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Read previewTop Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Iran, according to a statement from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps early Wednesday. Haniyeh, 62, was the leader of Hamas' political wing. He had traveled to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's new president, according to multiple reports. Khan collectively accused Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas' military wing, of war crimes and crimes of humanity on October 7. When contacted for comment on Iranian state media reports, the Israeli military told CNN they "don't respond to reports in the foreign media."

Persons: —, Ismail Haniyeh, Israel, Haniyeh, Masoud, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's, Karim Khan, Khan, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Haniyeh's Organizations: Service, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Tasnim, Wednesday, New York Times, Associated Press, CNN, Business, Hamas, The Times, Criminal, Pentagon, Israel Defense Forces Locations: Iran, Tehran, Qatar, Israel, Gaza, Beirut, Golan

☆ The killing of a top Hamas leader in its backyard is 'humiliating' for Iran, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewIsmail Haniyeh, the leader of the political wing of Hamas, was killed on Wednesday. Ismail Haniyeh (left) meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, on July 30, 2024. According to Middle East and military experts, Haniyeh's death is a "humiliating" blow to Iran. A new phase of brinkmanshipTensions between Israel and Iran were high even before Haniyeh's killing. MOSAB SHAWER/AFP via Getty ImagesSince Hamas launched terror attacks on Israel on October 7, groups allied with Iran — the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah — have targeted Israel, with attacks sometimes spilling over into neighboring countries and directly involving Iran.

Persons: —, Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Nobody, Israel didn't, Andrew Fox, Henry Jackson, Fox, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Ameneh, Farzan, MOSAB SHAWER, Burcu, Fuad Shukr Organizations: Service, Business, Iran's, KHAMENEI.IR, Getty Images, Henry, Henry Jackson Society, New York Times, East, Global Governance Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute, BI, West, Getty, —, Middle East Security, Royal United Services Institute, Fox Locations: Iran, Tehran, AFP, Israel, Middle East, Iranian, West Bank, Hebron, Syria, Beirut, Iraq, Yemen, Red, ACLED, Lebanon

☆ Iran's new president may be a reformist, but change remains distant
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visits to the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran on July 06, 2024. Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty ImagesIran on Friday elected its first "reformist" president in 20 years, signaling many voters' rejection of hardline conservative policies amid low turnout of just 49%, according to official figures. Iran's sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili are set to go to runoffs after securing the highest number of votes in Iran's presidential election, the interior ministry said. "This is why many Iranians have lost hope in bringing about change through the ballot boxes and are boycotting elections." "The core structure of Iran's theocratic regime, where a Supreme Leader's authority eclipses that of any president, will remain steadfastly intact… In essence, Iran's theocracy is designed to resist meaningful change."

Persons: Masoud Pezeshkian, Ruhollah Khomeini, Fatemeh, Masoud, Ibrahim Raisi, Sina, Toossi, Massoud Pezeshkian, Majid Saeedi, Mohammad Khatami, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Nader Itayim, Khamenei, Itayim, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh, Hashemi Alireza Zakani, Saeed Jalili, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Iran's, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, Atta Kenare, Ben Taleblu, Pezeshkhian, Mahsa Amini, Amini, Mahsa, Ozan Kose, Pezeshkian's Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Center for International, CNBC, Guardian Council, Argus Media, Vehicles, Afp, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, AFP, for Human Rights, Trump Locations: Tehran, Iran, Afrasiabi, Islamic Republic, Mideast, Washington, Pezeshkian, Kurdish Iranian, Iranian, Istanbul

☆ Incumbents pay the price in year of global elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

And elections in Taiwan and South Korea proved the dynamism of the idea that free elections can promote stable governance. The two round French election system once again kept the far-right out of power on Sunday but Macron’s gamble didn’t exactly pay off. An era of political turmoil now looms with a hung parliament, a likely shaky coalition and instability ahead of the next presidential election in 2027. Kevin Coombs/ReutersIndonesiaPrabowo Subianto, a former army general, won the presidential election in the world’s fourth most populous nation, which is home to its largest Muslim population. IranIran wasn’t supposed to have a presidential election this year.

