Iran

13 stories

Politics
Gulf diplomacy
US and Iran end Doha round without deal on Strait of Hormuz as oil slides to four-month low
The United States and Iran concluded two days of indirect, Qatari- and Pakistani-mediated talks in Doha on 2 July without resolving control of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for about a quarter of seaborne oil. The round focused on maritime traffic and unfreezing Iranian funds under June's Islamabad Memorandum. Oil fell to four-month lows, and the next round awaits the six-day funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei consolidates power.
By Camille Reuter2 days ago
Politics
Iran
Iran opens six-day state funeral for Khamenei as his unseen successor faces first test
Iran began six days of funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei on 3 July, four months after the supreme leader was assassinated in the opening hours of the US–Israeli war. Officials expect crowds in the tens of millions before his burial in Mashhad on 9 July, while his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei — chosen by the Assembly of Experts in March — has yet to appear in public. US–Iran talks in Doha are paused for the funeral, and oil prices have fallen back to near pre-war levels.
By Léa Hoffmann2 days ago
Politics
Middle East
US and Iran agree to halt attacks and renew talks, official says
A senior US official says Washington and Tehran have agreed to stop attacking each other and return to talks in Doha on 30 June, a de-escalation that has steadied oil prices and drawn cautious EU welcome.
By Camille Reuter5 days ago
Politics
Persian Gulf
Iran's Strait of Hormuz Transit Fees Test Maritime Law and Global Oil Flows
After all but closing the Strait of Hormuz since late February, Iran turned the world's busiest oil chokepoint into a tollbooth, charging tankers up to $2 million a crossing. A US-brokered memorandum has paused the fees for 60 days, but the dispute over whether a state can charge the world to cross an international strait is far from settled.
By Camille Reuter5 days ago
Economy
Cyber warfare
Cyberattacks Freeze Card Payments at Iran's Biggest State Banks
Two waves of cyberattacks in June 2026 disrupted card payments, ATMs and online banking at Iran's largest state banks, with a group calling itself Black Wolves claiming responsibility. The outages revive memories of the 2025 Predatory Sparrow assaults on Bank Sepah and the Nobitex crypto exchange, and underscore how financial-system sabotage has become a frontline weapon in the wider Middle East confrontation.
By Marc Weber26 June 2026
Politics
Nuclear diplomacy
IAEA chief says Iran inspections will resume; Tehran says only after a final deal
The IAEA's director general says inspections of Iran's nuclear sites are 'going to happen' under the Islamabad Memorandum, but Iran says access to bombed sites awaits a final deal. For the EU, which triggered snapback sanctions in 2025 and co-sponsored a June 2026 board resolution, restoring verification is the central test of whether Iran's programme can return under international oversight.
By Camille Reuter26 June 2026
Europe
Middle East
Iran Calls War-Ending Deal a 'Declaration of US Defeat' as Truce Holds
Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, called the US-brokered deal that ended the 2026 Iran war 'a declaration of America's defeat.' The Pakistan-mediated Islamabad Memorandum trades an end to US and Israeli strikes and sanctions relief for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment — but a clash over IAEA inspections, and a split between Tehran's pragmatists and hardliners, leaves the peace untested. For Europe, the payoff is already visible in falling crude prices.
By Camille Reuter24 June 2026
Politics
Nuclear standoff
Iran bars inspectors from bombed nuclear sites as US talks advance
Iran has told the IAEA it will not allow inspectors back into the three nuclear facilities bombed a year ago, deepening a verification standoff just as Tehran and Washington advance a 60-day roadmap toward a final agreement — leaving the watchdog unable to account for some 440 kg of high-enriched uranium.
By Camille Reuter23 June 2026
Politics
Middle East diplomacy
US and Iran Agree 60-Day Roadmap at Swiss Talks as Trump Threatens Fresh Strikes
US and Iranian delegations meeting at the Bürgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne agreed what mediators Qatar and Pakistan called a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days, including a Strait of Hormuz communication line, a Lebanon de-confliction cell and the return of IAEA inspectors. The diplomacy unfolded as President Trump publicly threatened fresh strikes, leaving the core nuclear and sanctions questions unresolved and oil markets watching the Gulf.
By Camille Reuter23 June 2026
Economy
Energy & Geopolitics
US Eases Iran Oil Sanctions for 60 Days, Pulling Crude Prices Lower
Washington has issued a 60-day general licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude, the first such opening since 2018. The move, tied to an interim deal over the Strait of Hormuz, pushed Brent lower and could ease Europe's energy-driven inflation.
By Jonas Thill23 June 2026
Economy
Energy security
Qatar keeps its LNG tankers sailing through Hormuz as the Gulf lane empties
Qatar kept four LNG tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz on 22 June even as Iran-driven disruption emptied the waterway, holding the line between a contained Gulf crisis and a renewed European gas-price shock.
By Jonas Thill22 June 2026
Politics
Diplomacy
Iran and US wrap first round of talks with a 60-day road map as oil slides
The first round of formal U.S.-Iran post-ceasefire talks ended at the Bürgenstock resort with a road map toward a final deal in 60 days, sending oil lower and equities higher even as the enrichment dispute remained unresolved.
By Camille Reuter22 June 2026
Europe
Foreign policy
Luxembourg's verdict on the US-Iran deal: 'It's a long time till Friday'
As Donald Trump hails a 14-point agreement to end the war with Iran, Luxembourg's foreign minister Xavier Bettel offered a four-word caveat - 'It's a long time till Friday' - that captured Europe's wary mood. EU institutions welcomed the deal while tying sanctions relief to verified changes in Tehran's behaviour, and the bargain's hardest questions on uranium and verification remain deferred.
By Camille Reuter19 June 2026