Ali Khamenei

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Khamenei Vows 'Crushing Response' Against US, Israel

Iranian supreme leader's threat comes over attacks on Iran and its allies

(Newser) - Iran's supreme leader on Saturday threatened Israel and the US with a "crushing response" over attacks on Iran and its allies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke as Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that...

Khamenei's New X Account in Hebrew Is Quickly Suspended

Iran's supreme leader has had multiple social media accounts for years

(Newser) - The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew, the AP reports. The account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: "X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules....

Critic Tweets a Period to Iran Leader, Gets 12 Years

Lawyer argues Hossein Shanbehzadeh's sentence stems from false allegations

(Newser) - Iranian blogger Hossein Shanbehzadeh is no stranger to incarceration. A longtime critic of Iran's leadership, he was jailed in 2019 for online comments insulting supreme leader Ali Khamenei. But he's now been hit with a 12-year sentence "for doing next to nothing," Vice reports. According to...

Iran's Supreme Leader OKs Talking to 'Enemy' US on Nukes

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says there'd be 'no harm' in talking to US about Tehran's nuclear program

(Newser) - Iran's supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country's rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its civilian government there was "no harm" in engaging with its "enemy." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks set clear red lines for any...

Cops: She Was Detained for Hijab 'Education.' Now She's Dead

Outrage in Iran after witnesses say Mahsa Amini died after being beaten by 'morality police'

(Newser) - The existence of Iran's "morality police"—authorities who patrol the streets to ensure Islamic code on how women dress is being followed—has been increasingly under fire there, and a young woman's death this week has just exacerbated the backlash. Witnesses say 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died...

Chaos at the Gas Pumps: 'Cyberattack 64411'

Hackers hit gas stations across Iran

(Newser) - Long lines outside gas stations and an eyebrow-raising message were apparently the handiwork of hackers in Iran, where a cyberattack caused chaos Tuesday into Wednesday. "Cyberattack 64411" was what greeted some motorists at pumps instead of access to gas, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency, which notes those...

Confusion Abounds Over Tweet Showing 'Golfing Trump'

Twitter suspended 'fake' Khamenei account over apparent threat, but Iranian leader's site has the pic

(Newser) - Log onto the website of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and an unusual photo appears on the homepage: a graphic representation of a man who appears to be Donald Trump, playing golf in a red shirt. Look more closely, however, and the image turns more ominous, with the...

Trump Responds to 'Clown' Barb From Iran's Leader

'He should be very careful with his words!'

(Newser) - First there was MAGA; now there's MIGA. That stands for "Make Iran Great Again," which was President Trump's message to Iranian leadership Friday during a tense tweet-off between himself and Ayatollah Ali Khameini. This week, for the first time since 2012, Khameini delivered a Friday sermon,...

Iran: We Didn't Shoot at Protesters
Iran: We Didn't Shoot
at Protesters

Iran: We Didn't Shoot at Protesters

Things are getting ugly in Tehran after downing of Ukrainian plane

(Newser) - The latest escalating tensions between the US and Iran involves the people of Iran themselves. Per Reuters , protesters gathered for a third day Monday in Iran, after a violent weekend that pitted the demonstrators against riot police. Video circulating on social media showed the latter beating protesters with batons, security...

Pompeo: Saudi Oil Attack an 'Act of War' by Iran

As Trump hits Iran with new sanctions

(Newser) - President Trump may have hedged on officially naming Iran as the party responsible for the weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities, but he lowered the financial kibosh on Tehran on Wednesday morning, Bloomberg reports. "I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the...

Supreme Leader of Iran Rebuffs Trump's Talks Offer

Calls US government 'duplicitous,' but also says 'there will be no war'

(Newser) - If anyone was unsure what Iran's supreme leader thought of President Trump's offer to hold talks after the US reimposed "the most biting sanctions" on Iran last week, all doubt has been removed, per Reuters . "I ban holding any talks with America. … America never remains...

Iran's Supreme Leader: US Is Nation's 'Number One Enemy'

Khamenei speaks out against Trump's decertification of nuclear deal

(Newser) - After President Trump refused to recertify Iran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it was a "waste [of] time to respond to the rants and whoppers of the foul-throated president of the United States." But the country's supreme leader had more to...

Mired Iran Nuke Talks Going to Overtime

Sticking points remain on sanctions, uranium before final June deadline

(Newser) - With a midnight deadline looming, Iran and the six nations it's conferring with in Switzerland have reached a deal—to continue talks for a deal on Tehran's hotly contested nuke program. The nations are expected to release a joint statement today announcing they'll enter a "new...

Ahmadinejad Allies Busted for Sorcery

Genies, 'Hidden Imam,' and US outreach raising tensions in Iran

(Newser) - The power struggle between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is getting more intense—and a lot weirder. Several people close to Ahmadinejad and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being magicians and summoning genies, reports...

Iran to Gaza Aid Ships: We'll Escort You

Khamenei's offer will obviously not go over well in Israel

(Newser) - If aid ships want to try breaking Israel's naval blockade on Gaza again, they'll have the full force and military escort of Iran's Revolutionary Guard to do it, a spokesman for the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said today. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the...

Ahmadinejad Defies Ayatollah, Refuses to Sack Vice Prez

In-law stays despite pro-Israel comments

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied a direct order from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dismiss his vice president, opening a rift between Iran's president and supreme leader, reports the Los Angeles Times. Ahmadinejad's newly chosen VP, who is his son's father-in-law, has infuriated hardliners by making favorable remarks about Israel. But Ahmadinejad...

Iran Hardliner Calls Mousavi a US Puppet, Demands Trial

(Newser) - Mir Hossein Mousavi should stand trial for his “terrible crimes,” a hardline newspaper editor wrote today. The editor, who Reuters reports has close ties to Ayatollah Khamenei, accused the opposition candidate of fostering post-election dissent at America’s behest. “An open court, in front of the people's...

Obama Sent Letter to Iran Before Election

Proposed cooperation, improved relations to ayatollah in May

(Newser) - A little more than a month before Iran’s disputed election, the Obama administration sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei proposing improved bilateral relations and a resolution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Times reports. Khamenei mentioned the letter in a lengthy sermon last week, amid...

Khamenei: We Won't Yield 'At Any Cost'

(Newser) - Ayatollah Khamenei ruled out political compromise today, telling parliament that Tehran would not “yield to pressure at any cost,” the New York Times reports. “I insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue,” he said. He spoke after Mohsen Rezai, one of...

Mousavi Silenced by 24-Hour Secret Police Guard

Opposition candidate prevented from speaking freely to supporters

(Newser) - Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is constantly surrounded by guards and secret police and can no longer speak freely to supporters, protest spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf tells the Independent. Makhmalbaf, one of Iran's leading film directors, says Mousavi's lines of communications have been cut or confiscated.

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