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☆ Iran Pays You to Become Trans, but It Comes at a Cost — Your Dignity
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Joshua Nelken-Zitser | Additional Reporting Ida Reihani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

In 2007, The Guardian reported that Iran ranked second only to Thailand in the number of gender-affirming surgeries performed. Related stories"They told me I had two options," she told BI. Molkara, who died in 2012, was instrumental in securing the fatwa that legalized gender-affirming surgeries in Iran. Related stories"The questions were so graphic that my mom, at some point, left the room," she told BI. Homosexuality as a sinJavad Sadidi, a Mashhad surgeon who specializes in gender-affirming surgeries, told BI that the process takes a minimum of two years.

Persons: Varamini, He'd, Becca Kia, I'm, Ajoudani, she's, Vahid, Ruhollah Khomeini, Khomeini's, Maryam Khatoon Molkara, Molkara, Khomeini, Kaveh Kazemi, Legal Medicine Organization —, Pooya, Eugene Gologursky, it's, Sadidi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, SPENCER PLATT, Elina, Shadi Sadr, who's, Soheil, he's Organizations: Business, Guardian, Eleos, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Revolutionary Guard Corps, State Welfare Organization of, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Legal Medicine Organization, BI, Columbia University, Justice, Tristar Media, United, Lancet, Global Surgery, State Welfare Organization of Iran, Mahtaa Institute Locations: Tehran, Shayan, Iran, Thailand, Tehran's, Islamic Republic, Iraq, London, State Welfare Organization of Iran, Iranian American, Mashhad, Shadi, Iranian, Shadi Sadr, United Nations, Karaj, Canada

☆ Iran election: Mostly hardline candidates approved for next presidential vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Iranian election committee has approved a slate of mostly hardline candidates to run in the presidential election on June 28, following the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials last month. Out of 80 initial candidates, only six individuals were approved in a vetting process by Iran’s Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body charged with overseeing elections and legislation. The slate includes hardline parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Saeed Jalili, ex-chief nuclear negotiator and former head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body. Competition is expected to be fierce between Qalibaf and Jalili, both of whom backed Raisi in the 2021 presidential election. The Guardian Council has, however, also approved Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist lawmaker who served as parliament deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Saeed Jalili, ”, Sina Toossi, Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Alireza Zakani, Mostafa Pour Mohammad, Masoud, Pezeshkian, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani, growingly restive Organizations: CNN, Iran’s Guardian Council, Revolutionary, Supreme National Security Council, Center for International, Guardian Council Locations: Iranian, Iran

☆ Iran OKs 6 candidates for presidential race, but again blocks Ahmadinejad
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

He withdrew from the 2017 presidential campaign to support Raisi in his first failed presidential bid. Raisi won the 2021 election, which had the lowest turnout ever for a presidential vote in Iran, after every major opponent found themselves disqualified. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Raisi's vice president, ran in the 2021 presidential elections and came in last with just under 1 million votes. Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others were killed in the May 19 helicopter crash in the far northwest of Iran. Raisi was the second Iranian president to die in office.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Qalibaf, Raisi, Mahsa, Saeed Jalili, Alireza Zakani, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Masoud Pezeshkian, Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani, Hassan Rouhani, Larinjani, Abdolnasser Hemmati, Eshaq Jahangiri, Mohammad Ali Rajai Organizations: Iran's, firebrand, Raisi, Guardian Council, U.S, paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Guard, Guardian, Former Iranian Central Bank, Iranian Locations: Qom, Iran, Israel, Tehran, Raisi, Russia, Ukraine, Red, Gaza

☆ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iran’s ex-President Ahmadinejad to run again for leader, state TV says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Iran’s hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has registered to run for president in the country’s June 28 election, organized after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month, Iran’s state television reported on Sunday. However he could be barred from the race: the country’s cleric-led Guardian Council will vet candidates, and publish the list of qualified ones on June 11. Ahmadinejad, a former member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, was first elected as Iran’s president in 2005 and stepped down because of term limits in 2013. In 2018, in rare criticism directed at Khamenei, Ahmadinejad wrote to him calling for “free” elections. Khamenei had backed Ahmadinejad after his 2009 re-election triggered protests in which dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, rattling the ruling theocracy, before security forces led by the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) stamped out the unrest.

