The Latest Breaking News from Tehran

The U.S. confiscated Iranian oil on a tanker at sea in recent days in a sanctions enforcement operation, three sources said, and days later Iran seized another oil-laden tanker in retaliation, according to a maritime security firm.

Iran’s top diplomat visited Lebanon’s border with Israel on Friday where he expressed support for the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group in its struggle against their common enemy: Israel. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian began his visit to Lebanon since Wednesday, meeting top officials and expressing Tehran’s readiness to help build power…

Iran has charged two prominent actresses for publishing pictures of themselves flouting the country's dress code for women, just weeks after announcing a crackdown on breaches, local media reported. Police in Tehran have referred the case against Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram to Iran's judiciary, accusing them of "the crime…

Businesses also shut down after offering services to women not wearing headscarves deemed appropriate by government.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian announced that Tehran has agreed to open an interests section through Türkiye in Albania, six months after severing diplomatic relations with Tirana. During a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Amirabdollahian said the Foreign Ministry would open a section of Iranian interests in…

Tehran has expressed outrage at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s pledge to obstruct Iran’s arms purchases, describing it as “provocative” and an attempt to “stir up differences” between countries in the region. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Iran’s military program was “merely for defense and deterrence”,…

Washington described Iran’s imprisonment of US nationals for use as political leverage as outrageous and inhumane, calling on the Iranian authorities to release US nationals wrongfully detained in Tehran. US Department of State Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the US has no higher priority than securing the release of its…

Other lives: Political journalist who covered the Middle East for 30 years, from the UK and as the Financial Times’s chief Iran correspondent in Tehran

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen inaugurated a permanent embassy in the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan on Thursday, establishing his country’s closest diplomatic presence to Iran, as Israel seeks to strengthen ties with Tehran’s neighbours. Although the countries established diplomatic ties 30 years ago, there has only been a temporary…