Russia likely views Iran’s mass anti-regime protests with deep unease, but may ultimately adapt just as it did in Syria to preserve influence whether the Islamic Republic survives or a new political order emerges.
The thank-you note from US President Donald Trump to Iran’s leadership for halting what he described as planned mass executions reveals much about his politics, but more about the rulers in Tehran who have canonised deception as a political instrument.
The public rancor between US President Donald Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has gotten increasingly personal, suggesting that a standoff once mediated through proxies and carefully coded threats may be approaching a finale.
Any flare-up of tensions, even a conflict targeting a single country, would have serious consequences for the entire Middle East, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia warned, as Tehran said it has held intensified contacts with Arab states to prevent a wider confrontation.
A senior Iranian diplomat based at the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva has left his post and applied for asylum in Switzerland, diplomatic sources told Iran International, amid mounting political unrest in Iran.
Turkey has adopted a calculated caution during the recent waves of protests in neighboring Iran, avoiding endorsement of those who took to the streets while stopping short of backing Tehran’s violent crackdown.
Any US military action against Iran risks falling short if it mirrors past “one-off” strikes without sustained political and economic pressure, analysts warned during an Iran International Insight town hall on Wednesday amid mounting fears of a US attack.
Washington and Tehran on Monday both indicated they seek talks to avoid a clash as tensions rise over Iran's deadly crackdown on protests but the bitter arch-foes indicated they were also ready to fight should diplomacy fail.
Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that protests roiling the country could be resolved by the country's government and people, calling the unrest an internal matter in an apparent rebuke to US solidarity with demonstrators.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Venezuelan counterpart Ivan Gil Pinto in a phone call that Tehran supports the people and the elected government of Venezuela, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Iran on Saturday denounced the US military attack on Venezuela, accusing Washington of violating international law following reports that American forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation.
Canada on Wednesday rejected Iran’s decision to designate the Royal Canadian Navy as a terrorist organization, calling the move baseless and politically motivated and reaffirming its sanctions and human rights pressure on Tehran.
Iran’s foreign minister appealed directly to Donald Trump in a Guardian op-ed on Tuesday, urging him to reopen negotiations with Tehran, reconsider Washington’s alignment with Israel and acknowledge what he described as Iran’s invincibility.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran has designated Canada’s navy a “terrorist organization,” in retaliation for Ottawa’s decision to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Iran has shown restraint and pursued dialogue despite what he described as direct Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear-related facilities, warning that Middle East tensions remain highly volatile.
Twenty-one Arab and Islamic countries including Iran issued a joint statement on Saturday denouncing Israel's move to recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, describing it as a threat to regional peace, according to Iran's foreign ministry.
Iran’s president said on Saturday the country is facing a full-scale confrontation with the United States, Israel, and Europe, describing the pressure campaign against Tehran as more complex and damaging than the Iran–Iraq war.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Thursday of what he called a new attempt to destabilize the country through economic pressure, urging national unity.
The United States and Iran traded sharply worded accusations on Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council, with Washington offering conditional talks while Tehran blamed the standoff on US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Iran has halted contacts with Steve Witkoff, the United States’ senior negotiator, for several months, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, while signaling that Tehran remains open to a negotiated agreement it describes as fair and balanced.
As the Middle East enters the final weeks of 2025, the aftershocks of two years of regional war since October 7, 2023 are yielding to a quieter, consequential realignment of regional power.
China’s recent backing of the United Arab Emirates’ claims over three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf has triggered unusually sharp public criticism of Beijing among Tehran’s hardline supporters.