Persons: El, they’ve, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, Trump —, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Le, Macron, Keir Starmer, Kevin Coombs, Suharto, Narendra Modi, Adnan Abidi, Imran Khan, Nawaz, Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Sheikh Hasina, Vladimir Putin, Alexey Navalny, Putin, El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, ”, Bukele, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, ObturadorMX, Claudia Sheinbaum, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum, Lai Ching, Yoon Suk Yeol, André Ventura, Peter Pellegrini, Robert Fico, Fico, Nelson Mandela —, —, Macky Sall, Sall, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Ebrahim Raisi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Masoud Pezeshkian, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, Pezeshkian Organizations: CNN, European Union, United States –, France, European People’s Party, Popular Front, Britain Voters, Conservative, Labour Party, Reuters, Reuters Indonesia Prabowo, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan People’s Party, Bangladeshi, Kremlin, El, El Salvador Strongman, El Salvador —, Getty, Democratic Progressive Party, Portugal Incumbents, Democratic Alliance coalition, Putin, Russian, South Africa Voters, National Congress, ANC, Democratic Alliance Locations: France, Britain, Iran, El Salvador, Slovakia, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, United States, India, Senegal, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, London, Reuters Indonesia, Subianto, New Delhi, Reuters Pakistan, Pakistan, —, Bangladesh, South Asia, America, China, Beijing, Portugal, Ukraine, Europe, Senegal Senegal, Africa, Sall, Iran Iran, Islamic Republic

☆ Hopes for a Diplomatic Opening Rise Under Iran’s New President
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the election of the reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian as president, Iran may see a softening of its absolutist foreign policy and even an opportunity for a new diplomatic opening, current and former officials and experts say. Mr. Pezeshkian, a cardiologist, member of Parliament and former health minister, has little direct experience in foreign policy. But he has pledged to empower Iran’s most elite and globalist diplomats to run his foreign agenda, raising hopes of a warmer relationship with the West. Mr. Pezeshkian “represents a more pragmatic posture and less confrontational posture toward the outside and the inside,” said Dennis B. Ross, who served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama and is a longtime Mideast negotiator. Still, Mr. Ross noted, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “would do a great deal to limit” Mr. Pezeshkian’s international agenda.

Persons: Masoud Pezeshkian, Pezeshkian, Pezeshkian “, ”, Dennis B, Ross, Barack Obama, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “ Locations: Iran

☆ Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gets powerful ships to confront adversaries well beyond the Persian Gulf
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Read previewIn the last three years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has commissioned hundreds of new vessels. AdvertisementThe Shahid Hassan Bagheri is one of three new Soleimani-class missile corvettes that are the most heavily armed warships in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's fleet. Despite being lightly armed, it has a record of harassing US vessels and civilian ships in the Persian Gulf. AdvertisementThree Soleimani-class corvettes, Shahid Soleimani, Shahid Hassan Bagheri, and Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, have been commissioned, while a fourth, Shahid Ra'is-Ali Delvari, is under construction. AdvertisementMahdavi will eventually be joined by another converted container ship, the Shahid Bagheri.

Persons: —, Shahid Hassan Bagheri, Morteza Nikoubazl, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Shahid Soleimani, Nazeri, Shahid Nazeri, SAMs, Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, Shahid Ra'is, Ali Delvari, Hassan Bagheri, Abu Mahdi al, Shahid, Alireza Tangsiri, Shahid Mahdavi, 400Y8DYPlr — Mehdi H, Shahid Roudaki, Roudaki, Mahdavi, Lewis B, Puller, Shahid Bagheri, Bagheri, Tangsiri, IRGCN, Ayatollah Khamenei, Nadimi, Saviz, Diego Garcia, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Business, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US, Quds Force, Guard, Southern Hemisphere, American, British, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Persian, Gulf of Oman, Hormuz, China, Russia, Taiwan, Norway, Yemen, Makran, Morteza, Israel, Lebanon, Hamas, Gaza, Syria, Mahdavi, West

☆ Iranians are voting in a presidential runoff. What will it mean for the world?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Here’s what to expect on Friday’ second round of elections, and how the results could impact Iran and the world. During the first round, Pezeshkian led with 42.5% of the votes, followed by Jalili with 38.6%, according to the state news agency IRNA. In a move that shocked observers, the man who led Ghalibaf’s electoral campaign, Sami Nazari Tarkarani, also declared his support for reformist Pezeshkian, Khabar Online reported. People drive past a billboard with pictures of presidential candidates Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili on a street in Tehran, Iran, on Monday. Presidential candidates Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili attend an election debate at a television studio in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday.

