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'Butcher of Tehran': Who was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi?<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//05//20//whats-next-for-iran-after-president-killed-in-helicopter-crash/">What's next for Iran after president died in helicopter crash?<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The European Union is one of many countries that have sanctions against the Iranian regime. These include trade restrictions, travel bans, and asset freezes. <\/p>\n<p>In April, the EU agreed to a new round of sanctions in response to Iran's large missile attack on Israel, which it launched amidst soaring tensions between the two regional rivals.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1716196336,"updatedAt":1716203483,"publishedAt":1716203480,"firstPublishedAt":1716203483,"lastPublishedAt":1716203480,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/69\/44\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0bd58fb9-287e-5915-8c5d-9318b9bb0b05-8446944.jpg","altText":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi listens to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 24, 2024.","caption":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi listens to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 24, 2024.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mert Gokhan Koc\/AP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"paternoster","title":"Tamsin Paternoster","twitter":null}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":153,"slug":"iran","urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","titleRaw":"Iran"},{"id":25288,"slug":"ibrahim-reisi","urlSafeValue":"ibrahim-reisi","title":"Ebrahim Raisi","titleRaw":"Ebrahim Raisi"},{"id":27924,"slug":"air-crash","urlSafeValue":"air-crash","title":"Air Crash","titleRaw":"Air Crash"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"twitter","count":2},{"slug":"related","count":1}],"related":[{"id":2545942},{"id":2545788},{"id":2545634}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"europe-news","urlSafeValue":"europe-news","title":"Europe News","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/europe-news\/europe-news"},"vertical":"my-europe","verticals":[{"id":2,"slug":"my-europe","urlSafeValue":"my-europe","title":"My Europe"},{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":2,"slug":"my-europe","urlSafeValue":"my-europe","title":"My Europe"},"themes":[{"id":"europe-news","urlSafeValue":"europe-news","title":"Europe 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News"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gt_negative','gb_death_injury_edu','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gv_death_injury','gb_safe_from_high','gs_family','gs_family_bereavement','gs_busfin','gt_negative_sadness','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gs_science','gt_negative_shock','gs_busfin_indus'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/my-europe\/2024\/05\/20\/scorn-and-sympathy-eu-politicians-divided-over-death-of-iranian-president-raisi","lastModified":1716203480},{"id":2545832,"cid":8446424,"versionId":5,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240520_NWSU_55581483","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN PRESIDENT NECRO","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"'Butcher of Tehran': Who was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"'Butcher of Tehran': Who was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi?","titleListing2":"'Butcher of Tehran': Who was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi?","leadin":"Iran's president has died following a helicopter crash on Sunday, but who was he, and how did he come to lead the Islamic Republic?","summary":"Iran's president has died following a helicopter crash on Sunday, but who was he, and how did he come to lead the Islamic Republic?","keySentence":"","url":"butcher-of-tehran-who-was-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/20\/butcher-of-tehran-who-was-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The so-called \"Butcher of Tehran\" has died.\u00a0 \n\nIranian president\u00a0Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and several other officials were killed after their helicopter crashed in northern Iran on Sunday.\u00a0 \n\nHe was 63.\u00a0 \n\nThe hardliner was there during many major domestic and international events shaping Iran's recent history.\u00a0 \n\nHe helped oversee the mass execution of thousands in the 1980s and later presided over a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests at home.\u00a0 \n\nAbroad, the cleric-turned-politician struck a tough stance in nuclear talks with the West and launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.\u00a0 \n\nRaisi was even tipped to become\u00a0the next supreme leader, where true power lies in Iran. \n\nIn a tightly controlled vote, the conservative was elected president in 2021.\u00a0 \n\nHe arrived in office after then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, which eased economically-crippling sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\nTrump's move in 2018 \u2014 which sparked renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran\u00a0\u2014 helped empower Raisi's hardline camp while weakening his reformist rivals.\u00a0 \n\nDespite saying he wanted to revive the nuclear deal, Raisi\u2019s government took a tough line with Western negotiators, as Iran enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels.\u00a0Talks have since stalled.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cSanctions are the US\u2019 new way of war with the nations of the world,\u201d Raisi told the United Nations in September 2021.\u00a0\u201cThe policy of \u2018maximum oppression\u2019 is still on. We want nothing more than what is rightfully ours.\u201d \n\nThat further escalated tensions with the West, as did Tehran supplying Shahed attack drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. \n\nDissent at home \n\nMass protests swept Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly not covering her hair properly\u00a0\u2014 as mandated by Iranian law.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\nAmini's family, activists and observers claimed police severely beat her, though the government claimed she had a heart attack. \n\nThe following months of nationwide unrest were one of the gravest challenges to Iran's rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.\u00a0 \n\nWith Raisi blasting them as \"unacceptable acts of chaos\", Iranian authorities fiercely cracked down on the demonstrations, killing more than\u00a0500 people and detaining some 22,000 others.\u00a0 \n\nSince then, the regime has launched a new crackdown on women's dress codes, which human rights group Amnesty International has described as a \"war on women\". \n\nThen came the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.\u00a0 \n\nAccording to the Wall\u00a0Street Journal, Tehran helped plot the deadly 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the conflict, while Iranian-backed proxies in Lebanon have fired on Israel.\u00a0 \n\nIn April, a suspected Israeli airstrike hit an Iranian consulate in Syria\u00a0\u2014 killing a top Iranian commander\u00a0\u2014 and Raisi was at the helm when\u00a0Tehran launched an extraordinary attack on Israel in retaliation.\u00a0 \n\nIranian Supreme Leader Khamenei\u00a0Ali Khamenei appointed Raisi, a former Iranian attorney general, in 2016 to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran.\u00a0 \n\nAt this appointment, Khamenei called him a \u201ctrustworthy person with high-profile experience.\u201d\u00a0 \n\nThat prompted analysts to speculate that Khamenei could be grooming Raisi as a possible candidate to be Iran\u2019s third-ever supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who has the final say on all state matters and serves as the country\u2019s commander-in-chief. \n\nRaisi stood against the relatively moderate then-president Hassan Rouhani in 2017, but he lost this campaign.\u00a0 \n\nThe next time around, in 2021, Raisi became the presidential favourite after a panel led by the supreme leader disqualified all other credible challengers.\u00a0 \n\nRaisi bagged 62% of the 28.9 million votes in an election marked by\u00a0the lowest turnout in Iranian history. Millions stayed home, and others voided ballots, with Human Rights Watch describing the vote as a \"sham\". \n\nStill, he could not shake his grim moniker: the \"Butcher of Tehran\". \n\nDuring his presidential campaign in 2016, a tape was leaked of an important cleric talking about Raisi's role in the mass execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners in 1988.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cI am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people\u2019s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was,\u201d Raisi said when asked at a news conference about his role on the so-called \"death commissions\".\u00a0 \n\nIn 2019, the US slapped sanctions on Raisi for human rights violations, including for the executions in the 1980s. \n\nBorn in Mashhad on 14 December 1960, Raisi came from a family that traces its lineage back to Islam's Prophet Muhammad, as marked by the black turban he later wore.