| Area Total | 1,648,195 sq km |
| Climate | mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast |
| Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur |
| Imports | UAE 29.8%, China 12.7%, Turkey 4.4%, South Korea 4%, Germany 4% (2017) – industrial supplies, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services |
| Government | theocratic republic |
| Capital | Tehran |
| Population | Population field listing 83,024,745 (July 2018 est.) |
| Ethnicity | Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes |
| Language | Persian (official), Azeri Turkic and Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic |
| Exports | China 27.5%, India 15.1%, South Korea 11.4%, Turkey 11.1%, Italy 5.7%, Japan 5.3% (2017) – petroleum 60%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets, cement, ore |
News about Iran
- Top Democrat calls newly confirmed Fed chair Kevin Warsh a ‘sock puppet’ for Trump – as it happened
by Robert Mackey (now); Shrai Popat, Lucy Campbell and Taz Ali (earlier) on May 13, 2026This live blog is now closed. For the latest on the Federal Reserve, read our full report:Senate confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, replacing Jerome PowellSign up for the Breaking News US emailDonald Trump touched down in Beijing at around 7:50pm local time/7:50am ET.The president will be greeted by China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, along […]
- Family of British couple jailed in Iran say they have lost contact
by PA Media on May 13, 2026Lindsay and Craig Foreman were given 10-year sentences after entering the country on a motorcycling tripThe “terrified” family of a British couple jailed for 10 years in Iran on spying charges have said they have lost all contact with them.Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 53, were arrested in January 2025 while travelling through Iran during an […]
- Benjamin Netanyahu says he made secret trip to UAE at height of Iran war
by Julian Borger in Jerusalem on May 13, 2026Emirates’ foreign ministry rejects claims that Netanyahu visited the country describing them as ‘baseless’Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the Iran war to meet the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.“This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel […]
- The Guardian view on Iran’s repression: political prisoners such as Narges Mohammadi need freedom not bombs | Editorial
by Editorial on May 13, 2026The critically ill Nobel peace laureate should be released. Iranians’ human rights are under attack from both the regime and the US-Israel war“Authoritarian regimes do not always need an executioner’s rope,” the Iranian Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi observes in a forthcoming memoir smuggled from her cell. “Sometimes, they simply wait for […]
- Australian military plane to join efforts to reopen strait of Hormuz as Marles considers ‘how else we can contribute’
by Josh Butler on May 13, 2026Defence minister says E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft deployed to Gulf in March will join UK and France-led defensive effort to calm Iran conflictFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia will send a hi-tech military plane to join an international mission to reopen the […]
- Public health at risk across Asia as Iran crisis sends price of cooking gas soaring
by Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi, Guill Ramos in Manila and Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok on May 13, 2026Families turn to dirty fuels such as firewood, bringing fears over air pollution and fragility of energy transitionIn the ramshackle lanes of a south Delhi slum, Afshana Khatoon crouched wearily on her haunches and began lighting a small pile of firewood.She had only just returned from six hours spent trudging through the urban forests and dry parks of […]
- Cost of US war on Iran mounting – as it happened
by Kate Lamb, Lucy Campbell, Maya Yang, Taz Ali and Yohannes Lowe on May 12, 2026Pete Hegseth and other officials appear before House to face grilling on Iran war expenditure and military operationsIran has expanded its definition of the strait of Hormuz into a “vast operational area” far wider than before the war, according to a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy in comments likely to anger the […]
- UAE’s secret attack on Iran risks drawing Gulf states into the war
by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor on May 12, 2026If current precarious ceasefire between US and Iran ends, Emirates are more likely to be targeted by TehranThe risk of some Gulf states becoming embroiled in a direct war with Iran has risen after it was reported the United Arab Emirates had secretly launched a major attack on Iran during the conflict.In addition, Kuwait has said that at least four members […]
- Stephen Colbert on Trump’s 22ft gold statue at his golf club: ‘recreational idolatry’
by Guardian staff on May 12, 2026The host reacted to the president’s ‘very simple’ Iran peace plan, his AI Mother’s Day images and the US transportation secretary’s new reality showOn Monday night, Stephen Colbert gathered his “best television friends” Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver on the couch after a monologue which focused on the war in the Middle […]
- In the 1979 hostage crisis, why did Iran free 10 Black Americans before the others?