Persons: CNN — Iran’s, Ebrahim Raisi, Masoud Pezeshkian, Saeed Jalili, Raisi, Hossein Amir, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Pezeshkian, –, Khamenei, ”, hardliner Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Jalili, ” Parsi, Sardar Mohsen Rashid, Rashid, Sami Nazari Tarkarani, Ghalibaf, Sanam Vakil, “, ” Sina Toossi, ” Pezeshkian, Toossi, Majid Asgaripour, Iran’s, ” Jalili, Israel sharpens, Israel “, Israel Katz, ” Ali Vaez, Vaez, CNN’s Becky Anderson, Saeed Jalili , Morteza Fakhri, Parsi, ” Vakil Organizations: CNN, Foreign, Guardian Council, IRNA, Quincy Institute, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Pezeshkian, Khabar, North Africa, Chatham House, Center for International Policy, Trump, Islamic, International Atomic Energy Agency, UN, Israeli, Group, Reuters Locations: Islamic Republic, Iran, tatters, Israel, United States, Tehran, Washington, Iranian, East, London, Washington ,, Gaza, Lebanon

☆ Four Takeaways From Iran’s Presidential Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-30 | by ( Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iranian voters signaled their disenchantment with Iran’s system of clerical rule in the country’s presidential election on Friday, going to the polls in record-low numbers to help two establishment candidates limp to a runoff. That postpones for another week the question of who will steer Iran through challenges including a sickly economy, the gulf between rulers and ruled and a nearby war that keeps threatening to drag Iran further in. But despite belonging to two different camps, neither man is expected to bring major change to Iran, given that they must govern with the ultimate approval of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Here are the most important takeaways emerging from Friday’s election. Only 40 percent of eligible Iranians voted on Friday, according to government figures, a historically low turnout for an Iranian presidential race — even lower than the 41 percent level reported for Iran’s parliamentary elections this year.

Persons: Masoud Pezeshkian, Saeed Jalili, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Locations: Iran

☆ Khamenei protégé, sole moderate neck and neck in Iran presidential race
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A citizen is seen in front of the candidates posters for the 14th presidential elections on the streets ahead of the early presidential election in Tehran, Iran on June 27, 2024. A low-key moderate and a protégé of Iran's supreme leader are neck-and-neck in the vote count in snap presidential elections marked by voter apathy over economic hardships and social restrictions. More than 14 million votes have been counted so far from Friday's vote, of which the sole moderate candidate Massoud Pezeshkian had won over 5.9 million votes and his hardline challenger former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili over 5.5 million, provisional results by the interior ministry showed. The clerical establishment sought a high turnout to offset a legitimacy crisis fuelled by public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedom. The next president is not expected to usher in any major policy shift on Iran's nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters.

Persons: Massoud Pezeshkian, Saeed Jalili, Ebrahim Raisi, Ali Khamenei, Khamenei Locations: Tehran, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Hezbollah, Lebanon

☆ Iranians vote for a new president under the shadow of conflict and economic woes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Joseph Ataman | Frederik Pleitgen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

The vote takes place amid deteriorating relations with the West, an advancing Iranian nuclear program, and an increasing risk of direct war with Israel. Iranian presidential candidate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s supporters gathered on the final day of campaigning to hear him speak, in Tehran, Iran on Thursday. Some polls have shown increasing popularity for Pezeshkian, with the rest of the conservatives splitting the vote. Khamenei urged Iranians to head to the polls and vote after he cast his ballot in the election on Friday morning. Saeed Jalili, ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator and Iranian presidential candidate, holds a rally in Tehran, Iran, on June 24.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir, Ali Khamenei, Mahsa, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s, Joseph Ataman, Masoud Pezeshkian, Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Khamenei, Amini’s, Pezeshkian, Iran’s, Amirhossein Qazizadeh, Hashemi, Alireza Zakani, Qazizadeh, who’ve, ”, Arash Azizi, Saddam Hussein, Masoud, Morteza, “, Sina Toossi, Narges Mohammadi, ” Ahmad, Ghalibaf, ” Ghalibaf, ” Mariam, Raisi, ” Cheers, ” Mohammad, ” Parsi, Javad Zarif, Zarif, ” Khamenei, Trump, Biden Organizations: Iran CNN —, Foreign, Iran’s, West, CNN, Iran’s Guardian Council, Center for Middle East, Global, Quincy Institute, Experts, Islamic, Center for International Policy, Trump, Pezeshkian, Getty, Washington Locations: Tehran, Iran, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Islamic Republic, Iranian, Berlin, Iraq, Washington, Washington ,, Shiroudi, ”