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\nHis father died when he was 5. Raisi went to the seminary in the holy city of Qom and later would call himself an ayatollah, a high-ranking Shiite cleric. \n\nHe participated in protests against the Western-backed Shah, who was toppled in the 1979 revolution that brought into power the theocratic regime under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The so-called \"Butcher of Tehran\" has died.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian president\u00a0Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and several other officials were killed after their helicopter crashed in northern Iran on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was 63.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The hardliner was there during many major domestic and international events shaping Iran's recent history.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He helped oversee the mass execution of thousands in the 1980s and later presided over a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Abroad, the cleric-turned-politician struck a tough stance in nuclear talks with the West and launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raisi was even tipped to become\u00a0the next supreme leader, where true power lies in Iran.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//62//86//808x539_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg/" alt=\"Former Iranian president speaks in 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/384x256_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/640x427_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/750x500_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/828x552_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/1080x720_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/1200x800_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/1920x1281_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Former Iranian president speaks in 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In a tightly controlled vote, the conservative was elected president in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He arrived in office after then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, which eased economically-crippling sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump's move in 2018 \u2014 which sparked renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran\u00a0\u2014 helped empower Raisi's hardline camp while weakening his reformist rivals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite saying he wanted to revive the nuclear deal, Raisi\u2019s government took a tough line with Western negotiators, as Iran enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels.\u00a0Talks have since stalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSanctions are the US\u2019 new way of war with the nations of the world,\u201d Raisi told the United Nations in September 2021.\u00a0\u201cThe policy of \u2018maximum oppression\u2019 is still on. We want nothing more than what is rightfully ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That further escalated tensions with the West, as did Tehran supplying Shahed attack drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<h2>Dissent at home<\/h2><p>Mass protests swept Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly not covering her hair properly\u00a0\u2014 as mandated by Iranian law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amini's family, activists and observers claimed police severely beat her, though the government claimed she had a heart attack.<\/p>\n<p>The following months of nationwide unrest were one of the gravest challenges to Iran's rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With Raisi blasting them as \"unacceptable acts of chaos\", Iranian authorities fiercely cracked down on the demonstrations, killing more than\u00a0500 people and detaining some 22,000 others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the regime has launched a new crackdown on women's dress codes, which human rights group Amnesty International has described as a \"war on women\".<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1646766340269649921\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Then came the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to the Wall\u00a0Street Journal, Tehran helped plot the deadly 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the conflict, while Iranian-backed proxies in Lebanon have fired on Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In April, a suspected Israeli airstrike hit an Iranian consulate in Syria\u00a0\u2014 killing a top Iranian commander\u00a0\u2014 and Raisi was at the helm when\u00a0Tehran launched an extraordinary attack on Israel in retaliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei\u00a0Ali Khamenei appointed Raisi, a former Iranian attorney general, in 2016 to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At this appointment, Khamenei called him a \u201ctrustworthy person with high-profile experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That prompted analysts to speculate that Khamenei could be grooming Raisi as a possible candidate to be Iran\u2019s third-ever supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who has the final say on all state matters and serves as the country\u2019s commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//62//74//808x539_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg/" alt=\"Raisi speaks in May, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/384x256_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/640x427_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/750x500_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/828x552_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/1080x720_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/1200x800_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/1920x1281_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Raisi speaks in May, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP\/AP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Raisi stood against the relatively moderate then-president Hassan Rouhani in 2017, but he lost this campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The next time around, in 2021, Raisi became the presidential favourite after a panel led by the supreme leader disqualified all other credible challengers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raisi bagged 62% of the 28.9 million votes in an election marked by\u00a0the lowest turnout in Iranian history. Millions stayed home, and others voided ballots, with Human Rights Watch describing the vote as a \"sham\".<\/p>\n<p>Still, he could not shake his grim moniker: the \"Butcher of Tehran\".<\/p>\n<p>During his presidential campaign in 2016, a tape was leaked of an important cleric talking about Raisi's role in the mass execution of up to 5,000 political prisoners in 1988.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people\u2019s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was,\u201d Raisi said when asked at a news conference about his role on the so-called \"death commissions\".\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the US slapped sanctions on Raisi for human rights violations, including for the executions in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1779568176189120961\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Born in Mashhad on 14 December 1960, Raisi came from a family that traces its lineage back to Islam's Prophet Muhammad, as marked by the black turban he later wore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His father died when he was 5. Raisi went to the seminary in the holy city of Qom and later would call himself an ayatollah, a high-ranking Shiite cleric.<\/p>\n<p>He participated in protests against the Western-backed Shah, who was toppled in the 1979 revolution that brought into power the theocratic regime under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1716181432,"updatedAt":1716269102,"publishedAt":1716200865,"firstPublishedAt":1716200872,"lastPublishedAt":1716200865,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2021 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"Raisi, the late president of Iran. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Raisi, the late president of Iran. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/34\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8c93df6c-605c-5c9a-95ab-4b75f2a7963c-8446434.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":670},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"Former Iranian president speaks in 2024. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Former Iranian president speaks in 2024. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/86\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_47cf37d6-da62-5d62-ab1b-0ba96635bb86-8446286.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"Raisi speaks in May, 2024. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Raisi speaks in May, 2024. