ANALYSIS

Iran is facing one of its bleakest economic outlooks in years, data published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggests, with inflation surging, fiscal deficit growing and nominal economy shrinking—all indicators of potential long-term instability.

On his tour of Iran’s Arab neighbors, US president Donald Trump lashed out at Tehran while hinting a deal was close—warning and wooing at once, and raising as many questions as he answered about the prospects of his transactional diplomacy.

The fourth round of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington ended without a breakthrough but preserved a fragile diplomatic opening on the eve of President Donald Trump’s visit to Iran’s Arab neighbors.

A gas deal inked last month between Moscow and Tehran to transfer vast Russian volumes by pipeline via Azerbaijan faces the same logistical and financial obstacles that have sunk decades of energy deals between them before.

Tehran and Washington are set for another round of talks this weekend, but early optimism has dampened amid deep mistrust and mutual threats of attack, making any deal unlikely to lead to a lasting peace.

The devastating port blast on Iran’s southern coast has prompted comparisons to the Chernobyl disaster, with some Iranian thinkers seeing echoes of the Soviet Union’s final days in their own country’s unraveling.

President Masoud Pezeshkian's government has yet to mount a defense to parliamentary motions aiming to impeach two of his ministers following the port blast that killed scores and injured more than a thousand people.

Iran hopes to resolve its biggest foreign affairs challenge through talks with the United States at the same time it grapples with some of the toughest domestic problems in the Islamic Republic's nearly 50-year history.

The Iranian president’s visit to Azerbaijan, soon to be followed by the Israeli prime minister's trip, highlights Baku’s sophisticated geopolitical maneuvering as Tehran and Tel Aviv vie for influence in the strategically vital South Caucasus.

Negotiations between Iran and the United States are making cautious progress, but the outcome remains highly uncertain as fundamental divisions persist and any overlap between the two sides’ red lines remains elusive.

To signal and justify possible nuclear concessions in ongoing US talks, Iran's Supreme Leader has once again alluded to a historic concession by a Shi'ite Muslim leader to buy time against a stronger foe.

Long one of the Islamic Republic's staunchest ultra-conservatives, cleric and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has lately championed anti-corruption and urged caution on a new hijab law in a shift which has confounded allies.

Diplomatic sources told Iran International this week that President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, “welcomed a three-stage proposal presented by the Iranian side” during the first round of negotiations in Oman on April 12.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, who on Monday appeared to signal that Washington might tolerate limited uranium enrichment by Iran, clarified in a Tuesday tweet that Tehran "must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program."

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's oft stated mantra of "no war and no negotiations" with the United States became untenable when US President Donald Trump gave a stark ultimatum that he reach a nuclear deal or face attack.

If US President Donald Trump’s shock announcement in the Oval Office on Wednesday that his administration was due to hold talks with Iran this weekend was a surprise, the choice of Oman as host was not.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that the removal of US sanctions could serve as a confidence-building measure to pave the way for negotiations with Washington.

Remarks by a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader warning of Iran being pushed to produce nuclear weapons by US threats have sparked intense debate in Iran.