☆ Iran votes for its new president amid economic strife, crackdowns and regional war
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Iranians will go to the polls against the backdrop of a battered economy, widespread popular discontent and harsh crackdowns on dissent. Iran is also dealing with high inflation, heavy Western sanctions, mounting tensions with the U.S., ramped-up Iranian nuclear enrichment and the Israel-Hamas war. On issues of foreign policy and war, the Iranian president wields some influence and is the country's public-facing messenger. But power and critical decision-making in Iran ultimately lies with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and unelected institutions like the Revolutionary Guards. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks with media after casting his ballot during the Iranian Parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections at the Leadership office in Tehran, Iran, on March 1, 2024.

Persons: ATTA KENARE, Ebrahim Raisi, —, Iran's, Ali Vaez, Rafat, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Saeed Jalili, Masoud Pezeshkian, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Alireza Zakani, Qalibaf, Jalili, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Masoud, Pezeshkian, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Pourmohammadi, Ayatollah Khamenei, Morteza Nikoubazl Organizations: Western, U.S, Guardian Council, Council, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Supreme National Security Council, Islamic Consultative Assembly, Revolutionary, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, House, Revolutionary Guards, Iran's, Iranian Parliamentary Locations: Tehran, AFP Iran, Iran, Israel, Iranian, Iran's, Washington

☆ 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

☆ Opinion | A Nuclear Iran Has Never Felt More Possible
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( John Ghazvinian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Up to now, for reasons experts often debate, Iran has never made the decision to build a nuclear weapon, despite having at least most of the resources and capabilities it needs to do so, as far as we know. But Mr. Raisi’s death has created an opportunity for the hard-liners in the country who are far less allergic to the idea of going nuclear than the regime has been for decades. Even before Mr. Raisi’s death, there were indications that Iran’s position might be starting to shift. The recent exchange of hostilities with Israel, a country with an undeclared but widely acknowledged nuclear arsenal, has provoked a change of tone in Tehran. “We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran’s existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine,” Kamal Kharrazi, a leading adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said on May 9.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Raisi’s, ” Kamal Kharrazi, ”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Locations: Israel, Iran, Tehran, “, Iranian

☆ Iran Prepares to Bury President Raisi
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran’s president will be laid to rest in his hometown on Thursday, capping days of funeral observances after his death in a helicopter crash left the country without one of its highest-profile leaders. The deceased president, Ebrahim Raisi, will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam. Before that, his body was flown from Tehran, the capital, to the eastern city of Birjand for a funeral procession. Ayatollah Khamenei led funeral prayers on Wednesday for Mr. Raisi and the other victims of the crash before the coffins were driven through the packed streets of Tehran in a large-scale procession. Several had private sit-downs with the supreme leader, who that night visited Mr. Raisi’s family at their home, according to the state news media.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Reza, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Ayatollah Khamenei, —, Raisi’s Organizations: Mr Locations: Mashhad, Islam, Tehran, Birjand, Iranian, Jolfa, Iran

☆ New Iranian foreign minister a familiar face for US officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Katie Bo Lillis | Mj Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

One familiar name stood out to US officials: the new acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani. Just last week in Oman, Kani was part of a delegation of senior Iranian officials that met indirectly with US officials, current and former officials said. In the wake of the death of so many of his top officials, US officials believe that Khamenei will work to ensure that replacements adhere to his hardline worldview. “It’s difficult to see there will be any major changes in the way Iran behaves on the world stage,” a senior administration official said. In talks with Iranian officials in Oman last week, US officials once again laid out for their counterparts the consequences of Iran’s destabilizing actions, behavior and policies, according to the senior administration official and a US official.

