Category Archives: Iran

Intense phase of Israel’s war with Hamas nearing end, says Netanyahu

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Israeli PM says he hopes for diplomatic solution to conflict but will solve it in ‘a different way’ if necessary

Israel’s prime minister has said the most intense phase of the assault against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, freeing up forces to move to the Lebanese border, where escalating exchanges of fire with the militant group Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war.

In his first public interview with a Hebrew-language network outlet in more than eight months of conflict, broadcast on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu also walked back on his commitment to a US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hamas, instead suggesting a more limited offer.

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Iran court overturns death sentence of rapper Toomaj Salehi, lawyer says

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Musician, 33, faces retrial after being sentenced to death for ‘corruption on Earth’

Iran’s supreme court has overturned the death sentence imposed on the rapper Toomaj Salehi, his lawyer said.

The decision comes in the middle of Iran’s presidential election campaign but seems unrelated to the fierce public debates under way about Iran’s future direction, including the rights of women not to wear the hijab if they wish.

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Canada lists Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as terrorist group

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Move comes five years after US did so and will add to pressure on European governments to follow suit

Canada has listed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, joining the US and adding to pressure on European governments to follow suit.

The move means police can now charge people who materially or financially support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and requires banks to freeze any assets linked to the organisation.

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Iran’s reformist presidential candidate eyes improved relations with US

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Masoud Pezeshkian hopes to win over an apathetic electorate and revive talks on the country’s nuclear deal

The sole reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential elections this month has said he wants improved relations with the US, as he accused his conservative rivals of blighting the Iranian economy by not doing enough to revive the a nuclear deal with the west that had led to the lifting of some sanctions.

Masoud Pezeshkian, who has unveiled the combative former foreign minster Javad Zarif as his foreign policy adviser, also suggested under his presidency he might also review its relations with Russia, arguing eastern powers should not think that they are Iran’s only option.

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Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus freed from Iranian jail in prisoner swap

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Iranian-Swedish citizen Saeed Azizi also exchanged for Hamid Noury, who was serving life in Sweden for role in death of political prisoners

Johan Floderus, the Swedish EU diplomat held in captivity for two years in Iran, has been freed and has arrived home, greeted by the Swedish prime minister and his delighted and relieved family and friends.

Ulf Kristersson said on Saturday that the Iranian lifer Hamid Noury was being exchanged for Johan Floderus and the Iranian-Swedish citizen Saeed Azizi. He arrived back in Sweden later that evening.

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Iranian presidential vote: lone reformist candidate faces uphill struggle

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Masoud Pezeshkian must convince disillusioned voters that he represents chance for credible change

The one reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election, a 69-year-old doctor who raised his three children alone after his wife died in a car accident, faces an uphill but not impossible battle to convince a disenchanted Iranian electorate that he represents a chance for credible change.

Masoud Pezeshkian, an MP for 20 years, was given clearance to stand by the 12-strong Guardian Council on Sunday and has until 28 June to reach the second round of the elections called after president Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash. No reformist was allowed to stand in the presidential election three years ago.

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Hardline parliament speaker and five others approved to run for Iran president

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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who ordered live gunfire on students in 2003, approved by Iran’s Guardian Council

Iran’s Guardian Council has approved the country’s hardline parliament speaker and five others to run in the country’s 28 June presidential election after a helicopter crash that killed the president, Ebrahim Raisi, and seven others.

The council again barred the former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, from running.

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Trial of jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Mohammadi opens in her absence

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Peace prize winner and women’s rights activist is refusing to attend hearings in Tehran

A new trial against the jailed Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi opened on Saturday in her absence, said a lawyer for the women’s rights activist who has refused to attend hearings.

Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021 over several past convictions relating to her advocacy against the obligatory hijab for women and capital punishment in Iran.

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Nuclear watchdog votes to censure Iran for non-cooperation with inspectors

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Clash between Iran and west over nuclear programme looms as US drops objections and joins European states condemning Tehran

A fresh confrontation between Tehran and the west is looming over Iran’s nuclear programme after the board of the UN nuclear watchdog voted heavily to censure the country for its repeated failure to cooperate with UN nuclear inspectors.

The vote by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) members was passed with 20 represented countries in favour, two against, and 12 abstentions. The two countries to vote against were Russia and China.

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Nuclear issue looms over Iranian presidential election to succeed Raisi

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About 80 candidates put names forward for vetting against backdrop of confrontation with west

About 80 candidates have registered to stand in Iran’s presidential election on 28 June, taking place against the backdrop of a growing confrontation with the west over Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme and UN access to its nuclear sites.

The winner will replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

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Iran presidential election: up to 20 possible contenders gear up for battle

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As official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi ends, here are some of the names of his potential successors

The end of official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has unleashed a battle for succession in which as many as 20 credible names have been proposed.

