Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – News Stories About Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - Page 6

Latest Iran Protests Turn Bloody, Witnesses Say

Jun 24, 2009 4:22 PM CDT

Latest Iran Protests Turn Bloody, Witnesses Say

It's like a war zone: witnesses

(Newser) - Hundreds of protesters faced off against several thousand riot cops in a Tehran square today after Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran won’t budge on election results, the Guardian reports. Witnesses called the site a war zone, with helicopters hovering overhead as police savagely beat and arrested demonstrators. The reports could...

Obama Sent Letter to Iran Before Election

Jun 24, 2009 1:00 PM CDT

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'

Jun 24, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

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...

Iranian Press Pushes for Mousavi's Arrest

Jun 24, 2009 8:40 AM CDT

Iranian Press Pushes for Mousavi's Arrest

Pro-regime papers may be laying ground for new crackdown

(Newser) - Several Iranian newspapers sympathetic to the regime have published articles blaming Mir Hossein Mousavi for recent violence, reports the Telegraph. The papers demand that the opposition leader be arrested for treason, a strategy that may be part of an effort to strengthen the position of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Meanwhile, the...

Wallop Iran
Where It Hurts:
Oil Revenues

OPINION

Jun 24, 2009 7:58 AM CDT

Wallop Iran Where It Hurts: Oil Revenues

Two 'green' revolutions could bring down regime: Friedman

(Newser) - Pundits and politicians are wasting their time telling Barack Obama what he should be saying about the growing "green revolution" in Iran, writes Thomas L. Friedman. The country's reformers and protesters don't need American encouragement; they need a weakened theocracy—which will only happen when oil prices go into...

Council Asks Ayatollah to Extend Iran Election Probe

Jun 23, 2009 2:11 PM CDT

Council Asks Ayatollah to Extend Iran Election Probe

(Newser) - The top body investigating the results of the recent election is asking Iran’s supreme leader to give it more time to clear up any and all “ambiguities,” Reuters reports. “We are urging you to allow us to extend the deadline to receive further complaints five more...

Iran Finds Fraud But Calls
Election Clean Enough

Jun 22, 2009 2:46 AM CDT

Iran Finds Fraud But Calls Election Clean Enough

(Newser) - An eerie silence descended on Tehran early today as Iranian officials admitted to discrepancies in the controversial presidential election, but still declared it legal. More votes were cast in 50 cities than the number of registered voters, officials concluded. But authorities said the discrepancy, which affects some 3 million votes,...

In Choosing
Sides, Ayatollah
Loses Authority

OPINION

Jun 21, 2009 7:54 AM CDT

In Choosing Sides, Ayatollah Loses Authority

Ayatollah Khamenei's aura dims as Iranians take to the streets

(Newser) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has lost some of the sacrosanct aura of his office by entering the political fray, writes Roger Cohen in the New York Times. Having warned on Friday of "bloodshed and chaos," Iran's supreme leader ended up with both. By aligning himself with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,...

Mousavi: I'm 'Ready
for Martyrdom'

UPDATED

Jun 20, 2009 2:10 PM CDT

Mousavi: I'm 'Ready for Martyrdom'

Iranian opposition leader calls for election 'annulment'

(Newser) - As thousands of Iranian dissidents defied the decree of the supreme leader to end their demonstrations, the symbolic face of the protests told supporters in Tehran today that he is "ready for martyrdom,” the New York Times reports. Mir Hossein Mousavi urged protesters to stage a general strike...

Silver: How Do You Rig
11M Votes? Easily

ANALYSIS

Jun 20, 2009 1:46 PM CDT

Silver: How Do You Rig 11M Votes? Easily

Ayatollah's argument against the possibility of vote fraud doesn't hold water

(Newser) - Nate Silver has a bone to pick with the ayatollah. In his attempt yesterday to quash claims of voter fraud, Ali Khamenei asserted that President Ahmadinejad had won by 11 million votes. "How can one rig 11 million votes?" he asked. That's faulty logic, cries Silver on FiveThirtyEight.com....

Obama Boxes Himself In
to False Choice on Iran

OPINION

Jun 20, 2009 11:30 AM CDT

Obama Boxes Himself In to False Choice on Iran

(Newser) - President Obama talks a lot about "false choices," and he's usually just blowing smoke rhetorically, but now he's got one regarding Iran, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. “The president thinks he’s stuck with a dilemma,” Barnes writes: “Either support the democratic forces”...

