Today
Reformist candidate wins Iran’s presidential election
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s run-off presidential election by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law.
- Updated
- Jon Gambrell and Amir Vahdat
June
Suspected Houthi attack suggests widening operation
The attack happened near the outer reaches of the Gulf of Aden where it becomes the Arabian Sea and then ultimately the Indian Ocean.
- Jon Gambrell
Netanyahu says Gaza intense fighting close to ending
The Israeli PM says the new stage would offer a chance to move forces to the north to where tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been growing.
- Updated
- James Shotter and Neri Zilber
Thousands of Iran-backed fighters offer to join Hezbollah
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said militant leaders from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen had previously offered to send tens of thousands of fighters to help.
- Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Bassem Mroue
Australia urged to list Iran’s enforcers as terror group
Canada’s designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp as a terrorist group has put pressure on the Albanese government to follow suit.
- Andrew Tillett
Putin vows trade, security with North Korea
The Russian president pledged his unwavering support in a letter published by North Korean state media on Tuesday ahead of his planned visit to the country.
- Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith
Netanyahu denounces tactical pauses in Gaza fighting
Israeli PM’s reaction underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where relief organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.
- James Mackenzie
US targets Houthi radar sites after sailor goes missing
The attacks come as the US Navy faces the most intense combat it has seen since World War II in trying to counter the Houthi campaign.
- Jon Gambrell
Netanyahu aide: Gaza plan ‘not a good deal’, but Israel accepts it
In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, chief foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk said Joe Biden’s proposal was “a deal we agreed to”.
- Dan Williams
May
- Opinion
- Population
How the world went from baby boom to baby bust
Helping people have the children they want in ways that fit with their plans should be a focus of policy. It is essential to help women combine careers with children.
- Updated
- Martin Wolf
- Opinion
- Middle East tensions
Who’s in more trouble: Israel or Iran?
Middle East conflict is making Iran’s clerical regime seem ever more fragile, and Israel’s sense of nationhood even stronger.
- Bret Stephens
- Opinion
- Opinion
President’s death shows an Iran with few cards left to play
The death of president Ebrahim Raisi opens the way for a dynastic succession to Iran’s supreme leadership. The regime’s chief goal now is protecting the status quo.
- Patrick Gibbons
- Analysis
- Iran sanctions
How sanctions played havoc with Iran’s ageing helicopters
The US-made Bell 212 carrying the country’s president and foreign minister was almost 30 years old when it crashed into a mountainside.
- John Paul Rathbone, Sylvia Pfeifer and Philip Georgiadis
Iran moves to project stability after fatal air crash
The change in leadership comes during heightened tensions in the region and discontent in Iran, where many have called for an end to decades of repressive rule.
- Farnaz Fassihi, Vivian Yee and Leily Nikounazar
Death of Ebrahim Raisi to test unity of Iran’s hardline factions
An emergency presidential election next month could drive the tense political rivalry among loyalists of the theocratic system to a new level.
- Najmeh Bozorgmehr
Little-known vice president named as interim Iranian president
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, as caretaker, in line with the constitution.
- Jon Gambrell
Foreign Minister another hardliner close to Revolutionary Guard
Hossein Amirabdollahian represented the hardline shift in Iran after the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers when Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew.
- Jon Gambrell
Australia considers declaring Middle East no-go zones
ASIO and the Federal Police remain concerned about terrorism in Australia amid tensions in the Middle East.
- Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Opinion
Raisi’s death deals blow to Iranian regime’s grand plan
Raisi was integral to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s plans to cement the influence of regime hardliners and ensure a smooth succession to the republic’s top post.
- Andrew England
‘Executioner’: Iran’s president with a vice-like grip on power
Ebrahim Raisi has been seen as a possible successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, the highest political and religious position in the Islamic republic.
- Updated
- Dominic Evans