ALI KHAMENEI

An armed guard at a bank in northern Iran calmly walked up behind a senior Shiite cleric and shot and killed the ayatollah.

Iran is celebrating the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid nationwide anti-government protests and heightened tensions with the West.

Iran’s supreme leader reportedly has ordered an amnesty or reduction in prison sentences for “tens of thousands” of people detained amid the nationwide protests shaking the country.

After the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s launched a cartoon contest to mock Iran’s ruling cleric, a state-backed Iranian cyber unit struck back in early January with a hack-and-leak campaign intent on striking fear with the claimed pilfering of a big subscriber database.

Iranian hardliners have burned French flags outside the French embassy in Tehran, protesting against cartoons published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that lampoon Iran’s ruling clerics.

Soccer fans in Iran's Kurdish majority region have cheered the U.S. win over Iran in a politically charged World Cup, amid ongoing anti-government protests.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised address has praised paramilitary volunteers tasked with quashing dissent.

Iranian shops in Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar and elsewhere across the country have closed their doors amid protests gripping the nation.

Protests in Iran have raged on streets with demonstrators remembering a bloody crackdown in the country’s southeast.

Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Iranian security forces have opened fire on demonstrators in a southeastern city that has seen weeks of unrest amid nationwide demonstrations.

Iran’s supreme leader and its president have tried to link the nationwide protests roiling the country to an Islamic State-claimed gun attack on a famous mosque that killed 15 people.

Gunmen have attacked a major Shiite holy site in Iran, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens.

Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi has returned to Tehran after competing in South Korea without wearing a headscarf.

Iranian media say a towering blaze at a notorious prison housing political prisoners and anti-government activists in Iran’s capital killed four inmates.

Iran’s president has accused the U_S_ of conducting a “failed policy of destabilization.”.

They show up at the first signs of protest in Iran — men in black, riding motorcycles, often wielding guns or batons.

As anti-government protests roil cities and towns in Iran for a fourth week, tens of thousands of Iranians living abroad have marched on the streets of Europe, North America and beyond in support of what many believe to be a watershed moment for their home country.

President Joe Biden has hit back at Iran over the government’s brutal crackdown on antigovernment protests and he's signaled that more sanctions may soon be announced.

Iranian president has appealed for national unity and tried to allay anger against the country’s rulers, even as the anti-government protests engulfing the country continued to spread to universities and high schools.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded publicly to the biggest protests in Iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn the “rioting” and accuse the United States and Israel of planning the protests.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker has warned that protests over the death of a young woman in police custody could destabilize the country.

Activists say Iran's current wave of protests are different from previous unrest.

Iranians are experiencing a near-total internet blackout amid days of mass protests against the government.

Protests have erupted across Iran in recent days after a 22-year-old woman died while being held by the morality police for violating the country’s strictly enforced Islamic dress code.

Iran has sent a written response in negotiations over a final draft of a roadmap for parties to return to its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

The U.S. Navy says Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized and later let go of a U.S. sea drone in the Persian Gulf.

Author Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is able to talk, a day after being stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture.

Iranians are reacting with praise and worry over the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie — the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death.

Diplomats say talks to revive Tehran’s tattered nuclear accord with world powers in Vienna have ended as the parties closed a final text and key negotiators prepared to consult with their capitals.

Followers of Iraq's influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came by the thousands to storm the country's parliament at his command, and they rapidly dispersed with little violence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin won staunch support from Iran for his country’s military campaign in Ukraine, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei saying the West opposes an “independent and strong” Russia.

A million pilgrims from across the globe are gathering in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the initial rites of the hajj.

State TV says the death toll in a catastrophic tower collapse in southwestern Iran has risen to at least 38.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has acknowledged that Iran took two Greek oil tankers last month in helicopter-launched raids in the Persian Gulf.

Protesters angry over a building collapse in southwestern Iran that killed at least 33 people have shouted down an emissary sent by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian media says Syrian President Bashar Assad was in Tehran for a rare visit to meet Iranian leaders.

Iran’s supreme leader is insisting negotiations over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal “are going ahead properly.”.

A leading European Union diplomat was holding talks in Tehran amid hopes that an agreement to restore Iran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers could be completed.

Iran’s top diplomat says that the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has accepted the idea of continuing to be sanctioned by the U.S. if it meant the restoration of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Thousands of mourners have poured into the streets of Iranian cities for the mass funeral of 250 victims of the Iran-Iraq war — remains recently recovered in a testament to the brutal conflict’s scale and enduring legacy after 35 years.

President Joe Biden is ready to warn Vladimir Putin during a video call that Russia will face economy-jarring sanctions if it invades neighboring Ukraine.

