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Iran

List of Iran articles

Supporters cheer as newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives at the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on July 6.

2024 Was a Year of Angry Elections

A diverse array of countries held national votes this year—but a single storyline stood out.

5 Top Reads
Cameron Abadi
A Houthi fighter guards the Galaxy Leader vessel on the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, Yemen.

A Year of War Has Left the Middle East Less Stable

Disorder and instability reign from Gaza to Syria and the Red Sea.

5 Top Reads
Sasha Polakow-Suransky
A photo collage illustration shows Chinese leader Xi Jinping walking down red-carpeted stairs. At left are two sparring hawks. Behind him is the US Capitol and Donald Trump with his hand to his face. At lower right are two Chinese protesters.

Our Top Long Reads From 2024

Foreign Policy’s best deep dives of the year.

Roundup
Allison Meakem
An illustration shows airpods over the logos of five podcasts: Back to Rwanda, The Afghan Impasse, Counterpoint, Hero, and The Catch

The World as We Hear it

FP’s five best podcast episodes of 2024.

Roundup
Dan Ephron
The defaced portraits of toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Russia's President Vladimir Putin hang above an entrance to a building, reportedly used by the Russian Army, in the Syrian town of Al-Bassah in the Latakia province on Dec. 12.

Who Were the Winners and Losers of 2024?

Matt and Emma take a look back at a turbulent year in global politics.

It's Debatable
Emma Ashford, Matthew Kroenig
Portraits of Bashar al-Assad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stand as Palestinians sit at the entrance of the Yarmuk camp for Palestinian refugees, south of Damascus, during a delivery of humanitarian aid provided by Iran as part of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on March 26, 2024.

Iran’s 3 Possible Post-Assad Paths

The differences between them are huge—and the United States can affect Tehran’s calculations.

Analysis
Ellie Geranmayeh
A young Iranian woman, not wearing the mandatory headscarf, walked past a group of young veiled women near a sports hall during a gathering in support of the hijab on November 2, 2023.

The Middle East Is in Chaos. Iran Is Focused on the Veil.

The fate of Iran’s reformist government could turn on a controversial new hijab law.

Analysis
Sina Toossi
Syrian refugees and their supporters celebrate the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seen in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 8.

In Post-Assad Middle East, Iran’s Loss Is Turkey’s Gain

Ankara will seek to fill the regional power vacuum left by the fall of Tehran’s most valuable client.

Analysis
Vali Nasr
People stand atop a tank holding a Syrian flag adn celebrating with their arms raised.

Assad’s Fall Is the Middle East’s 1989

One of many consequences is the demise of Iran’s self-styled Axis of Resistance.

Analysis
Lina Khatib
Mourners surround the flag-draped coffins of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in the recent war with Israel, during a funeral procession in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Selm on Dec. 6.

Hezbollah Is Trying to Spin Loss as Victory

Assad’s fall and Israel’s offensive give Lebanese a chance to reclaim their country.

Argument
Oz Katerji
A man waves a Hezbollah flag as he drives past the rubble of a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs as people returned to the area to check their homes after the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Nov. 27.

Can the Israel-Hezbollah Cease-Fire Hold?

Lebanese American academic Fawaz Gerges on Netanyahu’s long-term strategy and Washington’s role.

Insider
Ravi Agrawal
An attack helicopter cuts across a blue sky dotted with fluffy wisps of clouds. Four large birds also fly across the sky beneath the helicopter, their wingspans stretched wide in flight.

5 Questions About the Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hezbollah

Limited strikes could continue even after the truce.

Analysis
Daniel Byman
The Boulevard entertainment city in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 16, 2023.

The Off-Ramp Runs Through Riyadh

Neither Saudi Arabia nor the new U.S. president wants a broader regional conflict.

Argument
Simon Mabon
This picture shows two women exchanging a US dollar bill against a fifty thousand Lebanese pound (lira) banknote in Beirut on Jan. 19, 2023.

How Hezbollah Diversified Its Funding

The so-called “crime-terror nexus” is alive and well, and only multilateral cooperation can break it.

Argument
Clara Broekaert, Colin P. Clarke
A protester dressed as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and another dressed as U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrate outside the White House on Oct. 19, 2018, in the wake of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Why the Gulf States Might Feature Prominently in Trump’s Foreign Policy

One likely goal: expanding the Abraham Accords.

Analysis
Aaron David Miller, Lauren Morganbesser
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