The UN Security Council’s decision not to lift sanctions on Iran has heightened the stakes for Tehran, with hardliners pushing for nuclear escalation, reformists urging engagement, and a public already strained by inflation.
A decisive UN Security Council vote setting Iran on course for the automatic return of pre-2015 sanctions has heightened tensions inside Tehran, as rival factions clash over strategy while officials strive to project a unified message abroad.
Moderates in Tehran—often accused by rivals of weakening the system—are now accusing the hardliners of undermining the supreme leader's authority through escalating factional battles.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi could be on shaky ground, with reformists pressing for his replacement by former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, according to a prominent conservative commentator in Tehran.
Three years after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody and subsequent protests which were quashed with deadly force, the mood among Iranians has only darkened, with many pointing to hardships that increasingly shape daily life.
Iranian authorities have led a systematic campaign to silence the families of those killed and executed amid the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement—denying public mourning, arresting relatives and subjecting mourners to threats and intimidation.
The Islamic Republic survived the Woman, Life, Freedom protests three years ago, but Iranian women’s defiance keeps reshaping society and their lives in irreversible ways.
Iranian athletes competing abroad face conflicting pressures: the state demands public displays of loyalty, while opponents expect defiance.
Voices are growing in Tehran that warn the ruling system has only a narrow window left to launch reforms essential for its survival.
Ultra-hardliners in Tehran blasted a new nuclear deal struck in Cairo with the UN atomic watchdog, accusing negotiators of bypassing parliament and putting national security at risk.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday cast doubt on a potential opening in the nuclear standoff, appearing to undermine the deal he had signed just a day earlier with IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi in Cairo.
Israel’s strike in Doha targeting senior Hamas leaders has given Tehran a chance to present itself as the true defender of Arab sovereignty and Palestinian resistance.
Pressure on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government continues to mount despite explicit support from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who this week praised the president and his cabinet during a meeting in Tehran.
The so-called “Look East” strategy has become the latest point of contention in Tehran's fractious politics, with conservatives presenting it as a shield against Western isolation and reformists warning it risks overreliance on unreliable partners.
The vicious debate over a free concert at Tehran’s most iconic square—and its eventual cancellation—has laid bare not only the rulers’ fear of spontaneous crowds but also deep rifts among Iranians themselves.
A fresh hike in bread prices has deepened the strain on many Iranians, prompting warnings from a prominent economist that unchecked inflation could spark unrest.
Firsthand accounts reveal how severe water and electricity shortages are disrupting daily life across Iran, with blackouts causing life-threatening accidents and hardship for vulnerable families.
Tehran’s sharpening nuclear clash with the West and embrace of Beijing and Moscow have brought it to a crossroads, where choices this month may decide the future of Iran’s rulers and the ruled.
The postwar debate over Israeli infiltration of Iran’s security and political system has added another layer to contentions in Tehran, with warnings and accusations directed at some hard-liners and radical insiders.
Iran has once again floated the idea of replacing the US dollar with local currencies in trade with its partners, but so far the push has gone nowhere.
Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has called for the exit of intelligence and security forces from the economy in a rare sweeping call for reform by a former key player in Tehran's political and security establishment.
A senior cleric’s claim that Iran’s Supreme Leader endorsed new indirect talks with Washington has raised questions about divisions in Tehran, after Ali Khamenei himself appeared to rule out negotiations in a recent speech.