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"askew","twitter":"@jweaskew","title":"Joshua Askew"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-politics","titleRaw":"Iranian politics","id":9349,"title":"Iranian politics","slug":"iranian-politics"},{"urlSafeValue":"ebrahim-raisi","titleRaw":"Ebrahim Raisi","id":12417,"title":"Ebrahim Raisi","slug":"ebrahim-raisi"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-devrim-muhaf-zlar-","titleRaw":"\u0130ranian Revolutionary Guards ","id":17100,"title":"\u0130ranian Revolutionary Guards ","slug":"iran-devrim-muhaf-zlar-"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-nuclear-deal","titleRaw":"Iran nuclear deal","id":11903,"title":"Iran nuclear deal","slug":"iran-nuclear-deal"}],"widgets":[{"count":2,"slug":"image"},{"count":2,"slug":"twitter"}],"related":[{"id":2333286},{"id":2545788},{"id":2546230}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"KeYsXWaoGLc","dailymotionId":"x8yrphs"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":109000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":14171882,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/05\/20\/en\/240520_NWSU_55581483_55585337_109000_142731_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":109000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":21481194,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/05\/20\/en\/240520_NWSU_55581483_55585337_109000_142731_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"urlSafeValue":"asia","id":12,"title":"Asia"},"country":{"urlSafeValue":"iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gt_negative','gb_safe','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','gs_politics','gs_politics_civicaffairs','gs_science','gs_busfin','gs_busfin_business','gt_negative_sadness'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/05\/20\/butcher-of-tehran-who-was-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisi","lastModified":1716200865},{"id":2545854,"cid":8446484,"versionId":9,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240520_NWSU_55581684","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN AIR TRANSPORT","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"How did Iran's president end up on half-century-old US-made helicopter?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"How did Iran's president end up on nearly 50-year-old US helicopter?","titleListing2":"How did Iran's president end up on half-century-old US-made helicopter?","leadin":"The US-made Bell 212 that crashed on Sunday with President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several members of their entourage on board was most likely purchased during the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.","summary":"The US-made Bell 212 that crashed on Sunday with President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several members of their entourage on board was most likely purchased during the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.","keySentence":"","url":"how-did-irans-president-end-up-on-a-four-decade-old-us-helicopter","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/20\/how-did-irans-president-end-up-on-a-four-decade-old-us-helicopter","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iranian president's helicopter that crashed on Sunday in inclement weather turned out to have been a well-known Vietnam-era war relic\u00a0\u2014 or at least its civilian counterpart. \n\nThe US-made Bell 212 carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several members of their entourage is a refitted non-combat version of the omnipresent UH-1N \"Twin Huey,\" which is still widely used globally. \n\nDespite its proven longevity, questions arose over whether it was fit for purpose, while the fact that the Tehran regime has been under Western sanctions for decades might indicate that proper maintenance of the\u00a0chopper was uncertain. \n\nAfter the crash, experts pointed out that the nearly 50-year-old Bell 212 was built to fly in visual flight conditions, meaning that the pilot had to rely solely on their ability to observe the terrain from their seat. \n\nHeavy fog and a brewing storm on Sunday likely impeded the pilot and might have contributed to the crash in northwestern Iran, some 20 kilometres from the border with Azerbaijan. \n\nThe heavily forested area is known for its steep mountain slopes, further complicating the rescue, which ultimately involved Turkish drones and an EU observational satellite. \n\nIranian officials said the other two helicopters in the three-copter presidential convoy had landed safely. It is unclear if and how badly they were affected by harsh flight conditions, while the lack of information from Tehran means the details of the accident are still shrouded in mystery. \n\nTehran regime still flies on Shah-bought aircraft \n\nThe Bell 212, said to have been operated by the\u00a0Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran by local media,\u00a0was likely purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. \n\nIran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was known for his love of flying.\u00a0A qualified pilot himself, Pahlavi often wore the uniform of the Marshal of the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) \u2014 established by his father, Shah Reza Pahlavi, in 1920 \u2014 and invested more in it than in any other branch of the armed forces. \n\nThis led to a series of aircraft purchases meant to create a top-of-the-line air force fleet, with Iran the only country other than the US to operate the F-14 Tomcat. Helicopters, like the Bell-made AH-1 Super Cobra and Chinook, also prominently featured in the IAAF's arsenal. \n\nHowever, the US arms embargo against the Islamic Republic's government meant the rebranded\u00a0Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force soon saw most Western-made aircraft fall into disrepair.\u00a0 \n\nThe Tehran regime, however, continued to operate a limited number of aircraft by cannibalising the existing fleet and reverse-engineering the much-needed parts. \n\nThis practice was supplemented by purchasing weapons and equipment from the likes of the Soviet Union and China. Yet, continued issues with its ageing fleet were fully exposed during the 1980-1988 Iran\u2013Iraq War when Tehran suffered significant losses of both aircraft and their best pilots.\u00a0 \n\nSome of the shah-bought aircraft survived to this day, however. Although Iran's current capabilities are unknown, a 2024 estimate by Flight Global claimed that at least two\u00a0Bell 212s were still operating in the country. \n\nWho else operates Bell 212? \n\nIntroduced in 1968, the Bell 212 and its several variants have been the workhorses of many military and civilian operators worldwide.\u00a0 \n\nThe UH-1N Twin Huey \u2014 its military version \u2014 was used by the US in global conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It is still used by the US Air Force and by Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia, among others. \n\nIn 2024, Bell 212's services were mostly retained by police forces in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and elsewhere, as well as the coast guards of Canada and Japan. \n\nDepending on the configuration, it can carry one pilot (or two, if fitted with upgraded flight instruments) and up to 14 passengers. \n\nThe only other notable\u00a0Bell 212\u00a0accident took place in the North Sea in September 1986, when a Scottish-operated medical emergencies chopper crashed while on a rescue mission, killing all six onboard. Heavy rain and poor visibility were deemed to have caused the crash. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iranian president's helicopter that crashed on Sunday in inclement weather turned out to have been a well-known Vietnam-era war relic\u00a0\u2014 or at least its civilian counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>The US-made Bell 212 carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several members of their entourage is a refitted non-combat version of the omnipresent UH-1N \"Twin Huey,\" which is still widely used globally.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its proven longevity, questions arose over whether it was fit for purpose, while the fact that the Tehran regime has been under Western sanctions for decades might indicate that proper maintenance of the\u00a0chopper was uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>After the crash, experts pointed out that the nearly 50-year-old Bell 212 was built to fly in visual flight conditions, meaning that the pilot had to rely solely on their ability to observe the terrain from their seat.<\/p>\n<p>Heavy fog and a brewing storm on Sunday likely impeded the pilot and might have contributed to the crash in northwestern Iran, some 20 kilometres from the border with Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n<p>The heavily forested area is known for its steep mountain slopes, further complicating the rescue, which ultimately involved Turkish drones and an EU observational satellite.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian officials said the other two helicopters in the three-copter presidential convoy had landed safely. It is unclear if and how badly they were affected by harsh flight conditions, while the lack of information from Tehran means the details of the accident are still shrouded in mystery.<\/p>\n<h2>Tehran regime still flies on Shah-bought aircraft<\/h2><p>The Bell 212, said to have been operated by the\u00a0Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran by local media,\u00a0was likely purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was known for his love of flying.\u00a0A qualified pilot himself, Pahlavi often wore the uniform of the Marshal of the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) \u2014 established by his father, Shah Reza Pahlavi, in 1920 \u2014 and invested more in it than in any other branch of the armed forces.