Iran

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An Italian journalist is freed from detention in Iran and returns home

ROME (AP) — An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was freed Wednesday and returned home, after her fate had become intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer arrested in Italy and wanted by the United States.

https://apnews.com/article/italian-journalist-cecilia-sala-freed-from-iran-8eac803c9a1ce6f66b5664bd1a123b3d?

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Iran explosion

The cause of a massive explosion that rocked the Shahid Rajaee port dock near Bandar Abbas in Iran over the weekend is still unknown. At least 40 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured when an area filled with shipping containers caught fire and exploded, sending a huge plume of thick smoke into the air. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said the blast was likely sparked by containers of chemicals, but did not name which ones. The Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area." Reports of the possible presence of a chemical used to make missile propellant remain unconfirmed. Some experts suggested more mundane chemicals might explain the explosion. As investigators search for answers, a state of emergency has been declared due to increased air pollution caused by the blast.

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Iran hangs a man convicted of spying for Israel

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-hanging-israel-mossad-spy-90089362075772025a0e0da5ee763be0?

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Iran faces ‘snapback’ of sanctions over its nuclear program. Here’s what that means

VIENNA (AP) — France, Britain and Germany have threatened to trigger the “ snapback mechanism ” that automatically reimposes all United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying Iran has willfully departed from their 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-sanctions-snapback-nuclear-e3-explainer-49a5ccebaeeecc3578f3d19db318a42c?

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Europe's Snapback Sanctions

France, Germany, and the UK yesterday began a 30-day process to reimpose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The penalties—including asset freezes and travel bans—were lifted by a 2015 nuclear deal the US has since left.   The snapback is intended to spur negotiations with Tehran, which suspended cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog after US and Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in June. Days earlier, the watchdog had reported Iran possessed enough uranium and facilities to build several weapons in violation of the 2015 deal. Europe is calling for Iran to expand UN access to facilities, resume talks with the US, and disclose the location of uranium it is accused of covertly moving this summer.     Iran called yesterday's move unlawful and threatened to end discussions about resuming UN inspections after this week, permitting the first facility visit since the strikes. The sanctions would further pressure Iran's struggling economy (w/video).

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Iran’s president blasts US, Israeli attacks for dealing ‘grievous blow’ to peace as sanctions loom

Addressing world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday blamed the United States and Israeli attacks for “dealing a grievous blow” to peace negotiations as Tehran braces for the reinstatement of sanctions in the next week, barring a last-minute diplomatic breakthrough. Hours before his speech, Iran’s rial currency fell to a new all-time low. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Fearing another war with Israel, Iran begins rebuilding missile sites, but key component is missing More experts are calling Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. But others note that’s a court’s call For the first time in nearly six decades, a Syrian president steps up to speak at the UN

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Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test, satellite photos analyzed by the AP show

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has likely carried out an undeclared missile test at its Imam Khomeini Spaceport, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Thursday, underlining Tehran’s effort to maintain its weapons program despite the 12-day war with Israel in June.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-missile-test-israel-nuclear-20e455ff76632d7b67fe2633cf19e37b?

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Iran isn’t actively enriching uranium but movement detected near nuclear sites, UN official tells AP

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran does not appear to be actively enriching uranium, but renewed movement has been detected recently at the country’s nuclear sites, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-program-grossi-uranium-543ad3503ece5de766e08123f6e71f9c?

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Iran seizes tanker in Strait of Hormuz, US official says, as tensions remain high in region

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker as it traveled through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Friday, a U.S. official said, turning the ship into Iranian territorial waters in the first-such interdiction in months in the strategic waterway.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-tanker-mideast-tensions-1762f491e9eb1912cb8b8bd9a1a634d8?

Women riding the streets of Tehran on motorbikes is the latest sign of Iran’s societal change  Women are increasingly seen riding motorbikes in Iran's capital, Tehran, where laws and religious mores once barred women from that activity. It is part of a wider reconsideration by women about societal expectations. Read more.

Why this matters: Progress for women is not all encompassing, particularly as hardline politicians call for laws on wearing the hijab to be enforced — but it does represent a change.   In the past, one barrier to women driving motorbikes was a police regulation in Iran's Farsi language specifically referring only to men being able to obtain licenses for them.    Then there’s the cultural aspect. In the beliefs of some conservative clerics and hard-liners, a woman riding a scooter or a motorbike is an excessive flaunting of her beauty that is prohibited by Islam.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ UN report warns Iran is stepping up electronic surveillance of women to enforce headscarf law  Iran arrests 3 government critics and summons another  Analysis: A battered Iran faces an uncertain future after its grinding war with Israel

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Iran’s foreign minister says the nation is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister said Sunday that Tehran is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-nuclear-enrichment-c0079c38746a896e2967a9a9cc2799d5?

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Iran releases Marshall Islands-flagged tanker and crew it seized last week

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Wednesday released a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker with all its 21 crew members, days after Tehran seized the ship without explanation, the vessel’s managers said.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-marshall-islands-tanker-1c977441551b4e22ae7ec57a434cb392?

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On a trip to Tehran, an AP journalist sees a changing Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — As you enter Iran’s capital, it starts with only occasional glimpses — a passenger in a car speeding by or a pedestrian trying to leapfrog through Tehran’s notorious traffic. But as you reach the cooler heights of Tehran’s northern neighborhoods along the city’s sycamore-lined Vali-e Asr Street, they are almost everywhere, women with their brown, black, blonde and gray locks.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-hijab-mahsa-amini-protests-israel-war-d953ebfce090c044ac948aa5e476e7b1?

