Supreme Leader

North Korea To Punish Insincere Mourners

Posted 01.13.2012

Read More: Kim Jong Il Death Reactions, North Korea Punish Mourners, Video, Kim Jong Un, North Korea Leader Dead, North Korea Labor Camps, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il Death, Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Il, North Korea Succession, World News

You'd better watch out, you'd better cry. You'd better pout, I'm telling you why: North Korea's punishing insincere mourners, according to the Daily N...

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North Korea's New Leader Seeks To Resemble Grandfather

AP | By JEAN H. LEE and SAM KIM | Posted 03.08.2012

Read More: Kim Jong Il Kim Il Sung Parallels, Video, North Korea Leader, North Korea Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jongun, Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Il Fashion, North Korea, World News

SEOUL, South Korea -- The resemblance is striking: the full cheeks and quick smile, the confident gait, the habit of gesturing with both hands when he...

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The Occult Chickens Have Come Home To Roost: Religious Superstition In Iranian Politics

Ali Rahnema | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Iran, Iran Islam, Twelfth Imam, Islam, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Occult, Green Movement, Superstition, Iranian Politics, Supreme Leader, Religion News
Ali Rahnema

Since early May 2011, charges of sorcery, witchcraft, and using supernatural powers to manipulate people and events for particular political ends have been leveled against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Iranian "Feud:" Much Ado About Nothing?

Sharmine Narwani | Posted 07.15.2011

Read More: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran, Persian Gulf, Resistance Bloc, Arabs, Middle East, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, Politics, Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Arab Awakening, Iran Feud, Supreme Leader, World News, World News
Sharmine Narwani

A public spat between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad made international headlines last week. Politics is rarely ever a harmonious business in any country, so why the brouhaha over this particular stand-off?

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Iran's Green Movement Lie

Shirin Sadeghi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mousavi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Libya, Velayat-E Faqih, Where Is My Vote, Yemen, Mehdi Karroubi, Tunisia, Egypt, Iranian, Velayat-E Faghih, Green, Bahrain, Iran, Supreme Leader, Green Movement, Ahmadinejad, World News
Shirin Sadeghi

For most Iranians, the Green Movement is what the international media is calling the massive mobilization to dismantle the Islamic Republic of Iran. The hope is that change will finally open the door to serious reform.

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Mahmoud's Media Minions

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Salon.com, Morning Joe, Unga, Iraq, Newt Gingrich, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Msnbc, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Cnn, Middle East, Israel, United-Nation-Sanctions, Fox News, Afghanistan, Glenn Beck, Supreme Leader, World News
Amb. Marc Ginsberg

For some inexplicable reason, Mahmoud's latest charm offensive seems to be captivating some in the media who are caught up in his, umm, let's say, "witchcraft."

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Iran's Latest Fatwa: A Fiery Fury

Shirin Sadeghi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Norouz, Ayatollah Khamenei, Islam, Iranian New Year, Iranian, Nawruz, Nowruz, Nawrooz, Nowrouz, Iran, Supreme Leader, Norooz, Bonfire, Chaharshanbeh Soori, Vernal Equinox, Fatwa, Zoroastrian, Iranian Fire Festival, Nowrooz, Chaharshanbeh Suri, Islamic Republic of Iran, World News
Shirin Sadeghi

Despite the Supreme Leader's outright ban of the fire festival with a fatwa, Norooz, a New Year's celebration with pre-Islamic roots, will prevail in Iran.

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Iran Sentences 3 To Death In Postelection Mass Opposition Trial

AP | ALI AKBAR DAREINI | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Monarchist Group, Iran Election, Riot, Iran, Supreme Leader, Mass Opposition Trial, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mousavi, Elections, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Khamenei, Iran Election Protest, Mujahadeen, Iran Election Death Sentence, Iran Election Trial, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani, Tehran, Isna, World News

TEHRAN, Iran — Three defendants in Iran's mass trial of opposition figures accused of fueling the country's postelection unrest have been senten...

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Student Stuns Iran By Criticizing Supreme Leader

AP | SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iran Supreme Leader, Assembly of Experts, Mahmoud Vahidnia, Sharif Technical University, Iran, Tehran, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian Election, Triumph, World News

BEIRUT — An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country's most powerful man ...

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Iran Abuse Confirmations Abound: Mohsen and Saeedeh's Stories

Shirin Sadeghi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Parliament News, Taraneh Mousavi, Rape, Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hossein, Iran Election, Iranian, Saeedeh Pouraghayi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohsen Rezai, Iran, Prison Rape, Supreme Leader, Prison Abuse, Iranian Election, War Veteran, Mehdi Karroubi, Mohsen Ruholamini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Saeedeh Pour Aghayee, Saideh, World News
Shirin Sadeghi

This week, two more official accounts come out of Iran, confirming the extent of violence that is taking place in the country's detention centers.

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Iran protests not 'foreign backed'

Al Jazeera. | Al Jazeera | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran, Iran Supreme Leader, Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran Protests, Home News

Iran's supreme leader has said that he has no proof the leaders of the post-election violence in June were backed by foreign states. In a statement r...