All candidates have to be cleared by the 12-strong elite body known as the Guardian Council, and the regime is torn between ensuring continuity on the one hand and on the other, allowing an open competition that stimulates turnout and gives the victor legitimacy.

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Iran jails father of young man executed over 2022 protests

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Mashallah Karami sentenced to six years after pleading for his son’s life to be spared

Iranian authorities have jailed a father who campaigned unsuccessfully for clemency for his 22-year-old son after he was sentenced to death in connection with 2022 protests, his lawyer said Saturday.

Mashallah Karami was sentenced to six years in prison by a Revolutionary court in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj on charges of illegally organising gatherings and collecting donations, his lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, said on X, adding that the verdict had “flaws” and would be appealed.

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Tens of thousands fill streets of Tehran for Iranian president’s funeral

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads prayers in capital city days after death of Ebrahim Raisi and seven others in helicopter crash

Tens of thousands of Iranians attended the Tehran funeral of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountain on Sunday has opened up a potentially volatile moment in Iranian politics.

He died with seven others, including the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was hailed by Hamas on Wednesday as the minister for the resistance.

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Body of Ebrahim Raisi taken to Tehran before state ceremony

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Bodies of helicopter crash victims taken to capital via Qom, while power struggle is under way before election

The bodies of the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of Sunday’s helicopter crash were taken by plane to the holy city of Qom and then to Tehran before a state ceremony on Wednesday.

Iranian state TV reported on large crowds gathering to pay their respects, while behind the scenes a power struggle was under way as the regime attempts to unify around a single candidate in a snap election provisionally scheduled for 28 June.

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Israel-Gaza war: ICC arrest warrant ‘attempt to deny Israel the right to defend itself’, says Israel defence minister – as it happened

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Yoav Gallant, named alongside Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, criticises decision

Crowds have gathered in Tabriz in Iran to pay respects to those killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, including the late president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Associated Press reports that a procession led by a vehicle carrying the caskets of the dead slowly moved through the narrow streets of the city, which is the closest major one near to the crash site. Thousands in black slowly walked beside the coffins, some throwing flowers up to them as an announcer wept through a loudspeaker for men he described as martyrs.

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No signal from helicopter that crashed killing Iran’s president, Turkish minister says

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Initial investigation by rescue group finds ageing aircraft either did not have transponder fitted or had it turned off

The helicopter that crashed killing the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, either did not have a transponder fitted or had it turned off, according to an initial investigation by the Turkish rescue group that found the wreckage.

The Turkish transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, told reporters that on hearing news of the crash, Turkish authorities had checked for a signal from the helicopter’s transponder that broadcasts height and location information. “But unfortunately, [we think] most likely the transponder system was turned off or that the helicopter did not have one,” he said.

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Iran: who holds power now the president is dead?

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Three men look set to climb the ranks in a reshuffle including Mohammad Mokhber, who has been named the interim president

The death of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has created political turbulence in the country, with uncertainty over who might now rise to the top in the Islamic republic. While the presidency is not the most powerful position in the country – that is reserved for the supreme leader – it holds significant authority.

Here are three men who hold power in Iran:

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Iran’s supreme leader sets its hardline foreign policies: expect more of the same

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Experts say shift in direction, including on nuclear issue, is unlikely after death of president and foreign minister

In the immediate aftermath of the death of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Iran’s regional proxies lined up to offer their condolences.

Hamas mourned Raisi as an “honourable supporter” of the Gaza-based group. Hezbollah praised him as “a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes … and a protector of the resistance movements”. Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, said on X that Raisi’s death was a loss “for the entire Islamic world and Palestine and Gaza”.

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Israeli ministers condemn ICC arrest warrant call as ‘scandalous’ – as it happened

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Reuters has put together a list of reactions from around the world, with Iranian ally Russia among those expressing concern and offering to help search for the president. Others also offered help or well wishes, while the US merely said that President Joe Biden was “closely following reports”. Here’s a rundown of reactions from around the world:

TURKEY
“I convey my best wishes to our neighbour, friend and brother Iranian people and government, and I hope to receive good news from Mr Raisi and his delegation as soon as possible,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a post on X. Turkey’s disaster and emergency management authority said in a statement that Iran had requested a night vision search-and-rescue helicopter from Turkey.

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Helicopter carrying Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi crashes in mountains

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Rescuers struggle with search operation to find president and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian because of poor weather conditions

A helicopter carrying the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and his foreign minister crashed on a fog-covered mountainside, with search and rescue teams rushing to the area as state media called for nationwide prayers.

State TV reported that the helicopter had been found on Sunday evening, well after dark, and quoted an official as saying that at least one passenger and one crew member had been in contact with rescuers.

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