<\/p>\n<p>This led to a series of aircraft purchases meant to create a top-of-the-line air force fleet, with Iran the only country other than the US to operate the F-14 Tomcat. Helicopters, like the Bell-made AH-1 Super Cobra and Chinook, also prominently featured in the IAAF's arsenal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.69921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//64//84//808x565_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg/" alt=\"Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi sits on the Peacock Throne in Tehran, October 1964\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/384x269_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/640x448_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/750x524_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/828x579_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/1080x755_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/1200x839_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/1920x1343_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi sits on the Peacock Throne in Tehran, October 1964<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP Photo<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>However, the US arms embargo against the Islamic Republic's government meant the rebranded\u00a0Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force soon saw most Western-made aircraft fall into disrepair.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Tehran regime, however, continued to operate a limited number of aircraft by cannibalising the existing fleet and reverse-engineering the much-needed parts.<\/p>\n<p>This practice was supplemented by purchasing weapons and equipment from the likes of the Soviet Union and China. Yet, continued issues with its ageing fleet were fully exposed during the 1980-1988 Iran\u2013Iraq War when Tehran suffered significant losses of both aircraft and their best pilots.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some of the shah-bought aircraft survived to this day, however. Although Iran's current capabilities are unknown, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.flightglobal.com//download?ac=98881\%22>a 2024 estimate<\/a> by Flight Global claimed that at least two\u00a0Bell 212s were still operating in the country.<\/p>\n<h2>Who else operates Bell 212?<\/h2><p>Introduced in 1968, the Bell 212 and its several variants have been the workhorses of many military and civilian operators worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The UH-1N Twin Huey \u2014 its military version \u2014 was used by the US in global conflicts, including the Vietnam War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It is still used by the US Air Force and by Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia, among others.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, Bell 212's services were mostly retained by police forces in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and elsewhere, as well as the coast guards of Canada and Japan.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8446274,8445898\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//05//19//iranian-presidents-helicopter-in-hard-landing-state-media-reports/">Iranian president's helicopter in 'hard landing', state media reports<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//05//20//no-sign-of-life-at-iran-president-helicopter-crash-site/">Iranian president and foreign minister killed in helicopter crash<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Depending on the configuration, it can carry one pilot (or two, if fitted with upgraded flight instruments) and up to 14 passengers.<\/p>\n<p>The only other notable\u00a0Bell 212\u00a0accident took place in the North Sea in September 1986, when a Scottish-operated medical emergencies chopper crashed while on a rescue mission, killing all six onboard. Heavy rain and poor visibility were deemed to have caused the crash.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1716182893,"updatedAt":1716220489,"publishedAt":1716200125,"firstPublishedAt":1716200162,"lastPublishedAt":1716200125,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Iranian Presidency Office via AP","altText":"President Ebrahim Raisi visits an exhibition of the Revolutionary Guard navy capabilities in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, 2 February 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"caption":"President Ebrahim Raisi visits an exhibition of the Revolutionary Guard navy capabilities in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, 2 February 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_7592b4dc-76e7-553d-8fd6-64eb56ce3e22-8446484.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1080},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo","altText":"Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi sits on the Peacock Throne in Tehran, October 1964","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi sits on the Peacock Throne in Tehran, October 1964","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2697c9d6-2d73-517e-93f5-31830bc0e85d-8446484.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":716},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi waves to the crowd during a ceremony in the city of Kerman, January 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"caption":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi waves to the crowd during a ceremony in the city of Kerman, January 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/64\/84\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_6e298834-5b56-58c6-a6d3-7cca8e9ba54b-8446484.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"brezar","twitter":"@brezaleksandar","title":"Aleksandar Brezar"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-politics","titleRaw":"Iranian politics","id":9349,"title":"Iranian politics","slug":"iranian-politics"},{"urlSafeValue":"ibrahim-reisi","titleRaw":"Ebrahim Raisi","id":25288,"title":"Ebrahim Raisi","slug":"ibrahim-reisi"},{"urlSafeValue":"tehran","titleRaw":"Tehran","id":4056,"title":"Tehran","slug":"tehran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-devrim-muhaf-zlar-","titleRaw":"\u0130ranian Revolutionary Guards ","id":17100,"title":"\u0130ranian Revolutionary Guards ","slug":"iran-devrim-muhaf-zlar-"},{"urlSafeValue":"supreme-leader-of-iran","titleRaw":"Supreme Leader of Iran","id":26926,"title":"Supreme Leader of Iran","slug":"supreme-leader-of-iran"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"image"},{"count":1,"slug":"related"}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gb_safe_from_high','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_science','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_science_geography','gs_politics','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','gs_politics_issues_policy','gs_politics_misc','gv_death_injury','neg_saudiaramco','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook','neg_bucherer','gv_military','gs_science_weather','gs_busfin'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/05\/20\/how-did-irans-president-end-up-on-a-four-decade-old-us-helicopter","lastModified":1716200125},{"id":2545938,"cid":8446670,"versionId":5,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240520_NWSU_55582504","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN WHATS NEXT","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"What's next for Iran after president died in helicopter crash?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"What's next for Iran after president died in helicopter crash?","titleListing2":"What's next for Iran after president died in helicopter crash?","leadin":"Reports that Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian died in a helicopter crash sent shockwaves around the region.","summary":"Reports that Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian died in a helicopter crash sent shockwaves around the region.","keySentence":"","url":"whats-next-for-iran-after-president-killed-in-helicopter-crash","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/20\/whats-next-for-iran-after-president-killed-in-helicopter-crash","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"What happened? \n\nIranian state TV announced on Monday that Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash following an hours-long search. \n\nThe circumstances\u00a0of the crash\u00a0\u2014 which happened in the foggy Dizmar forest in Iran's\u00a0East Azerbaijan province \u2014 are still unclear. \n\nThe pair were on their way back to the northern city of Tabriz after a trip to Iran's border with\u00a0Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with the president of the neighbouring country, Ilham Aliyev. \n\nWhy did search and rescue efforts take so long? \n\nDespite search efforts beginning on Sunday, the pair were only announced dead on Iranian State TV on Monday morning at 8 am local time (6:30 CEST).\u00a0 \n\nPresident of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, told the IRNA news agency that the 40 ground teams were impeded by \"challenging weather conditions\", including mountainous terrain and heavy fog.\u00a0 \n\nKoulivand added that drone searches were impossible due to bad weather.\u00a0 \n\nWho will take over? \n\nUnder the Iranian constitution, the country's first vice president\u00a0\u2014 in this case,\u00a0 Mohammad Mokhber\u00a0\u2014 will take over as temporary president if the president dies. A\u00a0new presidential election will be held within 50 days.