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Rape and the Republic: Iran's Victims Speak Out

Shirin Sadeghi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Kayhan Newspaper, Nader Sani, Taraneh Mousavi, Kahrizak Prison, Evin Prison, Rape, Divorce, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian, Iranian Presidential Election, Prison Rape, Democracy, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader, Prison Abuse, Systematic Rape, Shahram Azam, Ali Khamenei, Iranian Newspaper, Etemaad-E Melli, Mehdi Karroubi, Ali Larijani, Ziba Kazemi, Babak Daad, Sexual Violation, Hossein Shariatmadari, Nina Aghdam, Azar Ale-Kanan, Iranian Political Prisoners, Islamic Republic of Iran, World News
Shirin Sadeghi

This week, Mehdi Karroubi came under fire for stating what for decades has been public knowledge in Iran: The systematic rape of political prisoners as a means of permanently disabling them from society, let alone from political activity.

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Iran: Regime Intentions Revealed - What's Next?

Mark Fowler | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mousavi, Iran, Ayatollah, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran Election, Iran Protests, Rafsanjani, Supreme Leader, World News
Mark Fowler

Powerful regime insiders have lost confidence in the Supreme Leader's ability to preserve what they had all built together. This domestic fault line has the potential to be devastating in its long term impact.

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A Cabal in the College of Mullahs?

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Assembly of Experts, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran, Expediency Council, Mohsen Rezai, Tehran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Revolutionary Guards, U.S.-Iran Relations, Supreme Leader, Majles, Ali-Akbar-Hashemi-Rafsanjani, World News
Amb. Marc Ginsberg

With growing resentment directed against Ali Khamenei by his own peers, how ironic would it be that the first political casualty of Iran's election dispute turned out to be the supreme leader and not Ahmadinejad?

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Iran and the C.I.A

Tom Gabbay | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama Iran, Ayatollah, Islamic Republic of Iran, Cia, President Obama, US-Iran Relations, Jimmy Carter, Tehran, Iran, Supreme Leader, Operation Ajax, Ayatollah Khomeini, Wolf Blitzer, World News
Tom Gabbay

This revolution, if that's what it is, can only come from the Iranian people. The US must remain on the sidelines; a spectator to what could be a game changer in the Middle East and beyond.

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An Exclusive Interview with a Pro-Ahmadinejad Cleric in Qom, Iran

Ali A. Rizvi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Islam, Twitter, Judaism, Iran Election, Shia, Iran, Supreme Leader, Media, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Facebook, Khatami, Barack Obama, Iran Nuclear Weapons, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Qom, Youtube, Tehran, Zionism, Neda, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ayatollah Khomeini, World News
Ali A. Rizvi

A recurring theme in many of the cleric's answers is his very strong belief that "foreign" Western powers, particularly England, are behind the current unrest in Tehran

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Obama and the Ayatollah

William Bradley | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mir Hossein Mousavi, Afghanistan, Iran, Supreme Leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hostage Crisis, Iraq, Ali Khamenei, Al Qaeda, Al Jazeera, Revolutionary Guards, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Demonstrations in Tehran, John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, World News
William Bradley

How to respond to the Ayatollah is a particularly tricky question for Obama, because he has an unusual dual role to play: Inspirational global icon and president of the United States.

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Hello, Iran

Giles Slade | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran Demonstrations, Iranian Revolution, Iran Election, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Democracy, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader, Guardian Council, Separation of Church and State, World News
Giles Slade

Injustice and arrogance are powerful catalysts, aren't they?

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The One Thing 39 Million Iranians Decisively Voted For

Ali A. Rizvi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Elections, Iran Revolutionary Guard, Iran Election, Democracy, Iran, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khatami, Ayatollah Khomeini, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, World News
Ali A. Rizvi

Out of 46.2 million eligible voters, a staggering 39 million came out to vote, making a strong, unequivocal statement: Iranians value democracy

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In Bid to Stay Current, Ayatollah Joins MySpace

Andy Borowitz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Borowitz Report, Iran, Andy Borowitz, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Britney Spears, Myspace, Comedy News
Andy Borowitz

"If you can't beat them, join them," the Ayatollah said. "Having said that, we will also continue to beat them."

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Iran's First Female President: Not Gonna Happen

Shirin Sadeghi | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Law, Women's Rights, Women's Issues, Al Zahra University, Iran Presidential Election, Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mehdi Karroubi, Zahra Rahnavard, First Lady, Mohsen Rezai, Supreme Jurist, Tehran, Female, Guardian Council, Dr. Zahra Rahnavard, Vetting, Iran Reformists, Women, Parliament, Iran Supreme Leader, Hijab, Women Voters, Hejab, University, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian Women, Women and Politics, Candidate, Chancellor, Presidential Election, Iran Women's Rights, Tehran-Iran, World News
Shirin Sadeghi

In a society where about 70% of the university population is female, the election vetting process is a sad comment on the true condition of Iran's girls and women: second-class citizens.

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Decision 2009 -- Iran's June 12 Elections

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Dennis Ross, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Barack Obama, Iran Nuclear Weapons, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Centrifuges, Mehdi Karroubi, Benjamin Netanyahu, Tehran, Israel, Supreme Leader, Mohsen Rezaei, Beshehr, Natanz, World News
Amb. Marc Ginsberg

As President Obama calibrates his engagement policy with Iran and plans his next steps with the vexing Islamic Republic, that nation will go to the polls on June 12 to elect a president.

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Khamenei Scolds Ahmadinejad Over Dismissed Official

AP | ALI AKBAR DAREINI | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Iran, Foreign Affairs, Advocacy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran Elections, Supreme Leader, Iran Supreme Leader, Khamenei, World News

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader publicly rebuked the president over his removal of a top official, a rare show of discontent with the hard-...

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