by Andrew Lawrence on May 12, 2026Sgt James Hughes was one of the hostages released early. With US-Iran relations once again in the spotlight, he talks about being ‘handcuffed, under armed guard’Since the United States launched a joint military campaign with Israel on Iran in February, many commentators and historians have revisted a chapter of modern history: the 1979 Iran hostage […]
- More than 110 Nobel laureates call on Iran to release gravely ill activist Narges Mohammadi
by Deepa Parent on May 12, 2026As human rights advocate is treated in Tehran hospital after transfer from Zanjan prison, prize winners demand her freedomMore than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate, after she was transferred to hospital amid concerns […]
- Internal displacements caused by violence or conflict at record high in 2025
by Olivia Lee on May 12, 2026The 32.3m surpasses those caused by disasters for the first time, as 82.2m people displaced in total around worldThe number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025, surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.A report published by the Internal […]
- Mass starvation looms if fertilisers can’t pass key waterway, UN warns – as it happened
by Adam Fulton, Lucy Campbell, Maya Yang, Vivian Ho and Yohannes Lowe on May 12, 2026This blog is now closed. See full report: Trump calls Iran’s response to peace plan ‘totally unacceptable’ as ceasefire fraysTurkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, will visit Qatar later today for talks on the war, its impact on the region and efforts to ensure navigational safety in the strait of Hormuz is resumed, a Turkish diplomatic source told […]
- Trump says ceasefire with Iran on ‘life support’ after rejecting peace proposals
by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic Editor on May 11, 2026US president says he is considering restarting naval escorts in strait of Hormuz in attempt to end Iranian blockadeDonald Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran is on “life support” and that he is considering restarting US navy military escorts of ships through the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to end the Iranian blockade of the vital waterway.The US […]
- Trump calls Iran’s response to peace plan ‘totally unacceptable’ as ceasefire frays
by Julian Borger in Jerusalem on May 10, 2026US president expresses ire at Tehran’s reported demands, as drones strike Gulf nations and Israel warns war ‘not over’Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned […]
- Nobel laureate’s smuggled memoir details beatings and neglect in Iranian prisons
by Tess McClure on May 10, 2026Writing by Narges Mohammadi, arrested 14 times for activism, offers a disturbing insight into treatmentRead an exclusive excerpt here: ‘Blindfolded, I sat down slowly. Then the interrogation began’In an exclusive extract of writing smuggled from prison in Iran, the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the “torture” of solitary […]
- Property, a visa and a university job: the Australian links forged by a powerful Iranian politician’s son in Melbourne
by Adeshola Ore and Mark Schliebs on May 10, 2026The son of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – who is leading Iran’s peace negotiations with US – lived and worked in Melbourne, raising questions about national security and sanctionsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne of Iran’s most powerful men – who has been leading […]
- ‘Degree of complacency’: are supply chains prepared for impact of ongoing Iran war?
by Heather Stewart and Jasper Jolly on May 10, 2026The economic warnings are bleak, but full extent of shortages are still not felt for many European countriesThe biggest energy shock in modern history, jet fuel shortages “within weeks”, a global recession – since Iran throttled shipping flows through the strait of Hormuz at the end of February the economic warnings have become increasingly dire.Yet […]
- Social Documentary Network Zeke award 2026 winners – in pictures
by Guardian Staff on May 10, 2026Ginevra Bonina wins the 2026 Zeke award for systemic change for her project Out for Blood, which highlights period poverty in India and the women and girls fighting to reclaim the body ‘as a site of struggle, resistance and liberation’. Ebrahim Alipoor wins the award for documentary photography for his long-term project, Bullets Have No Borders, which […]
- ‘Blindfolded, I sat down slowly. Then the interrogation began’: Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on the torture of solitary confinement
by Narges Mohammadi on May 10, 2026Sentenced to 44 years in prison for her political activism, she is now critically ill and her family warn she may soon die in custody. In this exclusive excerpt from her writings, smuggled out of prison at immense risk, Mohammadi describes the horror of her incarcerationThe cell had no ventilation. At the top of the door, at the highest point, there was a […]
