Signed with pomp and fanfare on July 14, 2015, the Iranian nuclear agreement was heralded as a triumph for American diplomacy and international cooperation on nonproliferation. Two years later, it has few friends in the Trump administration or in Tehran. When it was signed in Vienna, President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, John … Read more
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday described Saudi Arabia as a “terrorist state” as he announced his position had been extended for three years. Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari’s 10-year stint as commander of the elite military force was due to expire in three months. But in a speech carried by the semi-official … Read more
Chants against the Saudi royal family and the Islamic State group mingled with the traditional cries of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” at Jerusalem Day rallies across Iran on Friday. The annual show of solidarity with the Palestinians, which sees hundreds of thousands take to the streets, was launched by Iran’s revolutionary leader … Read more
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday praised the “success” of Iraqi forces in the battle against the Islamic State group in Mosul. “Today Daesh is fleeing Iraq and this is an admirable success,” Khamenei said in reference to the jihadist group as he received Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Tehran. But he … Read more
Iran’s supreme leader hit out at the United States and Saudi Arabia during the funerals Friday for those slain in the first attacks in the country claimed by the Islamic State group. The assault by gunmen and suicide bombers Wednesday on Tehran’s parliament complex and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed 17 … Read more
The attacks in Tehran this week will only “reinforce hatred” for the United States and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s supreme leader said on Friday at a funeral for those killed. “Such acts will have no other result than to reinforce hatred for the US government and its agents in the region, like the Saudi (government),” Ayatollah … Read more
Iran denounced Donald Trump’s reaction to deadly Islamic State group attacks in Tehran as “repugnant” on Thursday after the US president warned the nation is reaping what it sows. Thirteen people were killed and more than 40 wounded in the attacks on Tehran’s parliament complex and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on … Read more
Gunmen and a suicide bomber have carried out apparently coordinated attacks on Iran’s parliament and the tomb of revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini, state media said Wednesday, with at least two people reported killed. It was not immediately clear who could be behind the attacks but Iran is a key player in efforts against the Islamic … Read more
Attacks by the Islamic State group in Europe and elsewhere show that Western policies in the Middle East have backfired, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. “Today, Daesh (IS) is being pushed out from its birthplace in Iraq and Syria and is moving to other countries — Afghanistan, Pakistan and even the … Read more
Iran’s judiciary chief criticised moderate President Hassan Rouhani on Monday over his promises to release jailed opposition leaders — a sign of the obstacles facing the newly re-elected leader’s reform efforts. During his election campaign, “a candidate said during a gathering of his supporters that he wanted to end the house arrest” of two reformist … Read more
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched a fierce attack against regional rival Saudi Arabia, saying it was being pumped “like a milking cow” by “infidel” Americans. “These people (the Saudis) appear to believe in the Koran… but in practice they act against its teachings,” Khamenei said at a meeting on Saturday to mark the … Read more
After his re-election triumph, President Hassan Rouhani must now grapple with a fiercely hostile United States and hardliners at home as he struggles to build a more moderate and connected Iran. Iran’s entrenched conservative establishment — particularly in the judiciary and elite Revolutionary Guards — remain deeply suspicious of Rouhani’s talk of civil liberties and … Read more
Mr Rouhani was re-elected with 57% of the vote Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his re-election shows voters reject extremism and want more links with the outside world. After avoiding a run-off with a 57% outright victory over his main rival, Mr Rouhani said he respected his opponents’ right to criticise him. Mr … Read more
Iran’s presidential election Friday is effectively a choice between moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani and hardline jurist Ebrahim Raisi, with major implications for everything from civil rights to relations with Washington. Rouhani is still seen as the frontrunner, but he faces a tougher than expected challenge from Raisi, who has rallied religious traditionalists and working-class voters … Read more
Polls opened in Iran on Friday with voters set to give their verdict on President Hassan Rouhani’s policy of opening up to the world and efforts to rebuild the stagnant economy. He faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who has positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a … Read more
Polls opened in Iran on Friday with voters set to give their verdict on President Hassan Rouhani’s policy of opening up to the world and efforts to rebuild the stagnant economy. He faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who has positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a … Read more
Iranians head to the polls Friday for a vote that has become a referendum on President Hassan Rouhani’s policy of opening up to the world and efforts to rebuild the stagnant economy. He faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who has positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for … Read more
Ebrahim Raisi, the leading rival to President Hassan Rouhani in Friday’s presidential election, is a hardline judge with close ties to the supreme leader who spent years in powerful backroom positions. Born into a religious family in the holy city of Mashhad on August 23, 1960, Raisi wears the black turban of a “seyed” whose … Read more
Iran, the Middle East’s second largest power by economy and population, is the Shiite Muslim rival of regional Sunni giant Saudi Arabia. Iran has the region’s second largest economy after Saudi Arabia. With 79.11 million inhabitants (2015, World Bank), it is also the second most populous country in the Middle East, after Egypt. A founding … Read more
Iranian voters will decide the fate of moderate President Hassan Rouhani and his policy of engagement with the West on Friday as he goes head-to-head with hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani has spent four years trying to pull Iran out of its global isolation, reaching a 2015 deal with world powers that ended some sanctions … Read more