\u00a0 \n\nMokhber, 68, is a former officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Like Raisi, he is seen as close to Iranian Supreme Leader\u00a0Ali Khamenei. He will likely not change course on foreign and domestic policy.\u00a0 \n\nThe president of Iran is the head of the country's executive branch and is elected every four years.\u00a0 \n\nThe position controls the government and has the potential to wield significant power. However, observers point out that true power in Iran lies with the\u00a0Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the armed forces.\u00a0 \n\nAli Bagheri Kani will replace Foreign Minister\u00a0Hossein Amir-Abdollahian after he died in the crash, according to Iranian state media.\u00a0 \n\nHe will be acting minister until election time, holding the seat for a maximum of 50 days, according to the constitution.\u00a0 \n\nHow are Iranians reacting? \n\nThe death of Raisi and his foreign minister has elicited both mourning and celebration from Iranians around the world. \n\nSupreme leader Khamenei has announced five days of mourning for the country. Iranian state media, meanwhile, has shown images of some people mourning and praying for Raisi.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\nHowever, a different picture emerges on social media, where narratives and images aren't so tightly controlled.\u00a0 \n\nIranian media in other countries, as well as several activists in Iran, have expressed joy at the crash which killed the pair, with the Islamic Republic deeply unpopular across broad sections of society.\u00a0 \n\nIranian Women's Rights Activist Masih Alinejad posted on X, \"Do not express condolences to the thousands of victims of Ebrahim Raisi. Instead, express your support for the people of Iran.\"\u00a0 \n\nElsewhere, Alinejad dubbed the day \"World Helicopter Day\". \n\nWhat will the impact be? \n\nRaisi was widely seen as one possible\u00a0successor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.\u00a0 \n\nHis death raises questions about who will replace Khamenei as he ages. \n\nSo far, the political establishment has indicated to sources that Raisi and Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, are the top contenders for the position.\u00a0 \n\nRaisi's death leaves Mojtaba with a clear path to political rule. His appointment, however, would leave the Iranian political establishment open to allegations of nepotism from leaders of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, who oppose a political system that resembles the monarchy they overthrew. \n\nThe crash occurs at a politically tense juncture as Iran sits at the centre of several geopolitical crises, including its controversial nuclear programme and its involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas.\u00a0 \n\nA change in leadership could potentially change how the president handles interactions with the West and regional powers.\u00a0 \n\nWithin Iran, Raisi's death has the potential to give rise to a fresh wave of protests and exacerbate existing societal tensions. \n\nIt also offers a power vacuum which the Revolutionary Guard, a powerful branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, may seek to exploit.\u00a0 \n\nWas Israel involved? \n\nSo far, the suggestion that Israel was directly involved in the mysterious helicopter crash that killed both Raisi and\u00a0Amirabdollahian is speculation.\u00a0 \n\nIsraeli officials have yet to comment on the incident.\u00a0However, the theory has gained traction among Iranians, considering the animosity between the two countries.\u00a0 \n\nIsrael is believed to have carried out various attacks on senior Iranian military officials in the past. \n\nExperts have suggested that Israel attacking a sitting president is unlikely, as it would amount to a direct act of war and illicit an intense response from Iran.\u00a0 \n\nIsrael's targets are also usually military and nuclear targets, not political assassinations.\u00a0 \n\nNevertheless, the timing of the crash can potentially worsen existing regional tensions. \n\n","htmlText":"<h2>What happened?<\/h2><p>Iranian state TV announced on Monday that Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash following an hours-long search.<\/p>\n<p>The circumstances\u00a0of the crash\u00a0\u2014 which happened in the foggy Dizmar forest in Iran's\u00a0East Azerbaijan province \u2014 are still unclear.<\/p>\n<p>The pair were on their way back to the northern city of Tabriz after a trip to Iran's border with\u00a0Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with the president of the neighbouring country, Ilham Aliyev.<\/p>\n<h2>Why did search and rescue efforts take so long?<\/h2><p>Despite search efforts beginning on Sunday, the pair were only announced dead on Iranian State TV on Monday morning at 8 am local time (6:30 CEST).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>President of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, told the IRNA news agency that the 40 ground teams were impeded by \"challenging weather conditions\", including mountainous terrain and heavy fog.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Koulivand added that drone searches were impossible due to bad weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//59//16//808x454_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg/" alt=\"Rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/384x216_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/640x360_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/750x422_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/828x466_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/1080x608_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/1200x675_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/1920x1080_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Azin Haghighi\/AP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Who will take over?<\/h2><p>Under the Iranian constitution, the country's first vice president\u00a0\u2014 in this case,\u00a0 Mohammad Mokhber\u00a0\u2014 will take over as temporary president if the president dies. A\u00a0new presidential election will be held within 50 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mokhber, 68, is a former officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Like Raisi, he is seen as close to Iranian Supreme Leader\u00a0Ali Khamenei. He will likely not change course on foreign and domestic policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The president of Iran is the head of the country's executive branch and is elected every four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The position controls the government and has the potential to wield significant power. However, observers point out that true power in Iran lies with the\u00a0Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the armed forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ali Bagheri Kani will replace Foreign Minister\u00a0Hossein Amir-Abdollahian after he died in the crash, according to Iranian state media.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He will be acting minister until election time, holding the seat for a maximum of 50 days, according to the constitution.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>How are Iranians reacting?<\/h2><p>The death of Raisi and his foreign minister has elicited both mourning and celebration from Iranians around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Supreme leader Khamenei has announced five days of mourning for the country. Iranian state media, meanwhile, has shown images of some people mourning and praying for Raisi.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, a different picture emerges on social media, where narratives and images aren't so tightly controlled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.666015625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//66//70//808x539_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg/" alt=\"Pilgrims pray for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, Sunday, May 19, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/384x256_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/640x426_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/750x500_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/828x551_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1080x719_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1200x799_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1920x1279_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Pilgrims pray for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, Sunday, May 19, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Mohammad Hasan Salavati\/AP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Iranian media in other countries, as well as several activists in Iran, have expressed joy at the crash which killed the pair, with the Islamic Republic deeply unpopular across broad sections of society.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Women's Rights Activist Masih Alinejad posted on X, \"Do not express condolences to the thousands of victims of Ebrahim Raisi. Instead, express your support for the people of Iran.\"\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, Alinejad dubbed the day \"World Helicopter Day\".<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1792481304392470577\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>What will the impact be?<\/h2><p>Raisi was widely seen as one possible\u00a0successor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His death raises questions about who will replace Khamenei as he ages.