A reporter on the ground can document what daily life looks like when infrastructure is damaged
Folha's reporter has been in Iran since May 12, making it the first newspaper (not just wire services) granted regular press visas during active US-Israel military operations. Over 3,468 deaths reported in Iran; broader regional toll exceeds 6,000 across multiple countries, with Brent crude spiking from $72 to $120 amid maritime blockades and Strait of Hormuz tensions.
- Folha reporter Patrícia Campos Mello in Iran since May 12, 2026
- First newspaper (not wire service) granted regular press access since February 28 attacks began
- At least 3,468 deaths in Iran; 2,900+ in Lebanon; 200+ across Gulf states
- Brent crude spiked from $72 to $120; trading at $106 as of May 14
- Peace talks deadlocked; Trump rejected Iranian counterproposal on May 15
Folha de S.Paulo becomes the first newspaper worldwide to gain regular access to Iran since February 28 attacks, launching a series documenting life during the conflict as peace negotiations stall.
Patrícia Campos Mello arrived in Iran on May 12th with a credential that no other newspaper in the world currently holds: a press visa granted during active warfare. Starting this Saturday, Folha de S.Paulo will begin publishing a series of dispatches—text and video—from inside a country at war, making it the first newspaper to gain regular access to Iran since American and Israeli forces began their assault on February 28th. Wire services, television networks, and news agencies had managed entry before, but no daily newspaper had secured the same access until now.
The opening chapter of Folha's series examines the economic devastation spreading through Iranian society as the conflict deepens. The numbers tell part of the story: at least 3,468 people have died in Iran according to the country's health ministry. The toll extends far beyond Iran's borders. Twenty-six died in Israel, more than 2,900 in Lebanon where Israeli forces are locked in combat with Hezbollah—a militia backed by Tehran—along with hundreds more scattered across the Gulf: 118 in Iraq, 12 in the United Arab Emirates, 7 in Kuwait, 3 each in Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. The violence has spawned repeated violations of a ceasefire that was supposed to hold.
That ceasefire, announced on April 8th as a two-week pause, has technically extended as negotiations continue, but the structure of the conflict remains intact. The United States maintains a naval blockade against Iran. The Iranian government continues to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical chokepoints for global energy supplies. Since the ceasefire took effect, both sides have breached it multiple times. The price of Brent crude oil reflects the instability: it stood at $72 the day before the February attacks, spiked to $120, and was trading at $106 by Thursday of last week.
The peace talks have reached a wall. This week, President Donald Trump rejected Iran's latest counterproposal, calling it unacceptable. The American position is clear and uncompromising: Iran must surrender its enriched uranium to a third country, freeze its nuclear program, and fully open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. Iran's demands are equally firm but mirror the opposite concerns. The government wants an end to all sanctions, ironclad assurances that American and Israeli attacks will cease, compensation for the destruction wrought by bombing campaigns, a shorter moratorium on its nuclear work, and the ability to maintain some control over the strait. Neither side has shown willingness to move significantly from these positions.
What makes Folha's presence in Iran distinctive is not just the access itself but the timing. Most international coverage of the conflict has come from outside the country, filtered through official statements, satellite imagery, and the accounts of those who have fled. A reporter on the ground can document what daily life looks like when infrastructure is damaged, when economic activity contracts, when families navigate a country under siege. The series will be accompanied by a dedicated newsletter, giving readers a sustained window into a conflict that has largely receded from Western headlines even as its consequences ripple through global energy markets and regional stability. The story Mello is telling is not one of dramatic military operations but of how ordinary Iranians are surviving in a country caught between two superpowers and unable to find a way out.
Citas Notables
The American position requires Iran to surrender enriched uranium to a third country, freeze its nuclear program, and fully open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.— U.S. negotiating demands
Iran demands an end to sanctions, assurances against future attacks, compensation for bombing damage, a shorter nuclear moratorium, and maintained control over the Strait of Hormuz.— Iranian negotiating position
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that Folha got in when so many other news organizations couldn't?
Because a newspaper reporter can stay longer, move more freely, and build relationships with sources in ways that a television crew or wire service correspondent often cannot. She can sit in someone's kitchen and understand how the war is actually changing their life.
But the ceasefire has been in place since April. Isn't the fighting over?
The ceasefire is a technical pause, not a peace. Both sides are still enforcing blockades, still making demands the other won't accept. The violence hasn't stopped—it's just shifted into a different register. The real war is happening in the negotiating room now.
What's the sticking point? Why can't they find middle ground on the nuclear issue?
Because it's not really about the nuclear program. It's about trust and power. Iran sees its nuclear capability as insurance against regime change. America sees it as an existential threat. Until one side believes the other won't attack regardless, no compromise on uranium enrichment will hold.
The death toll seems almost abstract when you list it across so many countries. Does Mello's reporting change that?
Yes. Numbers become faces. Statistics become the story of a mother who lost her son, a neighborhood that lost its market, a city that lost its electricity. That's what ground-level reporting does—it makes the abstract real.
What happens if the talks collapse entirely?
Then you're back to the logic of force. The blockades tighten, the attacks resume, and the price of oil climbs higher. The global economy feels it. And Mello will still be there, documenting what that looks like from inside.