The national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates has met with Iran's hard-line president in Tehran.

Iran is striking a hard line after just one day of restarted talks in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal.

The head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog is meeting with Iranian officials to press for greater access in the Islamic Republic.

The U.S. Air Force has flown a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime chokepoints in the Mideast with allies including Israel.

Iran’s president is saying that a cyberattack that shut down gas stations across the nation aimed to get “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.”.

A cyberattack has crippled gas stations across Iran, leaving angry motorists stranded in long lines.

Iran’s new president slammed U.S. sanctions imposed on his nation as a mechanism of war.

Iran’s new president slammed U.S. sanctions imposed on his nation as a mechanism of war.

President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that diplomacy was his first option, but that he would consider other options if his effort to revive the Iran nuclear deal fails.

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have postponed their White House meeting as Biden focused his attention on dealing with the aftermath of deadly explosions near the Kabul airport that targeted U.S. troops and Afghans seeking to flee their country after the Taliban takeover.

Victoria state in Australia is lifting its pandemic lockdown beginning Tuesday, except in the city of Melbourne.

Iran, grappling with its most severe coronavirus surge yet, has reported more new infections and deaths across the country than on any other single day since the pandemic began.

Iran has sworn in Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of the country's supreme leader, as its new president.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has voted to finally repeal two decades-old measures giving open-ended approval for military action in Iraq.

Iran is reporting more than 37,000 new coronavirus infections, the country’s single-day record so far in the pandemic.

Iran’s outgoing president has acknowledged his nation at times “did not tell part of the truth” to its people during his eight-year tenure.

U.S. Navy explosive experts believe a “drone strike” targeted an oil tanker that came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, killing two on board.

Iran’s supreme leader has called the U.S. “stubborn” in stalled nuclear talks in Vienna for discussing Tehran’s missiles and regional influence.

Iran has announced new coronavirus restrictions on major cities as the spread of the highly contagious delta variant spurs fears of another devastating surge in the nation.

Biden administration officials are insisting that the election of a hard-liner as Iran’s president won’t affect prospects for reviving the faltering 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief has won the country’s presidential election in a landslide victory.

Iranian state TV showed voters streaming to cast their ballots, but very different scenes were playing out on Tehran’s streets, where traffic was light and polling places appeared relatively empty.

Iranians have voted in a presidential election dominated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s hard-line protege after the disqualification of his strongest competition.

Iran’s presidential election Friday will determine who will lead the country’s civilian government.

Iran is grappling with fears of low voter turnout, two days ahead of the country's presidential election.

A prominent Iranian presidential candidate says he’d be willing to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden if he wins his country’s election next week.

Iran has named the hard-line cleric running its judiciary and six others as approved candidates in its June 18 presidential election.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has agreed to a one-month extension to the deal on surveillance cameras at its nuclear sites.

Iran’s judiciary chief and a prominent hard-line cleric has registered to run in the country's June presidential election.

Iran has opened registration for potential candidates in the country's June presidential election.

Palestinian worshippers have clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a major holy site sacred to Muslims and Jews.

A remotely piloted boat packed with explosives has targeted the Saudi port of Yanbu in the Red Sea.

A first round of direct talks between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran signal a possible de-escalation following years of animosity that has often spilled over into neighboring countries.

A senior Iranian official has offered a cautiously upbeat assessment of progress in talks aimed at bringing the United States back into world powers’ 2015 deal with Tehran on its nuclear program.

Negotiations aimed at bringing the United States back into the landmark nuclear deal with Iran have been held in Vienna.

An Iranian nuclear negotiator says Tehran will begin enriching uranium up to 60% purity after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility.

A controversial Iranian TV spy thriller is once again generating buzz in the Islamic Republic.

The document makes clear that even while Trump has cried foul about the legitimacy of the election, intelligence officials believe Russia sought to influence people close to Trump as a way to tip the election in his favor. The primary threats instead came from Russia and Iran, albeit with different intentions and through different means, according to intelligence officials. The report also says Putin authorized influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden, boosting Trump, undermining confidence in the election and exacerbating social divisions in the U.S. Intelligence officials did not single out any Trump ally in that effort. U.S. officials have said they regard Derkach as an “active Russian agent,” and Tuesday's report said Putin is believed to have “purview” over his activities.

Iran says that its third homegrown vaccine has reached the phase of clinical trials, even as details about its production remained slim. AdBut details are scant about the Islamic Republic's vaccine production efforts. Two other Iranian vaccines are also in the phase of clinical trials, with the most advanced, called Barekat, tested on 300 people so far. Earlier this week, the government launched a vaccine production factory it claims can make 3 million doses a day. Iran formally launched its limited vaccination campaign last month, doling out Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to health workers and those with chronic health conditions.