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the political establishment has indicated to sources that Raisi and Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, are the top contenders for the position.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raisi's death leaves Mojtaba with a clear path to political rule. His appointment, however, would leave the Iranian political establishment open to allegations of nepotism from leaders of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, who oppose a political system that resembles the monarchy they overthrew.<\/p>\n<p>The crash occurs at a politically tense juncture as Iran sits at the centre of several geopolitical crises, including its controversial nuclear programme and its involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A change in leadership could potentially change how the president handles interactions with the West and regional powers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Within Iran, Raisi's death has the potential to give rise to a fresh wave of protests and exacerbate existing societal tensions.<\/p>\n<p>It also offers a power vacuum which the Revolutionary Guard, a powerful branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, may seek to exploit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//44//66//70//808x539_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg/" alt=\"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of school teachers in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/384x256_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/640x427_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/750x500_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/828x552_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1080x720_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1200x800_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/1920x1281_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of school teachers in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP\/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2><strong>Was Israel involved?<\/strong><\/h2><p>So far, the suggestion that Israel was directly involved in the mysterious helicopter crash that killed both Raisi and\u00a0Amirabdollahian is speculation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Israeli officials have yet to comment on the incident.\u00a0However, the theory has gained traction among Iranians, considering the animosity between the two countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Israel is believed to have carried out various attacks on senior Iranian military officials in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Experts have suggested that Israel attacking a sitting president is unlikely, as it would amount to a direct act of war and illicit an intense response from Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Israel's targets are also usually military and nuclear targets, not political assassinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the timing of the crash can potentially worsen existing regional tensions.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1716190767,"updatedAt":1716205110,"publishedAt":1716199997,"firstPublishedAt":1716200000,"lastPublishedAt":1716199997,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"FILE - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"FILE - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_77aad688-6b24-59a8-b05b-309b7ad1612f-8446670.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader","altText":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of school teachers in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of school teachers in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_e4911cdf-8461-5060-a256-38ce08dfbb81-8446670.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mohammad Hasan Salavati\/AP","altText":"Pilgrims pray for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, Sunday, May 19, 2024. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Pilgrims pray for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, Sunday, May 19, 2024. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0ed874a0-0dae-5b4a-b110-bd1be1f2b152-8446670.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":682},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Sunday, May 19, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Sunday, May 19, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/92\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_42287949-4b74-56fd-a42c-d1e767ba7288-8446692.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Sunday, May 19, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Sunday, May 19, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/66\/70\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_646ead4a-54d4-54db-8289-5650849e014f-8446670.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Azin Haghighi\/AP","altText":"Rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/16\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_95205ccc-a6d9-574f-9d41-1c264945e2c8-8445916.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":576}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"paternoster","twitter":null,"title":"Tamsin Paternoster"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"ibrahim-reisi","titleRaw":"Ebrahim Raisi","id":25288,"title":"Ebrahim Raisi","slug":"ibrahim-reisi"},{"urlSafeValue":"air-crash","titleRaw":"Air Crash","id":27924,"title":"Air Crash","slug":"air-crash"},{"urlSafeValue":"supreme-leader-of-iran","titleRaw":"Supreme Leader of Iran","id":26926,"title":"Supreme Leader of Iran","slug":"supreme-leader-of-iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-islamic-revolution","titleRaw":"Iranian islamic revolution","id":18412,"title":"Iranian islamic 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News","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gb_safe_from_high','gs_busfin','gs_busfin_indus','gs_science','gt_negative_fear','gt_negative','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gv_death_injury','gs_busfin_indus_advertising','gs_business_management','gs_business'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/05\/20\/whats-next-for-iran-after-president-killed-in-helicopter-crash","lastModified":1716199997},{"id":2545788,"cid":8446274,"versionId":13,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240520_E3SU_55580654","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN HELICOPTER INCIDENT","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iranian president and foreign minister killed in helicopter crash","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iranian president killed in helicopter crash","titleListing2":"Iranian president and foreign minister killed in helicopter crash ","leadin":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crashed in the mountainous northwest of Iran on Sunday.","summary":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crashed in the mountainous northwest of Iran on Sunday.","keySentence":"","url":"no-sign-of-life-at-iran-president-helicopter-crash-site","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/20\/no-sign-of-life-at-iran-president-helicopter-crash-site","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash, state media reported on Monday. \n\nThe semi-official Tasnim news said Raisi and several others onboard were \"martyred\" following an \"accident\" in Iran's northern East Azerbaijan province earlier on Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0 \n\nState media said the helicopter was forced to make a \"hard landing\" in the mountainous region after getting into difficulties in heavy fog and inclement weather. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash, state media reported on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The semi-official Tasnim news said Raisi and several others onboard were \"martyred\" following an \"accident\" in Iran's northern East Azerbaijan province earlier on Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>State media said the helicopter was forced to make a \"hard landing\" in the mountainous region after getting into difficulties in heavy fog and inclement weather.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"arena liveblog\" data-liveblog-type=\"arena\" data-id=\"9JZdJ4c\">\n <div class=\"arena-liveblog\" data-publisher=\"euronews\" data-event=\"9JZdJ4c\" data-version=\"2\"><\/div>\n <script data-no-lazy-load=\"true\" defer src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////go.eu.arena.im//public//js//arenalib.js?p=euronews&e=9JZdJ4c\%22><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n%22,%22hashtag%22:null,%22createdAt%22:1716157948,%22updatedAt%22:1716228792,%22publishedAt%22:1716179297,%22firstPublishedAt%22:1716179300,%22lastPublishedAt%22:1716179297,%22expiresAt%22:0,%22images%22:[{%22sourceUrl%22:null,%22sourceCredit%22:null,%22callToActionUrl%22:null,%22captionCredit%22:%22AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi","altText":"Ebrahim Raisi waves to the media after casting his vote at a polling station during Iran's presidential elections in Tehran, 18 June 2021","callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"caption":"Ebrahim Raisi waves to the media after casting his vote at a polling station during Iran's presidential elections in Tehran, 18 June 2021","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_803772f9-c635-59ea-964c-005852ce1aa2-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1080},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"President Ebrahim Raisi waves to participants as he leaves at the conclusion of his press conference in Tehran on 21 June 2021","callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"caption":"President Ebrahim Raisi waves to participants as he leaves at the conclusion of his press conference in Tehran on 21 June 2021","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_52b98023-e9b4-5e5d-9e56-914d21714624-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1080},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"Raisi attends the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan with his Azeri counterpart, 19\/05\/24.