Ali Khamenei News

Iranians turned out in higher numbers than in previous votes to elect a reformist president who ran on a platform of re-engaging with the West and loosening the country’s strict moral codes for women. The country’s liberal voters, confronted with a stark choice between a cautious reformer and a tough hard-liner, shook off some of the disillusionment that had led to very low turnout in the initial presidential vote a week ago and turned out to the polls for a runoff that put the first reform candidate in office in two decades.

Iran’s presidential election on June 28th, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, said that any vote was a vote for his Islamic Republic. By that test the poll raises deep questions about the decaying regime’s legitimacy. Some 60% of the country’s 61m-strong electorate have withheld their vote, resulting in the lowest turnout on record.

Iran’s president, some clarity is emerging about Tehran’s next steps. The bad news for western capitals and those Iranian activists pushing for change is that there’s little hope of a relaxation of political oppression, or of the antagonism directed at the US and its allies, according to western officials. They see the authoritarian regime as robust enough to carry on its current trajectory after Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash.

death of Iranian executive President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash on May 19 was a highly disruptive event that will test Iran and West Asia, both already in mayhem.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death has dealt an unsettling blow to the country’s politics and raises questions regarding the succession of not just the presidency, but also the most powerful position in the country—that of supreme leader. Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash over the weekend along with Iran’s foreign minister, was widely seen as a potential successor to the current top figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 85 and has a history of illness. There is no publicly anointed heir-apparent.

expressed grief over the demise of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a chopper crash. In his condolence message on X, formerly Twitter, Modi said India stands with Iran in ‘this time of sorrow’. "Deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise of Dr.

Ebrahim Raisi was declared dead on Monday after rescue teams found his crashed helicopter in a fog-shrouded western mountain region. “The servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom while serving the people," state TV declared, showing pictures of Raisi as a voice recited the Koran.

Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials, were found dead at the site of a helicopter crash on Monday, following an hours-long search through a foggy, mountainous area in the northwest of the country, state media reported. Newswire AP reported that Raisi has long been regarded as a protégé of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a potential successor within the country's Shiite theocracy. The news of the helicopter crash, which Iran's state media referred to as a “hard landing" on Sunday, has drawn renewed attention to Raisi, who was under sanctions from the US and other countries for his alleged role in the mass execution of prisoners in 1988.

Mohammad Mokhber, 68, has been appointed as Iran's interim president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. Mokhber, Iran's first vice president, now leads a three-person council responsible for organizing a new presidential election within 50 days.

As the Middle-East braces for potential Iranian strike, commandos from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard today rappelled down from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel. U.S. President Joe Biden had said on Friday he expected Iran to attack Israel «sooner, rather than later» and warned Tehran not to proceed. Israel did not claim responsibility for the airstrike on April 1. But Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Israel «must be punished and shall be» for an operation he said was equivalent to an attack on Iranian soil.

The dollar index was on track to post its largest weekly percentage gain since September 2022. It was last up 0.7% at 106.02.

Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden said simply, «Don't,» and he underscored Washington's commitment to defend Israel. «We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,» he said.

Middle East, where Iran has promised to retaliate for a suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy in Syria, which could risk disruptions to supply from the oil producing region. Brent crude futures climbed 34 cents, or 0.38%, to $90.08 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 44 cents, or 0.51%, to $85.45, at 0033 GMT.

By Ankika Biswas and Shashwat Chauhan

By Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis

President Biden on Tuesday showed appropriate outrage at the wanton slaughter by Hamas this weekend, and his pledge of support for Israel is welcome. But there was a crucial word missing from his remarks at the White House: Iran. Tehran is Hamas’s terror master, and its assault on Israel exposes the failure of his Iran strategy.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Tehran had not been involved in the Hamas group's weekend attack on Israel, but he hailed what he called Israel's «irreparable» military and intelligence defeat. In his first televised speech since the attack, Khamenei said «we kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime». «This destructive earthquake has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) which will not be repaired easily… The Zionist regime's own actions are to blame for this disaster,» said Khamenei. Iran has long backed the Hamas group, which controls the Gaza Strip and rejects Israel's right to exist. Israel said earlier on Tuesday it had re-established control over the Gaza border and was planting mines where militants had toppled the barrier during their bloody weekend assault, after another night of relentless Israeli air raids on the enclave. The United States said on Monday Iran was complicit in Hamas' assault on Israel, though it said it had no intelligence or evidence pointing to Tehran's direct participation.

Investing.com — Gold settled above the mid $1,800 level on Monday in response to the Israel-Hamas war, but the rally in the safe-haven would depend on how far the crisis expands to impact oil and other global markets, analysts said.

Investing.com — Crude prices were up 4% Monday as the latest Middle East crisis  reintroduced geopolitical risk into the oil trade in a way unseen in years, resetting markets that just days ago were depressed more by concerns over the global economy.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Germany's capital on Saturday to show solidarity with protesters in Iran -- a movement sparked by the death of a woman in the custody of morality police now challenging the Islamic Republic authorities.