The Israeli-owned cargo ship, Helios Ray, sits docked in port after arriving earlier in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. The ship has been damaged by an unexplained blast at the gulf of Oman on Thursday. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)DUBAI – An Israeli-owned cargo ship that suffered a mysterious explosion in the Gulf of Oman came to Dubai's port for repairs Sunday, days after the blast that revived security concerns in Mideast waterways amid heightened tensions with Iran. Associated Press journalists saw the hulking Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray sitting at dry dock facilities at Dubai's Port Rashid. An Emirati coast guard vessel was seen sailing behind the ship, with Dubai police and Emirati armed forces vehicles parked nearby.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)TEHRAN – Iran officially started restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities Tuesday, a bid to pressure European countries and President Joe Biden's administration to lift crippling economic sanctions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal. AdIn a show of defiance, Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei outlined further developments in Iran's nuclear program on Tuesday. On Monday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also signaled Iran would refuse to capitulate to U.S. pressure over its nuclear program. Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, such as power generation and medical research. Before Iran implemented its new restrictions on IAEA inspections, the agency's director-general, Rafael Grossi, negotiated a temporary deal during an emergency weekend trip to Tehran.

Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi from Argentina, speaks to the media after returning from Iran at the Vienna International Airport, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)DUBAI – Iran will begin restricting the ability of United Nations nuclear inspectors to monitor Tehran's nuclear program. Restricting IAEA inspections, a cornerstone of ensuring Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, provides Iran a way to grab the West's attention. Without success at the negotiating table, Iran could bar IAEA inspectors or withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. ___Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

Legitimate questions about the virus created perfect conditions for conspiracy theories. COVID CLAIM: Boyle says the coronavirus is a genetically engineered bioweapon that escaped from a high-level lab in Wuhan, China. COVID CLAIM: Nikulin argues the U.S. created the virus and used it to attack China. He first voiced the belief in a Jan. 20, 2020, story by Zvezda, a state media outlet tied to the Russian military. EVIDENCE: There is no evidence that the U.S. created the virus or used it as a weapon to attack Iran.

Iran's supreme leader said the U.S. must lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to return to its commitments to the nuclear deal with Western powers. The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its course on the nuclear program. A 1990s fatwa, or religious edict, by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that nuclear weapons are forbidden. AdIsrael has long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, and the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers put strict limits on Iranian nuclear activities to prevent it from reaching weapons capabilities. Israel, which has been suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the last decade, has repeatedly declined to comment on the attack.

Parsa Namaki son of Health Minister Saeed Namaki receives a Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in a staged event at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. At a ceremony marking the start of the campaign, Parsa Namaki, son of Health Minister Saeed Namaki, received his first dose. Last Thursday, Iran received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines from Russia. Iranian media have reported that a total of 2 million Russian vaccines will arrive in Iran in February and March. Iran is also planning to import some 17 million doses of vaccine from COVAX and millions from other countries.

FILE - In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. in Tehran, Iran. Twitter says on Friday, Jan. 22, it has permanently banned an account connected to the office of Irans supreme leader. Other accounts thought to be tied to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis office remained active. He was asked if the US will lift sanctions first in order to get Iran back to the bargaining table. The supreme leader, 81, has the final say on all matters of state in Iran and approved the efforts at reaching the nuclear deal in 2015.

Iran on Thursday received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. (Saeed Kaari/IKAC via AP)TEHRAN – Iran on Thursday received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. Also Iranian state TV quoted Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, as saying that Iran has ordered 5 million doses from Russia. ISNA quoted Mohammadreza Shanehsaz, head of Iran’s food and drug organization, as saying Thursday’s shipment included only 10,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. It is also planning to import some 17 million doses of vaccine from COVAX and millions from other countries.

FILE - In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. in Tehran, Iran. Twitter says on Friday, Jan. 22, it has permanently banned an account connected to the office of Irans supreme leader. Other accounts thought to be tied to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis office remained active. Other accounts tied to Khamenei's office that did not tweet the golf-drone photo, including his main English language account, remained active. In his speech, Khamenei did not call out Trump by name, but reiterated a vow for vengeance against those who ordered and executed the attack on Soleimani.