Persons: Ali Bagheri Kani, Kani, Biden, Ebrahim Raisi, Ali Khamenei, Raisi, Jonathan Panikoff, ” Khamenei, Khamenei, ”, Panikoff, “, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Vahid, –, Matt Miller Organizations: CNN, US, Supreme, Experts, Tehran ”, State Department Locations: Iran, United States, Oman, Gaza, Washington, Tehran, Israel, Kani

☆ Iran’s Use of Proxy Warfare Likely to Persist, Experts Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Alissa J. Rubin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Those groups — Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, multiple militias in Iraq and Hamas in the Palestinian territories — are central to Iran’s ability to wield influence far beyond its borders despite being under strict economic sanctions for decades. Iran works with these groups through the Quds Force, a division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. answers directly to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not to the government run by the president. On Tuesday morning, Iran-linked groups in Iraq announced that they had launched a strike at a base in Israel. It was as if Iran’s allies were signaling that it was business as usual by making the kinds of attacks that have become commonplace in recent months.

Persons: Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, ”, Parsi Organizations: Quds Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iraq, Quincy Institute, Responsible Locations: Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanese, Israel

☆ Iran’s Supreme Leader Leads Funeral Prayers for President
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, performed funeral prayers on Wednesday for the country’s president who was killed in a helicopter crash, as thousands of Iranians packed the streets of Tehran on an official day of mourning. The president, Ebrahim Raisi, 63, was killed along with Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, 60, and five others traveling with them on Sunday. Funeral observances began on Tuesday with a procession in Tabriz, the closest big city to the crash site in northwestern Iran. Iran’s security forces implemented tight restrictions on vehicle movement and parking in the area where funeral processions would begin, the Tehran police chief, Col. Abdolfazl Mousavipour, told state television overnight. State television also reported that public transportation would be free on Wednesday — declared a national holiday — to enable people to attend the funeral.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Raisi, Abdolfazl Mousavipour, — Organizations: Tehran police, University of Tehran Locations: Tehran, Tabriz, Iran, Qom

☆ Raisi helicopter crash: Some in Iran claim US sanctions to blame but the truth may be more complicated
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Even before Iran’s army chief Mohammad Bagheri ordered an investigation into the helicopter crash that cost the Islamic Republic the lives of two of its top politicians, blame was being laid at America’s door. People mourn the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash the previous day, at Valiasr Square, on May 20, 2024 in Tehran, Iran. The next question might be, knowing the weather was bad and having three helicopters on the journey, why put both president and foreign minister in the same aircraft? Former Foreign Minister Zarif would want the world to believe Iran’s technological core has been hollowed out by US sanctions, but that allegation too is tainted by hubris. Iran’s presidents are not idle, they need to go places.

Persons: Mohammad Bagheri, Ebrahim Raisi, Javad Zarif acidly, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Raisi –, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Malek Rahmati, Mohammed Ali Alehashem –, Ilham Aliyav, Majid Saeedi, Yemen’s Houthis, AKINCI, Ali Khamenei, –, Russia –, Zarif, Raisi Organizations: CNN, Islamic, Bell, Turkish Transport, Revolutionary Guard Corps, Former Locations: Islamic Republic, America’s, United States, Iran, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Tehran, Turkish, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey

☆ Iran begins days of nationwide funeral rites for President Ebrahim Raisi after helicopter crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People attend funeral ceremony, held for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his senior officials died in a helicopter crash, in Tabriz, Iran on May 21, 2024. Thousands of mourners descended on Tabriz on Tuesday for a funeral ceremony honoring Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who perished in a helicopter crash over the weekend, leaving an indelible void in the country's leadership succession plans. Some mourners are shown brandishing photographs of Raisi, while others trooped behind lines awaiting the procession. Services for Raisi will be held between Tuesday and Thursday in Tabriz, Qom, Birjand and Iranian capital Tehran. "Our honorable Raisi worked tirelessly," Khamenei said on the X social media platform on Monday.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amirabdollahian, IRNA, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi, Khamenei, Butcher, Mahsa, Amirabdolahian, Bashar Assad Organizations: Iranian, Islamic Republic News Agency, CNBC, Raisi, Human Rights Watch, Palestinian, Hamas Locations: Tabriz, Iran, Qom, Birjand, Tehran, Mashhad, Azerbaijan, East, Israel

☆ Oil prices fall on fear of high U.S. interest rates depressing demand
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Oil storage drums stacked in the Keihin industrial area of Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on Monday, April 15, 2024. Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Tuesday, with investors anticipating higher-for-longer U.S. inflation and interest rates will depress consumer and industrial demand. "Fears of weaker demand led to selling as the prospect of Fed rate cut became more distant," said analyst Toshitaka Tazawa at Fujitomi Securities. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, freeing up funds which could boost economic growth and demand for oil. OPEC+ could extend some voluntary output cuts if demand fails to pick up, people with knowledge of the matter previously told Reuters.