Persons: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ebrahim Raisi, Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “, Khamenei Organizations: Guardian, Revolutionary Guards, Guardian Council, Revolutionary Guards Corps

☆ Raisi’s funeral is about a lot more than the late Iranian president
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Unlike previous Iranian presidents, Raisi seemed content to serve as an empty vessel that carried out the reactionary policies of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the final arbiter on policymaking. So, when foreign dignitaries from a whopping 68 countries gathered for Raisi’s funeral on Thursday, they may not have been preoccupied with thoughts of the late president. Iranians follow a truck carrying the coffins of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions during a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran. “This (funeral) is a way for countries to show the progress they have made in repairing relations with Iran,” said Parsi. He could also decide to change tack, opening it up so that Iran’s next president enjoys broad popular support.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi’s, Raisi, Ali Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad –, Qassem Soleimani, Quincy Institute Trita Parsi, –, Ismail Haniyeh, Ebrahim Raisi, Majid Saeedi, Donald Trump, ”, Khamenei, “, ” Mohammad Ali Shabani, Amwaj.media, CNN’s Becky Anderson, that’s Organizations: CNN, Quincy Institute Trita, United Arab, Getty, Obama, country’s Guardian Council, Supreme Locations: East, Iran, ” Washington, Gaza, Tehran, Israel, Damascus, Turkey, India, China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Kuwait, Europe, Islamic Republic, country’s

☆ What the Death of Iran’s President Raisi Means for His Country, and the World - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Reuel Marc Gerecht | Ray Takeyh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not always seen eye to eye with his country’s presidents. Mr. Raisi was a revolutionary with an ideologue’s integrity. Despite this deep experience and loyalty, it wasn’t clear that Mr. Raisi would be a suitable successor to Mr. Khamenei, a development many observers and Iranians feared. Mr. Raisi only possessed the last. But even if his ascension was uncertain, Mr. Khamenei still relied upon the cleric to help manage the coming transition: Mr. Raisi was reportedly part of a three-man committee vested with the responsibility to choose the next supreme leader.

Persons: Ali Khamenei, Akbar Hashemi, Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hassan, Ebrahim Raisi, Mr, Khamenei, Raisi Organizations: Iran’s Locations: Islamic Republic

Khan Younis, Gaza CNN —Palestinians forced from their homes in Khan Younis by Israel’s military offensive have begun returning in small numbers to the southern Gaza city following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, with many arriving to find their former neighborhoods looking like wasteland. Former residents retrieve belongings from their homes in Khan Younis, Gaza, on April 7, 2024. AFP/Getty Images‘They destroyed us’Throughout the footage in Khan Younis, Israeli drones can be heard buzzing overhead, as can occasional gunshots. Graffiti left inside a building in Khan Younis, Gaza on April 7, 2024. Even for those now able to return to Khan Younis, there is little solace to be found.

Persons: Khan Younis, ”, Ahmad Hasaballah, it’s, “, Tamar, Saad, Mahmoud Ahmad, Israel, wouldn’t Organizations: Gaza CNN, CNN, Palestinian, European, Getty, Gaza’s Ministry of Interior Locations: Gaza, Khan, Khan Younis, Tamar, AFP, “ Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Palestinian

But in remarks on social media, she described the U.S. Embassy as a place she “HAD to visit.” Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard now runs it as a museum. Photos You Should See View All 45 Images“I'm sharing exhibits from a museum that are never seen," Wright wrote on Instagram. Masih Alinejad, a U.S.-based activist who has faced assassination and kidnapping attempts by Iran, also denounced Wright's visit. But there's been no media coverage of Wright's visit inside Iran, likely a sign of how tightly controlled journalists are after the 2022 demonstrations. Iranian state media have seized on the U.S. support of Israel to criticize the U.S. and opponents of its theocracy.