The Navy veteran kept a handwritten document detailing the nearly two years he spent imprisoned in Iran. The love interest he'd gone to visit had stopped seeing him and he'd idled away hours in his hotel room by himself. “I don’t want the government of Iran to think that, 'Oh, Mike White's out of here, he's going away, he's going to be quiet,'" he said in a recent interview. White ultimately faced various charges, including posting private images, collaborating with the U.S. against Iran and disrespecting Iran's supreme leader. He writes in his manuscript that he has indeed made social media posts about Iran but denies having disparaged Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

They were among many religious leaders — some admired worldwide, others beloved only locally — who died in 2020. It occurred in April, during a period in which numerous Church of God in Christ bishops and pastors died of COVID-19. 2 leader, Bishop Amfilohije -- who also died after COVID-19 complications -- both downplayed the dangers of the pandemic and avoided wearing masks in public. Edward Kmiec, 84, who between 1992 and 2012 served as the Roman Catholic bishop of Nashville, Tennessee, and Buffalo, New York. John Yambasu, 63, a bishop of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone who died in a traffic accident in August.

TEHRAN – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday expressed his opposition to a bill approved by parliament the previous day to suspend U.N. inspections and boost uranium enrichment, saying it would be “harmful” to diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal and easing U.S. sanctions. Under the law, if the president refuses to sign the bill, it will be automatically singed by the parliament speaker to go into effect. Tuesday's approval by lawmakers appeared to be a show of defiance after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a key figure in Iran's nuclear program, was killed in an attack Iranian officials have blamed on Israel. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. The U.S. imposed crippling sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.

An opinion piece published by a hard-line Iranian newspaper has suggested that Iran must attack the Israeli port city of Haifa if Israel carried out the killing of a scientist. U.S. intelligence agencies and U.N. nuclear inspectors have said the organized military nuclear program that Fakhrizadeh oversaw disbanded in 2003. Israel insists Iran still maintains the ambition of developing nuclear weapons. The nuclear watchdog has provided an unprecedented, real-time look at Iran’s civilian nuclear program following the country's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.

Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian scientists a decade ago amid earlier tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program, has yet to comment on Fakhrizadeh's killing Friday. Iran’s civilian atomic program has continued its experiments and now enriches a growing uranium stockpile up to 4.5% purity in response to the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal after the U.S.' 2018 withdrawal from the accord. Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. Iran also could throw out inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who have provided an unprecedented, real-time look at Iran's nuclear program since the deal. Iranian state television said an old truck with explosives hidden under a load of wood blew up near a sedan carrying Fakhrizadeh.

(Menahem Kahana/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The United States hit Iran with new sanctions on Wednesday, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the case that undoing the actions of the Trump administration would be foolish and dangerous. At the same time, Pompeo released a statement titled “The Importance of Sanctions on Iran,” which argued that the Trump administration's moves against Iran made the world safer and should not be reversed. But they come as the administration seeks to ramp up pressure on Iran before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. In an apparent nod to the incoming Biden administration's stated plans to rejoin or renegotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump withdrew from, Pompeo said sanctions imposed against Iran had been “extraordinarily effective" in reducing the threat from the country. “These sanctions are a critical tool of national security to preserve the safety of the region and to protect American lives.”

“America votes and gives the world a president,” tweeted the editor in chief of the Ashraq Al-Awsat newspaper, which is Saudi-owned and published from London. As ballots were cast, global onlookers both fascinated and trepidatious braced for the butterfly effect of America’s choice and its knock-on effects big and small. A very real feared repercussion for some was the prospect of a reelected Trump further closing pathways to immigrants and some visitors. “The incumbent president ... says this is the most-rigged U.S. election throughout history,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised address Tuesday. “I’d like to have a president in France who thinks a bit like him,” Tanne said.

In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech marking the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Irans supreme leader mocked Americas presidential election in a televised address. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)TEHRAN – Iran's supreme leader mocked America's presidential election Tuesday in a televised address, quoting President Donald Trump's own baseless claims about voter fraud to criticize the vote as Tehran marked the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis. Our policy is clear and well-calculated and people coming and going will have no impact on it.”Khamenei, 81, as supreme leader has final say on all matters of state in Iran. The supreme leader accused France of harboring “terrorist” groups targeting the Islamic Republic after earlier supporting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his 1980s war against Iran.

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, people wear protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran. In the last week, Iran shattered its single-day death toll record twice and reported daily infection highs three times. He demanded for the first time they prioritize public health over “the security and economic aspects” of the pandemic, without elaborating. Only in late March — with infections skyrocketing — did Iran impose a two-week shutdown of offices and nonessential businesses. ___Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

In this Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, photo provided by the Iranian Health Ministry, medics tend to a COVID-19 patient at the Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The single-day death toll hit a record high three times this week. On state TV, gravediggers can be seen breaking new ground in vast cemeteries for virus victims, as the daily death toll shattered records Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. A top health official announced that overall hospitalizations in Tehran, the capital, were up 12% more than in even previous virus surges. “There is not an empty bed for any new patient.”Contradictory messages and measures have plagued the government’s virus response, helping propel the country's toll of 29,600 reported deaths to No.