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Drying up

Iran is grappling with an extreme water shortage, and it’s so critical that the president has warned people in the capital city they might need to evacuate. The scale of the crisis is visible from space.

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Iran arrests Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, supporters say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, her supporters said Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-arrest-narges-mohammadi-8523591777ccf6338f9adc1afcf00d90?

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Iran’s president says his country is in a full-scale war with the West

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country is in a full-scale war with the U.S., Israel and Europe ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s meeting Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-president-war-west-trump-netanyahu-2ef7a55988b80813f6913c8c1835322b?

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Security forces clash with protesters in Iran’s main market as toll rises to 36

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protesters angry over Iran’s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-economic-protests-129cea0f8c39b6d5b5603c634acaa61e?

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Iranian Protests Expand

The death toll from clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters reportedly rose to at least 36 people yesterday, as antigovernment demonstrations expanded to include a sit-in at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. More than 1,200 people have been detained across more than 50 towns and cities. The unrest began Dec. 28 as Iran’s currency fell to a record low of over 1.44 million to the US dollar. The rial has since plunged further, reaching another record low yesterday. Inflation reached 52.6% last month, according to official figures. The economic crisis comes after the UN reimposed sanctions in September following alleged Iranian violations of a 2015 nuclear deal, including an illegal ballistic missile test. The sanctions include restricting Iran's oil sales and access to global finance. Amid the currency free fall, the country’s central bank last week ended exchange-rate subsidies for importers, a cost that will likely soon be passed on to consumers.  See footage from yesterday's protests here (w/video).

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Iran army chief threatens preemptive attack over ‘rhetoric’ targeting country after Trump’s comments

Iran’s army chief threatened preemptive military action Wednesday over the “rhetoric” targeting the Islamic Republic, likely referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.” Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

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Internet and phones cut in Iran as protesters heed exiled prince’s call for mass demonstration

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s government cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls Thursday night as a nighttime demonstration called by the country’s exiled crown prince drew a mass of protesters to shout from their windows and storm the streets.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-nuclear-economy-ebddd998fbe7903e70ca62127250ebcb?

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Iran supreme leader signals upcoming crackdown on protesters ‘ruining their own streets’ for Trump

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protests in Iran raged Friday night in the Islamic Republic, online videos purported to show, despite a threat from the country’s theocracy to crack down on demonstrators after shutting down the internet and cutting telephone lines off to the world.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-economy-54e4024a0b9e6a9f3ab49153c8e28f05?

?? Revolt grows in Iran

A scene from yesterday's protests in Tehran. Photo: Kamran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images Iranian demonstrators crowded the streets of Tehran and other cities yesterday, with images circulating of government buildings on fire and authorities blocking internet access but failing so far to restore order, Axios' Barak Ravid reports. Iran's theocracy has shut off internet service and international phone calls. Early this week, U.S. intelligence assessed that the protests lacked sufficient energy to challenge the regime, U.S. officials told Axios. But that view is being reassessed in light of recent events. "The protests are serious, and we will continue to monitor them," a senior U.S. official said. ⚡ Catch up quick: The protests have spread over the past 12 nights, with last night's being the largest so far. Some crowds yesterday openly chanted for the regime's downfall. They're driven mainly by economic turmoil, which has deepened amid President Trump's renewed push to tighten sanctions and the damage inflicted from the 12-day war in June. Trump has warned multiple times the U.S. could use military force if Iran kills protesters. But he was relatively restrained when discussing the situation yesterday on "The Hugh Hewitt Show." Trump claimed some of the more than 30 protesters who have been killed so far died from "problems of crowd control." Keep reading.

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Growing protests sweep Iran as state TV warns of casualties Iranian protesters shouted and marched through the streets into Friday morning after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for demonstrations, despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls. Read more.

Why this matters: Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a brief address aired by state television, signaled authorities would crack down on demonstrators. Protesters are “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” Khamenei said, referring to President Donald Trump. The snap speech by Khamenei shows how seriously authorities are taking the protests.   The protests represent the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ A timeline of how the protests in Iran unfolded and grew   Israeli strikes kill at least 13 across Gaza, as Trump is expected to announce Board of Peace   Yemeni separatist group to dismantle, a day after its leader fled to the UAE

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?? Iran toughens crackdown

This frame grab from video shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran Thursday. Photo via AP Protests sweeping across Iran near the two-week mark today. With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown to at least 65 people killed and over 2,300 others detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown despite U.S. warnings. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted today on X: "The United States supports the brave people of Iran." Get the latest.

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Trump says Iran has pitched negotiations after US leader threatened action for protester crackdown

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump said Iran reached out to the U.S. and proposed negotiations after he threatened action in response to a crackdown on protesters in the Middle Eastern country.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-nuclear-economy-ae5add408f0dbc724962d41cc37c939a?

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New protests erupt in Iran as supreme leader signals upcoming crackdown

Iranians took to the streets in new protests on Friday to press the biggest movement against the Islamic republic in more than three years, as authorities sustained an internet blackout as part of a crackdown that has left dozens dead.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/09/iran-supreme-leader-harsher-crackdown-protest-movement-swells

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Iranian protests are growing. Israel is watching closely

Israel is “closely monitoring” the fallout from widespread Iranian protests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran could escalate the protests within the borders of the Islamic Republic into a regional war. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Iran warns against US strikes as activists say protest death toll reaches 203 As protests rage, Iran pulls the plug on contact with the world Iran’s exiled crown prince rises as a figure in protests, decades after leaving his homeland