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.
As Tehran reviews US proposals and influential figures increasingly speak openly in favor of negotiations, developments on the ground are pulling Iran and the United States in the opposite direction.
International internet access has largely returned to Iran, but users and experts say the network remains degraded, unstable and significantly worse than before the war.
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.
What began as street mourning for Ali Khamenei has become a nightly stage for Iran’s hardliners to attack negotiations with Washington, promote wartime defiance and pressure officials to follow the Supreme Leader’s red lines.
The prospect of an interim agreement between Tehran and Washington has exposed deep divisions in Iran, with some officials presenting it as diplomatic progress while hardliners warn it could cross the Islamic Republic’s red lines.
Names on a memorial poster for four relatives and in-laws of Ali Khamenei offer a rare snapshot of how family ties link Iran’s ruling household to parliament, elite universities and the Supreme Leader’s office.
Iran’s partial restoration of international internet access after nearly three months of blackout has opened a new fight inside the ruling system, with hardliners accusing President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government of bypassing powerful security and cyberspace institutions.
Talk of a possible agreement between Tehran and Washington has intensified political attacks on parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a central figure in Iran’s diplomatic push and a politician widely seen as backing a more pragmatic approach to negotiations.
Hope for a limited US-Iran agreement gained momentum Friday as regional mediators intensified efforts to stabilize the ceasefire, but the fragile diplomacy faced hostility from Iranian hardliners who cast negotiations as a prelude to renewed conflict.
A small port on Oman’s Musandam Peninsula has become part of Iran’s workaround to the maritime blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, traders say, as goods once routed through the UAE are shifted through costlier channels.
A New York Times report claiming former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was considered by some US officials for a post-war role in Iran triggered a storm of speculation, ridicule and conspiracy theories inside Iran.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has come under mounting attack from Iran’s hardline factions after publicly defending negotiations with the United States and warning that war and sanctions are inflicting serious economic damage on the country.
A growing range of political voices in Tehran are calling for realism abroad and reconciliation at home rather than deeper confrontation as Washington signals both openness to talks and readiness for further military action.
The comment section under an Iran post can look like a national mood but under a blackout well into its third month, it is often something narrower: a space shaped by whitelisted access, economic privilege, cyber operations and fear.
President Donald Trump’s claim that he postponed a planned military strike on Iran has deepened uncertainty in Tehran, where officials and analysts remain divided over whether Washington is bluffing, buying time or preparing for another round of strikes.
Iran’s state broadcaster is facing criticism after airing programs in which presenters and government supporters handled rifles and other weapons on camera, with critics saying the displays blurred wartime messaging with intimidation at home.
Iran’s deepening economic crisis is pushing cafés and coffee culture toward collapse, as soaring prices and falling incomes force both businesses and customers to cut back.
Tehran media coverage of the impasse with Washington following President Donald Trump’s visit to China points to growing frustration, with many insiders voicing concern that diplomacy has stalled and more confrontation may lie ahead.
The Iran war has entered a more ambiguous phase, with the regime battered but not broken, the US struggling to define victory, and the Strait of Hormuz emerging as Iran’s most potent bargaining tool, two Middle East experts said at an Iran International townhall in Washington DC.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the creation of a special committee to end Iran’s internet blackout, but many Iranians doubt it can overcome resistance from powerful state institutions.
Tehran commentariat and figures close to the establishment are increasingly accusing hardliners and state television of deepening divisions and undermining national unity as the country faces war, economic strain and growing public anxiety.