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Raisi attends the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan with his Azeri counterpart, 19\/05\/24.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_91b2c1c6-d878-538d-bbdd-b18eb0c4e3e7-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev during the inauguration of a dam at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, May 19, 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":2499,"caption":"President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev during the inauguration of a dam at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, May 19, 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c9ecf517-7967-5937-b808-511faa591e8f-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1667},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Azin Haghighi\/AP","altText":"Rescue vehicles seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":4000,"caption":"Rescue vehicles seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in northwestern Iran, May 19, 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/62\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5361c7d5-0791-586d-96f9-67a06dd14efc-8446274.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":2250}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"azerbaijan","titleRaw":"Azerbaijan","id":15,"title":"Azerbaijan","slug":"azerbaijan"},{"urlSafeValue":"ibrahim-reisi","titleRaw":"Ebrahim Raisi","id":25288,"title":"Ebrahim Raisi","slug":"ibrahim-reisi"},{"urlSafeValue":"helicopter-accident","titleRaw":"Helicopter accident","id":14186,"title":"Helicopter accident","slug":"helicopter-accident"},{"urlSafeValue":"ilham-aliyev","titleRaw":"Ilham Aliyev","id":12675,"title":"Ilham Aliyev","slug":"ilham-aliyev"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"arena"}],"related":[{"id":2545832},{"id":2546000}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"GrM61ePDY_M","dailymotionId":"x8yra7m"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":91000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":11747155,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/E3\/SU\/24\/05\/20\/en\/240520_E3SU_55580654_55581603_91000_071556_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":91000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":17823059,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/E3\/SU\/24\/05\/20\/en\/240520_E3SU_55580654_55581603_91000_071556_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"Euronews","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Eloise Hardy","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world 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RAISI HELICOPTER HARD LANDING","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iranian president's helicopter in 'hard landing', state media reports","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iranian president's helicopter in 'hard landing', state media reports","titleListing2":"Iranian president's helicopter in \"hard landing\" state media reports","leadin":"Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.","summary":"Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.","keySentence":"","url":"iranian-presidents-helicopter-in-hard-landing-state-media-reports","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/19\/iranian-presidents-helicopter-in-hard-landing-state-media-reports","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a \u201chard landing\u201d on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. Some officials began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty, rural forest where his helicopter was believed to be. \n\nThe probable crash comes as Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel just last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over an ailing economy and women\u2019s rights \u2014 making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East. \n\nRaisi was travelling in Iran\u2019s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometres northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east, near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory. \n\nAfter Iran requested help from the EU in its rescue effort, the bloc said it was providing mapping of the area. However, no other help was offered. \n\nTravelling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word \u201ccrash\u201d to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself. \n\nNeither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi\u2019s condition in the hours afterwards. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country. \n\n\u201cThe esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,\" Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV. \"Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.\u201d \n\nHe added: \"The region is a bit (rugged) and it\u2019s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.\u201d \n\nRescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. Heavy rain and fog were reported, along with some wind. IRNA called the area a \u201cforest\u201d, and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area. \n\nA rescue helicopter tried to reach the area where authorities believe Raisi's helicopter was, but it couldn't land due to the heavy mist, emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast told IRNA. \n\nRaisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan\u2019s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023 and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region. \n\nIran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. \n\nRaisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country\u2019s judiciary. He is viewed as a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Khamenei, and some analysts have suggested that he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a \u201chard landing\u201d on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. Some officials began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty, rural forest where his helicopter was believed to be.<\/p>\n<p>The probable crash comes as Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel just last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over an ailing economy and women\u2019s rights \u2014 making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Raisi was travelling in Iran\u2019s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometres northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, state TV put it farther east, near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.<\/p>\n<p>After Iran requested help from the EU in its rescue effort, the bloc said it was providing mapping of the area. However, no other help was offered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1792240959180120305\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Travelling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word \u201ccrash\u201d to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1792205409966805165\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi\u2019s condition in the hours afterwards. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him. State TV later aired images of the faithful praying at Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites, as well as in Qom and other locations across the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,\" Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV. \"Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \"The region is a bit (rugged) and it\u2019s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. Heavy rain and fog were reported, along with some wind. IRNA called the area a \u201cforest\u201d, and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area.<\/p>\n<p>A rescue helicopter tried to reach the area where authorities believe Raisi's helicopter was, but it couldn't land due to the heavy mist, emergency services spokesman Babak Yektaparast told IRNA.<\/p>\n<p>Raisi had been on the border with Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan\u2019s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023 and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1792190035971752238\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country\u2019s judiciary. He is viewed as a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Khamenei, and some analysts have suggested that he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1716123965,"updatedAt":1716146374,"publishedAt":1716125973,"firstPublishedAt":1716126051,"lastPublishedAt":1716125973,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"FILE - President Ebrahim Raisi addresses the crowd in the annual rally commemorating Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"FILE - President Ebrahim Raisi addresses the crowd in the annual rally commemorating Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/44\/59\/00\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_e9f3c065-47fb-56e1-a63b-c0fb6d54a6ec-8445900.