Tehran rejects US terms as hardliners push escalation
Iran’s defiant response to a US proposal on ending the conflict is fueling new fears that the fragile ceasefire could collapse and fighting resume within days.
Iran Insights
As Iran’s economy sinks, hardliners turn to conspiracy
As prices continue to soar across Iran, hardline clerics and pro-government figures are increasingly attempting to shift blame away from the state even as economic pressure deepens for ordinary citizens.
Iran-UAE breakdown leaves Iranian expats in limbo
The war has pushed relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates close to rupture, disrupting one of the region’s most important commercial relationships and leaving ordinary Iranians who built lives and businesses caught in the fallout.
Ghalibaf pushes for the role many thought he already had
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appears to be trying to solidify his position inside Iran’s fractured post-war leadership after recent weeks exposed the limits of assumptions that he had effectively emerged as the country’s de facto ruler.
Tehran hails China’s support, but Beijing’s limits are showing
Iranian media have welcomed Beijing’s unusually sharp rhetoric in support of Tehran, portraying recent Chinese diplomacy as evidence of a deepening strategic partnership.
Iran's war hawks dominate state TV as diplomacy inches forward
A former senior Iranian security official has criticized state television for amplifying hardline rhetoric that he warned could deepen social divisions at a sensitive moment for the country.
Hope and hostility collide in Tehran over possible deal with US
Signs of a possible breakthrough between Tehran and Washington have triggered sharply divergent reactions across Iran’s political and media landscape.
Iran’s wartime unity push collides with hijab hardliners
A hardline cleric’s attack on unveiled women, even as Iranian state media showcased them at pro-government rallies to signal broad wartime support, has exposed tensions within the establishment over hijab enforcement.
Tehran media break silence on war’s toll on livelihoods
Iranian media are now openly discussing the war’s impact on livelihoods—a subject largely avoided until recently, when journalists resorted to indirect language to navigate censorship.
Iran’s warnings give way to action as US launches Hormuz 'escort' plan
Iran has paired a sharp escalation on the water with increasingly explicit threats, signaling what appears to be a deliberate move to deter further US attempts to reopen shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
War shadow lays bare divisions among Iran’s clerics
The war with the United States and Israel has exposed unusually open divisions within Iran’s clerical establishment, with hardline calls for escalation clashing with warnings over the cost of continued conflict.
Who speaks for Iran: What the public rift means, and what it hides
The most important question in Tehran may also be the one least possible to answer with confidence: who is making decisions?
Tehran hardens stance on Hormuz as ‘non-negotiable’
Iran’s leadership is hardening its stance on the Strait of Hormuz, framing the waterway as a strategic and non-negotiable asset amid rising tensions and US pressure.
Iran faces internal instability fears as US blockade tests regime loyalists
Rising prices for essential goods, inflation above 73%, and a surging dollar amid a fragile “no war, no peace” environment, US naval pressure, and political divisions have heightened concerns among some officials about internal instability.
As Tehran praises Moscow, critics ask where Russia was
As Iranian officials continue to tout a “strategic partnership” with Russia, rare public criticism has emerged over Moscow’s muted response to the recent war.
Even state media sounds alarm as Iran’s economy sinks
Iran’s worsening economic crisis is drawing unusually blunt warnings from state media and establishment voices as war, inflation and shortages squeeze households and expose the limits of the government’s response.
Iran taps reserves again as inflation bites and layoffs mount
Iran has once again tapped its sovereign wealth reserves to fund essential imports, highlighting the growing strain on an economy battered by war, inflation and a rapidly weakening currency.
US talks trigger unprecedented rift in Iran’s hardline camp
A widening split over how to deal with the United States has reached the deepest layers of Iran’s hardline establishment, surfacing in state-linked media and among factions that have long presented a united front under the banner of revolutionary loyalty.
Calls for secrecy in Tehran reflect divisions over US talks
As efforts continue to revive talks with the United States, Iranian lawmakers and state-linked outlets are increasingly calling for secrecy around negotiations.
Iran’s water crisis: Mafia or destruction by design?
Iran’s water crisis did not begin with a “water mafia,” but with a state model built on self-sufficiency, laws that gave the government broad control over water, subsidized water, and mega-projects that turned scarcity into a map of conflict.
Did Araghchi’s tour signal leverage or isolation?
In Tehran, Abbas Araghchi’s whirlwind regional tour is being presented as evidence that Iran still has diplomatic options and regional leverage.
Is Ghalibaf becoming Iran’s Khrushchev?
Reports that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf may have been sidelined from Iran’s negotiations with the United States have revived an old question from Soviet history: can an insider reform a rigid ideological system without becoming one of its casualties?