Persons: Whitney Wright, Narges Mohammadi, Mahsa Amini, Wright, “, ”, Ruhollah Khomeini, Nasser Kanaani, Setareh Pesiani, Iran's, Pesiani, Instagram, Masih Alinejad, Wright's, Rosa Parks, Alinejad, Candy, there's, Abdolreza, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mia Khalifa Organizations: JERUSALEM, U.S, Embassy, Associated Press, Revolutionary Guard, United Nations, Iranian Foreign Ministry, Israel, Islamic, U.S . State Department, AP, Washington, State Department Locations: Iran, Tehran, U.S, Oklahoma City, Islamic Republic, British, Gaza, Israel, Islamic Republic of Iran, East

☆ Fact Check: Image of Barack Obama bowing to Ayatollah Khamenei is fake
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Two separate photographs of former U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were digitally combined into a single image to make it appear as if Obama was bowing before Khamenei. It was captured by AFP photographer Atta Kenare and shows Khamenei looking toward Ahmadinejad while former Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashami Rafsanjani, are seen sitting next to Khamenei. The image of Obama bowing has been taken from an official White House photograph from May 8, 2009. Years later, Obama reconnected with the boy and posted a video about the encounter on Instagram (archived) on May 27, 2022. The image of Obama bowing to Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei is edited to combine two unrelated photographs.

Persons: Barack Obama, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Obama, Khamenei, ”, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Atta Kenare, Ahmadinejad, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Hashami Rafsanjani, Jacob Philadelphia, Read Organizations: Iran's, Twitter, Facebook, AFP, White House, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Iran’s, Tehran

Loved ones, some holding small American flags, enveloped them in hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, the main language of Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Iran’s security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap. In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

Persons: Joe Biden, Siamak Namazi, ”, Babak, Baquer, “, Biden, Iran’s, Ebrahim Raisi, ” Raisi, — Siamak, Emad, Tahbaz —, Timmy Davis, Namazi, Effie Namazi, Vida Tahbaz, Nasser Kanaani, Nour, Mehrdad Ansari, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, ” Biden, Bob Levinson, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Neda, ___ Gambrell, Jo, Nasser Karimi, Amir Vahdat, Matthew Lee, Paul Haven, Aamer Madhani, Michelle Phillips, Eric Tucker, Farnoush Amiri Organizations: WASHINGTON, Republican, Democratic, United Nations General Assembly, U.S, South, Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nour News, Mideast, Social, Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, Embassy, Associated Press Locations: Iran, Fort Belvoir , Virginia, Tehran, Doha, Qatar, New York, America, Persian, U.S, Strait, Hormuz, United States, South Korea, Iranian, Korea, Islamic Republic, American, British, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Washington

NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A detainee swap that secured the release of five Americans held in Iran on Monday does not change Washington's adversarial relationship with Tehran, although the door remains open for diplomacy over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, a senior administration official said. Even so, they said the door for diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program was not entirely shut. It was unclear if the official meant to deny any indirect talks, or if he was deliberately leaving the door open for them. After taking office in January 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden tried to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under which Iran had restricted its nuclear program in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. sanctions. However, earlier this year Washington and Tehran began exploring what analysts describe as "understandings" - which Washington has never acknowledged - to lower tensions over nuclear and other issues.

Persons: Washington, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Humeyra Pamuk, Stephen Coates Organizations: Biden, The U.S, United Nations General Assembly, Union, U.S, Republican, Iran, Thomson Locations: Iran, Tehran, United States, Qatar, The, Yemen, New York, U.S, Washington, South Korea, Doha

☆ Opinion: Iranian women know which battles to fight. They’ve been doing it for decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Mahnaz Afkhami | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Editor’s note: Mahnaz Afkhami was the minister of women’s affairs in Iran’s government before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her most recent book is “The Other Side of Silence: A Memoir of Exile, Iran, and the Global Women’s Movement,” published by the University of North Carolina Press. Iranian women have been deprived of the rights that they know and for which they have worked. This may be the first women-led counterrevolution in history — and it’s one in which men and women have participated together. Join us on Twitter and FacebookIn every area of endeavor that does not need government engagement, the women of Iran have succeeded.

