Behrouz Turani

Tehran is signalling that its response to US pressure may be to widen the conflict, turning restrictions on its shipping and aviation into risks for airports and waterways stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and potentially the Indian Ocean.

Why Iran’s hardliners keep talking of ousting Pezeshkian

Hardliners in Tehran are pressing for further military and nuclear escalation despite mounting economic pressure and a widening confrontation with the United States. Is it a reckless gamble, or a realistic response to Iran’s dwindling options?

Iran’s moderates question the price of prolonged war

Mohsen Rezaei on Friday set out four Iranian conditions for an agreement with the United States, another sign that the former IRGC commander who once championed an “offensive doctrine” may be moving from advocating war to contemplating a deal at the right price.

Iran's central bank governor says hyperinflation has not happened. A leading Tehran economist says it already has. Whatever it is called, the shelves tell the same story.

Repairs at Iran’s South Pars gas refinery 70% complete

Can Iran's fragile economy survive Trump's 'Economic D-Day'?

With a deadline to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz only days away, parts of Iran’s media are increasingly treating any easing of tensions not as a return to normality but as a brief window to replenish essential supplies before the confrontation potentially resumes.

Moderate voices in Iran are sharpening their criticism of hardline calls for continued confrontation with the United States, arguing that diplomacy has become a patriotic necessity as renewed war exacts mounting economic and human costs.

A week of heavy fighting has left parts of Iran’s southern coast looking unmistakably like a war zone. Yet in Tehran, many still struggle to believe the country is at war.

As Iran navigates renewed confrontation with the United States and uncertainty over a fragile diplomatic process, a deeper crisis is returning to the center of public debate: how much longer ordinary Iranians can absorb the economic cost.

Intermittent US-Iran escalations are giving Iran's anti-US hardliners fresh ammunition, strengthening their case against diplomacy and putting the country's pro-negotiation camp under growing pressure.

Iranian newspapers and digital outlets split sharply over the emerging US-Iran memorandum, with hardliners denouncing it as retreat and pro-diplomacy outlets framing it as a system-backed path to end the war and ease economic pressure.

The brief exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel revealed a reality that weeks of ceasefire and diplomacy between Tehran and Washington had obscured: neither side appears willing to absorb a blow without responding, even if doing so risks a return to wider war.

Despite continued uncertainty over the outcome of the Iran-US talks, signs that some Iranians are positioning for a possible diplomatic breakthrough are emerging in markets, public debate and government-linked circles.

A growing range of political voices in Tehran are calling for realism abroad and reconciliation at home rather than deeper confrontation as Washington signals both openness to talks and readiness for further military action.

Tehran media coverage of the impasse with Washington following President Donald Trump’s visit to China points to growing frustration, with many insiders voicing concern that diplomacy has stalled and more confrontation may lie ahead.

A former senior Iranian security official has criticized state television for amplifying hardline rhetoric that he warned could deepen social divisions at a sensitive moment for the country.

The next phase of the Iran–US standoff may be decided not on the battlefield, but by how much economic pressure each side can withstand.