Persons: Toshitaka Tazawa, Philip Jefferson, Michael Barr, Raphael Bostic, Ebrahim Raisi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mohammed Bin Salman, Fujitomi's Tazawa Organizations: Brent, . West Texas, Federal, Fujitomi Securities, Atlanta Fed, Reuters, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Iranian, Investors, Organization of, Petroleum Locations: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, Saudi, OPEC

☆ Iran Begins Funeral Events for President Raisi
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Funeral events for Iran’s president and foreign minister began in northwestern Iran on Tuesday as investigators looked into the helicopter crash that killed them and the country grappled with the shock of losing two of its most prominent leaders at a volatile moment. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has announced five days of mourning for the president, Ebrahim Raisi, 63, and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, 60, who died when their helicopter plunged into a mountainous area near the Iranian city of Jolfa on Sunday. The state news media said the crash had resulted from a “technical failure.” Iran’s Armed Forces said it had begun an investigation and sent a team to the site. Some people held photographs of Mr. Raisi; the semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that the country’s interior minister and acting president had been spotted in the crowd. He had been widely viewed as a potential successor to Ayatollah Khamenei, 85.

Persons: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Raisi, Amir Abdollahian, Ayatollah Khamenei Organizations: Iran’s, Forces Locations: Iran, Iranian, Jolfa, Tabriz

☆ After Raisi’s Death, Elections Pose Tricky Test for Iran’s Rulers
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, Iran’s leaders could point to high voter turnouts in their elections as proof of the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic’s political system. He could ensure that the presidential elections, which the Constitution mandates must happen within 50 days after Mr. Raisi’s death, are open to all, from hard-liners to reformists. Or he can repeat his strategy of recent elections, and block not only reformist rivals but even moderate, loyal opposition figures. That choice might leave him facing the embarrassment of even lower voter turnout, a move that would be interpreted as a stinging rebuke of his increasingly authoritarian state. Voter turnout in Iran has been on a downward trajectory in the last several years.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Ali Khamenei, Raisi’s Locations: Iran

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Benny Gantz ultimatum, Netanyahu government in turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, on May 19. It has also brought a decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel out into the open. But the proxy war continues with Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah continuing to fight Israel’s forces. The powers of Iran's president are ultimately dwarfed by those of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the final arbiter of domestic and foreign affairs in the Islamic Republic. That means Iran's clerical establishment, headed by Khamenei, must now find a new leader they can throw their support behind against a backdrop of intense regional insecurity and domestic discontent.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Azin, Israel —, Israel, Mahsa, Raisi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, —, Mohammad Mokhbar —, Khamenei Organizations: Moj News Agency, Hamas, Revolutionary Guards, United Locations: Varzaghan, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Damascus, Iranian, Isfahan, United Nations, Islamic Republic

☆ After Raisi’s Death, Hard-Liners Are Expected to Keep Grip on Power
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The sudden death of Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, opens a new chapter of instability just as the increasingly unpopular Islamic Republic is engaged in selecting its next supreme leader. Mr. Raisi, 63, had been considered a prime candidate, especially favored by the powerful Revolutionary Guards. Even before the helicopter crash that killed Mr. Raisi, the regime had been consumed with internal political struggles as the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, is in declining health. But given the Islamic Republic is facing internal protests, a weak economy, endemic corruption and tensions with Israel, analysts expect little change in Iran’s foreign or domestic policies. Ayatollah Khamenei has set the direction for the country, and any new president will not alter it much.

Persons: Ebrahim Raisi, Mr, Raisi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, ”, Ali Vaez Organizations: Revolutionary Guards, Crisis Locations: Republic, Islamic Republic, Israel, Iran

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