Iran Braces for
Showdown Today

Jun 20, 2009 7:33 AM CDT

Iran Braces for Showdown Today

(Newser) - Iran's government threatened harsh action today if opposition supporters take to the streets again to demand a new election in open defiance of the country's supreme leader. Web sites run by supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called for street protests, but the candidate himself issued no public statement....

Street Protests Cool, But Iran Opposition Takes to Rooftops

Jun 19, 2009 4:32 PM CDT

Street Protests Cool, But Iran Opposition Takes to Rooftops

Mousavi supporters chant from rooftops, but opposition's next step is unclear

(Newser) - Calls of “Allahu Akbar” punctuated Tehran’s evening quiet as some residents took to their rooftops to protest Ayatollah Khamenei’s support of what they see as fraudulent election results, MSNBC reports. Despite the rooftop protests—a tactic used in the 1979 revolution—outright street demonstrations from supporters of...

Ayatollah Calls for
Calm, Denies
Ballot Fraud

updated

Jun 19, 2009 4:32 AM CDT

Ayatollah Calls for Calm, Denies Ballot Fraud

'Zionists' and BBC are exploiting protests, Khamenei says

(Newser) - The supreme leader of Iran called for "peace and tranquility" in his first public speech since the contested presidential election, Al Jazeera reports. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended the legitimacy of the vote and told protesters to stop, notes the New York Times. "Street challenge is not acceptable,"...

Ayatollah Tells Mousavi
to Stand By Him Tomorrow

Jun 18, 2009 6:43 PM CDT

Ayatollah Tells Mousavi to Stand By Him Tomorrow

(Newser) - Iran's supreme leader has ordered presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi to stand by his side at morning prayers tomorrow in a show of national unity, the Times of London reports. It's not clear if Mousavi will do so, or what consequences he'll face if he defies Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's demand....

4 Possible Outcomes for Iran

analysis

Jun 18, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

4 Possible Outcomes for Iran

Could we see a new revolution—or the next Tiananmen?

(Newser) - Iran’s election aftermath seems to have come as a surprise to its key figures. With protesters showing no sign of relenting, Tony Karon of Time offers four possible conclusions:

A repeat of the 1979 revolution. But that’s unlikely, because “an unarmed popular movement can only topple an

...

Disputed Letter Reports Victory by Mousavi

Jun 18, 2009 9:25 AM CDT

Disputed Letter Reports Victory by Mousavi

Possible forgery showing 'actual results' inflames protesters

(Newser) - Among the propaganda coming from all sides in the Iranian election dispute, one letter stands out: a note from the interior minister to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, giving the "true" result of last Friday's vote. The letter acknowledges the Supreme Leader's "order" for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win but shows...

Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk

Iran election dispute

Jun 18, 2009 8:04 AM CDT

Clerics Invite Opposition to Talk

(Newser) - Iran’s Guardian Council has invited all three opposition candidates to a meeting to air their grievances Saturday, the New York Times reports. But the opposition is likely to view that olive branch warily; it has already turned down the council’s offer for a partial recount. Protesters say they...

As Iran Unrest Goes On, Watch the Clerics

ANALYSIS

Jun 18, 2009 7:08 AM CDT

As Iran Unrest Goes On, Watch the Clerics

Mullahs far from Tehran may step in to end election dispute

(Newser) - As protesters continue to express anger and defy arrest, the endgame of Iran's disputed election may take place not in Tehran, but in the holy city of Qom—where the country's powerful clerics have so far kept silent. Except for a few prominent reformists, Iran's mullahs have refused to take...

Mousavi Plans
'Day of Mourning'
as Protests Spread

iran election dispute

Jun 18, 2009 5:54 AM CDT

Mousavi Plans 'Day of Mourning' as Protests Spread

Demonstrations may be largest yet; violence reaches across country

(Newser) - The Iranian regime is resorting to more extreme measures against supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and other reformers, reports the Times of London, as the opposition planned yet another massive rally against alleged electoral fraud. Despite dozens of high-profile arrests and raids on universities, thousands are expected to join Mousavi...