Iran, a major regional power in the Middle East, has been involved in several events that have drawn international attention and raised concerns about the stability and security of the region. Here are some of the key developments that have been trending about Iran in the past few months:

• US and UK strikes against Houthis in Yemen: On January 13, 2024, the US and the UK carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been launching attacks on commercial vessels and oil facilities in the Red Sea. The strikes were seen as a response to the Houthi drone attack on a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean on January 4, 2024, which was condemned by the US and its allies as a threat to international shipping and energy security. The US has also accused Iran of providing weapons and support to the Houthis, who have been fighting a civil war against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government since 2015.
• Islamic State-claimed suicide bombings in Iran: On January 5, 2024, two suicide bombers targeted a commemoration for Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020, in the city of Ahvaz, killing at least 91 people and injuring hundreds more. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a revenge for Soleimani’s role in fighting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. The attack was the deadliest in Iran since 2017, when the Islamic State group also claimed responsibility for simultaneous attacks on the parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, that killed 18 people.
• Iran’s navy seizes oil tanker in Gulf of Oman: On January 11, 2024, Iran’s navy seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was at the center of a major US-Iran crisis in 2019. The tanker, named Grace 1, was originally seized by British forces in Gibraltar in July 2019, on suspicion of violating EU sanctions by carrying Iranian oil to Syria. Iran retaliated by seizing a British-flagged tanker, Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil trade. The two tankers were later released after diplomatic negotiations, but the incident escalated tensions between Iran and the West, which were already high due to the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the reimposition of sanctions on Iran.
• Blinken’s diplomatic efforts to revive the nuclear deal: Amid the rising fears of a wider Middle East war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been leading a new diplomatic effort to get both Tehran and Washington to fully comply with the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal, which was signed by Iran and six world powers, aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. However, the deal was undermined by the US withdrawal in 2018 and Iran’s subsequent breaches of the deal’s limits on uranium enrichment and stockpiling. Blinken has visited the region four times in three months, meeting with officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other countries, to discuss ways to revive the deal and address other regional issues, such as Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for proxy groups. Iran has said it is willing to return to the deal, but only if the US lifts all sanctions first.