propaganda/33756098.html Wed, 13 May 2026 17:14:34 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown StoriesMiddle East Power has become increasingly decentralized in Iran following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the selection of his son as the new supreme leader. So, who holds power in the Islamic republic now? https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-irgc-khamenei-qalibaf/33756085.html https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-irgc-khamenei-qalibaf/33756085.html Wed, 13 May 2026 16:37:57 +0200 IranFeaturesThe Rundown StoriesMiddle East Iran is proposing to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a digital chokepoint threatening to charge, regulate, or potentially sabotage the undersea cables that carry a significant share of global internet traffic. https://www.rferl.org/a/33755937.html https://www.rferl.org/a/33755937.html Wed, 13 May 2026 14:53:45 +0200 VideosIran