Persons: Mahnaz Afkhami, ”, CNN —, Mahsa, Mahnaz, Mahsa Amini, Ruhollah Khomeini, “, Mohammad Khatami’s, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Organizations: Women’s Learning, Foundation, Iranian Studies, Global, University of North Carolina Press, CNN, Getty, Green Movement, Protesters, Twitter, Facebook, Islamic Locations: Iran, Kurdish Iranian, Islamic Republic, Tehran, Qom

☆ Iranian President Raisi begins Africa trip with visit to Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Raisi's trip to Africa, which will also take him to Uganda and Zimbabwe, is the first by an Iranian president in more than a decade, and represents a bid to diversify economic ties in the face of crippling U.S. sanctions. Iran stepped up its diplomatic outreach to developing world countries after then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched a nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. In June, Raisi visited three Latin American countries to shore up support with allies also saddled with U.S. sanctions. Raisi is expected to next fly to Uganda to discuss trade and bilateral relations with President Yoweri Museveni, and then to Zimbabwe. The last Iranian leader to visit Africa was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, William Ruto, Donald Trump, Raisi, Kenya's, Yoweri Museveni, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bhargav Acharya, Hereward, Aaron Ross, Jason Neely Organizations: Kenyan, Ruto, Thomson Locations: NAIROBI, Africa, Tehran, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Iran, Kenya, East, Hereward Holland

☆ Iran's President Raisi embarks on Africa tour to boost trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi received a red-carpet welcome from Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on Wednesday as he began a three-country tour of Africa that Tehran has touted as a “new beginning” in relations with the continent. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (C) inspects the guard of honour during his state visit at the State House in Nairobi on July 12, 2023. Raisi is expected to next fly to Uganda to discuss trade and bilateral relations with President Yoweri Museveni, and then to Zimbabwe. In June, Raisi visited three Latin American countries to shore up support with allies also saddled with US sanctions. Iran’s trade with African countries will increase to more than $2 billion this year, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, without providing a comparative figure for 2022.

Persons: Reuters —, Ebrahim Raisi, William Ruto, Simon Maina, Ruto, Raisi, Kenya’s, Yoweri Museveni, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Shoring, Donald Trump Organizations: Reuters, Kenyan, State, Getty, Ruto Locations: Africa, Tehran, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nairobi, AFP, Iran, Kenya, Central, East

☆ Israel urges Brazil to undock Iranian warships
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, March 2 (Reuters) - Israel on Thursday criticised Brazil's decision to grant berth to two Iranian warships in the face of U.S. pressure, and urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government to send them away. Reuters reported that Brazil had declined to admit them in January, in a goodwill gesture from Lula as he flew to Washington to meet U.S. President Joe Biden. Lior Haiat, spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry, called the Brazilian berth for the warships "a dangerous and regretful development," accusing the Iranian navy of cooperating with sanctioned entities in Tehran. In a Feb. 15 press conference, the U.S. ambassador to Brazil had urged it not to allow the ships to dock. A Feb. 23 notice in a Brazilian gazette said the warships had been given permission to dock between Feb. 26 and March 4.

[1/2] Iranian military ship Iris Makran navigates on the coast of Rio de Janeiro as a Brazilian flag flutters in Copacabana Beach, Brazil, February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ricardo MoraesRIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Two Iranian warships docked in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government granted permission despite pressure from the United States to bar them. "In the past, those ships facilitated illegal trade and terrorist activities, and have also been sanctioned by the United States. Brazil is a sovereign nation, but we firmly believe those ships should not dock anywhere," she said. He traveled to Tehran to meet then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2010 as he sought to broker a nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.

That window has been scrapped, with the ships now authorized to dock between Feb. 26 and March 3, the Brazil's foreign ministry said. A Brazilian military source confirmed that the federal government, via the foreign ministry, had shifted the dates and blocked the Iranian ships from docking. "The Iranian ships could not come during this period." A spokesperson for Brazil's foreign ministry said it was a "wrong assumption" to say Washington had pressured Brazil. Lula recoiled at U.S. sanctions on Iran and has declined to choose sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, saying Brazil is neutral and wants dialogue to reach peace.

☆ Analysis: Iran's unrest sounds death knell for once vibrant reformists
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It highlighted the main problem facing reformists in a system where Khamenei, 83 and in power since 1989, wields ultimate power. "People feel reformists helped hardliners by promising reforms that were impossible with hardliners in power," a former official who served in the Khatami administration told Reuters. The reform movement is dead." That view has been echoed in the streets where protesters have grouped reformists with hardliners as part of the problem. The fact is that the reform movement is dead, its has been dead for some time," he said.

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