The six candidates standing in Iran’s presidential election squared off in their first ever live television debate Friday, with moderate President Hassan Rouhani coming under fire from a key rival. Televised debates are a relatively new feature of Iranian presidential elections, and are believed to have influenced the results of votes in 2009 and 2013. … Read more
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Tuesday on candidates for next month’s presidential election not to look to other countries as examples for progress. The May 19 election will see incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani face off against two highly-touted conservative rivals. Speaking at a meeting of ambassadors from Muslim nations in Tehran, Khamenei encouraged … Read more
Iran and major powers were set to review adherence to their 2015 nuclear agreement on Tuesday, as uncertainty grows about the landmark accord’s future under US President Donald Trump. The regular quarterly meeting was expected to hear, as Washington confirmed last week, that Iran is sticking to its deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, … Read more
Election season is under way in Iran and the rumour mill is in overdrive as the public tries to divine the backroom machinations that have thrown up major surprises in the past. “I looked back at the cables our embassy was sending out just a few weeks before the last election,” said a Western diplomat … Read more
Iran’s foreign minister mocked US President Donald Trump’s claim Tehran was “not living up to the spirit” of the nuclear deal on Friday, saying Washington was flouting the accord. “We’ll see if US prepared to live up to letter of #JCPOA (nuclear deal) let alone spirit,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted. “So far, it … Read more
Campaigning began on Friday for Iran’s presidential election with incumbent Hassan Rouhani facing a tough battle against hardliners, though not from former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was barred from standing. Ahmadinejad’s disqualification by the conservative-run Guardian Council was no surprise — he had been advised not to run by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who … Read more
Iran is “not living up to the spirit” of the nuclear deal struck with world powers in 2015, US President Donald Trump said Thursday, warning America would set out its position on that soon. Trump’s administration has been publicly tightening the noose on Iran over the deal, which was negotiated by the five permanent UN … Read more
President Hassan Rouhani was among six candidates approved Thursday by Iran’s conservative-dominated Guardian Council to run in next month’s election while former leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was barred, state media reported. The other candidates selected were hardliners Ebrahim Raisi and Mostafa Mirsalim, Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, veteran politician Mostafa Hashemitaba and Rouhani’s ally and vice-president … Read more
President Hassan Rouhani was among six candidates approved Thursday by Iran’s conservative-dominated Guardian Council to run in next month’s election while former leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was barred, state media reported. The other candidates selected were hardliners Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, conservative Mostafa Mirsalim, former minister Mostafa Hashemitaba and Rouhani’s ally and vice-president Eshaq … Read more
Iran’s interior ministry said Thursday there would be no live debates in the run-up to next month’s presidential election. “Based on a decision by the Election Campaign Monitoring Commission, the election debates of the candidates will be broadcast pre-recorded,” interior ministry spokesman Seyed Salman Samani said. President Hassan Rouhani, who has registered to run for … Read more
The US secretary of state has accused Iran of “alarming ongoing provocations” aimed at destabilising the Middle East and undermining America’s interests. “An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it,” Rex Tillerson said. The US has ordered a review of the … Read more
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday criticised “worn-out” US accusations that it was seeking a nuclear weapon to threaten the region and the world. “Worn-out US accusations can’t mask its admission of Iran’s compliance” with a 2015 nuclear deal, Zarif wrote on Twitter. Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes … Read more
Growing cultural ties between Iran and Europe were on display on Wednesday night as a French-Iranian conductor became one of the first Westerners to lead the Tehran Symphony Orchestra since the revolution. Iran’s efforts to rebuild ties with the West — most notably through a nuclear deal with world powers — have triggered a flood … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused Iran of “alarming ongoing provocations” aimed at destabilising the Middle East and undermining America’s interests in the region. “An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it,” Mr Tillerson said. However, the US admits … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused Iran of “alarming ongoing provocations” aimed at destabilising the Middle East and undermining America’s interests in the region. “An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and to take the world along with it,” Mr Tillerson said. President Donald Trump earlier … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson branded the Iran nuclear deal a failure Wednesday as President Donald Trump ordered a review of how Washington is countering the threat from Tehran. The State Department admits that Iran has so far maintained its side of the bargain it struck with world powers in 2015 to curtail its … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he has told Congress of plans to review whether sanctions relief given to Iran as part of the 2015 nuclear deal was in US national security interests. The notification came as the White House certified that Iran was complying with its commitments under the nuclear deal negotiated by … Read more
Registration to run in Iran’s election on May 19 closed on Saturday, with more than 1,600 hopefuls throwing their hats in the ring. The conservative-controlled Guardian Council will whittle that number down over the next fortnight — normally to around half a dozen — with the campaign set to start on April 28. More than … Read more
Registration for next month’s Iranian presidential election closed on Saturday, with more than 1,600 hopefuls signing up, including a last-minute entry by Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. The 55-year-old conservative mayor had given mixed signals about whether he would make a third bid for the presidency, but showed up at the interior ministry just before … Read more
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the driving force behind a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, registered on Friday to run for re-election next month, state television footage showed. The politically moderate cleric faces a tougher than expected battle for a second term on May 19 as criticism mounts over the continued stagnation of the economy. … Read more