Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Iran: Ahmadinejad Wins; Rival Warns of 'Tyranny'

(Newser) - This could be a mess for a while: Iran's official count today gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory in the presidential election, but his main challenger rejected the results as a "dangerous charade" and warned of "tyranny," reports the Guardian. The official numbers: Ahmadinejad gets 62.6%...

Ahmadinejad On Ropes as Iran Votes

Massive turnout expected in critical presidential ballot

(Newser) - The polls have opened in Iran's presidential election, and a near-record turnout is expected after an unusually intense campaign that saw nightly rallies and Western-style TV debates. Until just two weeks ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seemed a shoo-in for a second term, but the moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi has surged on...

Ex-President Leads Charge Against Ahmadinejad

Rafsanjani behind scenes in Iran election

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief adversary in his reelection bid isn’t the candidate he’s trying to beat, it’s the candidate he beat 4 years ago, the New York Times reports. Ex-president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been leading a massive behind-the-scenes effort on behalf of Ahmadinejad’s opponents...

Iran: Obama's 'Sweet' Words Won't Score With Muslims

Supreme leader slams US before Obama speech

(Newser) - President Obama’s speeches may be “beautiful,” but it’s not enough to win over the Muslim world, Iran’s supreme leader said in his own speech today, Reuters reports. “The nations of this part of the world...deeply hate America because during many years they have...

Journo May Seek Ayatollah Pardon

Appeal to top cleric may be Saberi's only chance of freedom

(Newser) - An Iranian-American journalist Iran sentenced to eight years in prison for alleged spying may seek a pardon from the country's supreme leader, CNN reports. Roxana Saberi's case is moving through the appeals process, which could lift—or lengthen—her sentence. Iranian officials stressed that only Ayatollah Khamenie has the power...

Iran's Supreme Leader Slams Obama Overture

Says no 'real change' in US policy

(Newser) - Iran's Supreme Leader dismissed overtures from President Obama today, saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy under its new administration. Responding to Obama's video message reaching out to Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there will be no change between the two countries unless the American president brings...

US Drafts Letter to Iran to Mend Ties

Development could lead to direct talks between old enemies

(Newser) - Barack Obama is moving his efforts to improve relations with Iran beyond mere speech-making, the Guardian reports. The State Department is drafting a letter to Iranian leaders to assure them the US is not looking to overthrow the curent regime, just change its behavior. The letter—a response to a...

Fatwa Against Rushdie Set Off Self-Censorship
Fatwa Against Rushdie Set Off Self-Censorship
OPINION
Jan 5, 2009 4:27 PM CST

Fatwa Against Rushdie Set Off Self-Censorship

Edict brought Muslim culture war to the West: Hitchens

(Newser) - When Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens knew what it meant: "This was not just a warning of what was to come,” he writes in Vanity Fair, “it was the warning.” A global culture war, between Muslim fundamentalists and everyone else, had...

Ayatollah: Iran Will Not Build Nukes

But country won't halt nuclear energy program, either

(Newser) - Iran isn’t interested in nuclear weapons, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proclaimed in a speech today, but will pursue its nuclear energy program despite international pressure. “No wise nation would be interested in making a nuclear weapon today,” said Iran’s supreme leader. “They are against rational thought....

Preconditions or Not, Iran Doesn't Want to Talk to Us

US misunderstanding of split personality hinders any progress

(Newser) - Barack Obama can berate President Bush for refusing to "sit down with" Iran, and John McCain can beat up Obama for proposing to do just that, but the fact is that every administration in the past 30 years has tried talking to Iran—without preconditions—and been rejected. Including...

Election Victory Emboldens Ahmadinejad

Hails sweeping win as observers predict more nuclear tension in Iran

(Newser) - More complete results from Friday's Iranian parliamentary elections show Islamist conservatives who support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policy sweeping about 70% of the vote, Bloomberg reports. Pro-democracy candidates, meanwhile, did poorly after clerics blocked many from running. A triumphant Ahmadinejad said the results "stamped a mark of shame and...

Conservatives Lead 'Cooked' Iran Vote

New lawmakers expected to blast prez on economy

(Newser) - Early results in Iran's elections today are no surprise—conservatives will keep power—but they are expected to be more critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Reuters reports. Some are teaming with reformists to fight the president's economic policies, which have let inflation rise to 19%. Reformists also picked up seats...

Ruling Conservatives Should Fare Well in Iran Vote

Conservatives likely to gain in parliament as many reform candidates barred

(Newser) - Iranian conservatives are likely to gain seats in tomorrow's parliamentary elections despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing unpopularity, Al Jazeera reports. Iranians may disapprove of the president's economic policies, but the ruling Guardians Council barred 1,700 candidates—mainly reformists—from seeking election to the 290-seat parliament. Government officials and state-run media...

Political Rift Weakens Ahmadinejad
Political Rift
Weakens
Ahmadinejad
Jan 22, 2008 5:57 AM CST

Political Rift Weakens Ahmadinejad

Ayatollah overrules Iranian president on gas for villagers

(Newser) - Iran's firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a serious political humiliation  yesterday when the nation's supreme leader sided with his opponents to force him to supply a billion dollars worth of natural gas to remote villages suffering power cuts. Iran's poorest communities are enduring one of the harshest winters in years,...

Iran's Nuclear Negotiator Quits
Iran's Nuclear Negotiator Quits
Oct 20, 2007 8:58 AM CDT

Iran's Nuclear Negotiator Quits

(Newser) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has resigned, the Iranian government said today, in a move seen as signaling a hardening of Tehran's nuclear stance. Ali Larijani  was said to be more committed to finding a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear standoff with the West than Iranian President  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was...

Putin on War With Iran: Don't Even Think About It

Russian president backs Iran at regional summit

(Newser) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran continued yesterday with a regional summit and a not-so-veiled warning against American action in Iran. A day after dismissing reports of an assassination plot against him during the trip, Putin met with leaders from Iran and other nations on the Caspian Sea. "...

Iran Frees Murderous Vice Squad
Iran Frees Murderous
Vice Squad
Apr 19, 2007 4:12 PM CDT

Iran Frees Murderous Vice Squad

Convictions overturned for hardliners who killed "morally corrupt" citizens

(Newser) - Iran's Supreme Court has exonerated a group of Islamic hardliners earlier convicted of the vigilante killing of Iranians they considered "morally corrupt,"  the Times reports. Six members of the Basiji force, an elite paramilitary group, were originally convicted of murdering five people, including an engaged couple walking...

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