Ruth Michaelson

Read this exciting story from The Observer April 12, 2026 issue. Azad was driving on the outskirts of Tehran when a car filled with plainclothes police officers motioned for him to pull over.

The talks could have brought an end to six weeks of war and seen the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz

The ceasefire raised hopes of escape but thousands of seamen, some hungry and unpaid, remain stuck in floating ‘prisons’

Tehran continues to play a waiting game while time is not on the US president’s side

Tehran is intensifying its threats to those among the diaspora who have criticised it from abroad, vowing to punish all dissent

It also speaks to its desire to pump more oil

The price of a barrel could rise above $200 if the strait standoff continues, and a sale to Beijing would buy Iran another two months

The US president’s hopes of bringing the Iranian economy to its knees are being thwarted on multiple fronts

Markets may still be underestimating the depth of the crisis

A Turkish court has issued a ruling that effectively removes the head of the country's main opposition party, in the latest blow to challengers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.