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"bellamy","twitter":"danbel","title":"Daniel Bellamy"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"president","titleRaw":"President","id":5004,"title":"President","slug":"president"},{"urlSafeValue":"helicopter-accident","titleRaw":"Helicopter accident","id":14186,"title":"Helicopter accident","slug":"helicopter-accident"}],"widgets":[{"count":3,"slug":"twitter"}],"related":[{"id":2526726},{"id":2537840},{"id":2537844}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"pakRElm59zE","dailymotionId":"x8yqdbw"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":34760,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":4513518,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/05\/19\/en\/240519_NWSU_55578530_55578556_34760_173711_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":34760,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":6527726,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/05\/19\/en\/240519_NWSU_55578530_55578556_34760_173711_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gv_death_injury','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gb_death_injury_high','gb_death_injury_serious','pos_ukrainecriris_ru','gs_business_management','gs_politics_misc','gb_death_injury_edu','gs_business','gs_politics','gs_politics_issues_policy'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/05\/19\/iranian-presidents-helicopter-in-hard-landing-state-media-reports","lastModified":1716125973},{"id":2537840,"cid":8422044,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240508_NWSU_55486108","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN NUCLEAR IAEA","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran and UN nuclear watchdog look for a way forward on uranium enrichment inspections","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran and UN nuclear watchdog look for a way forward on inspections","titleListing2":"Iran and UN nuclear watchdog look for a way forward on uranium enrichment inspections","leadin":"Tensions with Israel and Tehran's ongoing enrichment of uranium have put the international nuclear weapons control regime under major stress.","summary":"Tensions with Israel and Tehran's ongoing enrichment of uranium have put the international nuclear weapons control regime under major stress.","keySentence":"","url":"iran-and-un-nuclear-watchdog-look-for-a-way-forward-on-uranium-enrichment-inspections","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/08\/iran-and-un-nuclear-watchdog-look-for-a-way-forward-on-uranium-enrichment-inspections","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog are still negotiating over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic program, officials said on Tuesday. \n\nThe acknowledgement by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, shows the challenges his inspectors face, years after the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and the wider tensions gripping the Middle East in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. \n\nGrossi has previously warned that Tehran has enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels to potentially manufacture \"several\" nuclear bombs should it decide to do so. \n\nHe has also acknowledged the agency's inability to ensure that none of Iran's centrifuges have been used for clandestine enrichment. \n\nOn a visit to the Iranian city of Isfahan, Grossi held a press conference alongside Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.\u00a0 While both men said there would be no immediate new deal struck during the visit, they pointed to a March 2023 joint statement as a path forward for cooperation. \n\n\nThat statement included a pledge by Iran to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to \u201cimplement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.\u201d \n\nWhile Grossi offered few specifics on the ongoing discussions, according to Grossi technical teams were in negotiations. He emphasised the need for concrete measures to put the agreement into place. Eslami, meanwhile, described the implementation problems as \"mainly political\". \n\nIn a subsequent statement in Vienna, Grossi reaffirmed that the 2023 joint statement is \"still alive\". \n\n\u201cI want results and I want them soon,\u201d Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport. \u201cThe present state is completely unsatisfactory,\u201d he said. \n\nAll the while,\u00a0 tensions between Iran and Israel have lately hit a new high as the war in Gaza continues. \n\nTehran launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month, after years of a shadow war between the two countries reached a climax with Israel\u2019s apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others. \n\nIsfahan itself apparently has come under Israeli fire in recent weeks, despite being surrounded by sensitive nuclear sites. \n\nEslami in his remarks accused Israel of meddling in the relationship between the IAEA and Iran. \n\n\u201cIt is important to be careful that the hostile actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which the Zionists are source of ... do not affect the interactions between Iran and the agency,\u201d Eslami said. \u201cWhat is shown in the media is based on the Zionist regime\u2019s manipulations.\u201d \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog are still negotiating over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic program, officials said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The acknowledgement by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, shows the challenges his inspectors face, years after the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and the wider tensions gripping the Middle East in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n<p>Grossi has previously warned that Tehran has enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels to potentially manufacture \"several\" nuclear bombs should it decide to do so.<\/p>\n<p>He has also acknowledged the agency's inability to ensure that none of Iran's centrifuges have been used for clandestine enrichment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.65234375\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//07//43//47//08//808x528_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg/" alt=\"A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/384x251_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/640x418_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/750x489_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/828x540_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/1080x705_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/1200x783_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/1920x1253_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Majid Asgaripour\/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>On a visit to the Iranian city of Isfahan, Grossi held a press conference alongside Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.\u00a0While both men said there would be no immediate new deal struck during the visit, they pointed to a March 2023 joint statement as a path forward for cooperation. <\/p>\n<p>That statement included a pledge by Iran to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to \u201cimplement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1787844034075021447\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>While Grossi offered few specifics on the ongoing discussions, according to Grossi technical teams were in negotiations. He emphasised the need for concrete measures to put the agreement into place. Eslami, meanwhile, described the implementation problems as \"mainly political\".<\/p>\n<p>In a subsequent statement in Vienna, Grossi reaffirmed that the 2023 joint statement is \"still alive\".<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want results and I want them soon,\u201d Grossi told reporters at Vienna airport. \u201cThe present state is completely unsatisfactory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-euronews\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"auto widget__ratio widget__ratio--16x9\">\n <iframe type=\"text\/html\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//embed//2524960/" width=\"100%\" loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen seamless>\n <\/iframe>\n <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>All the while,\u00a0tensions between Iran and Israel have lately hit a new high as the war in Gaza continues.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel last month, after years of a shadow war between the two countries reached a climax with Israel\u2019s apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others.<\/p>\n<p>Isfahan itself apparently has come under Israeli fire in recent weeks, despite being surrounded by sensitive nuclear sites.<\/p>\n<p>Eslami in his remarks accused Israel of meddling in the relationship between the IAEA and Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to be careful that the hostile actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which the Zionists are source of ... do not affect the interactions between Iran and the agency,\u201d Eslami said. \u201cWhat is shown in the media is based on the Zionist regime\u2019s manipulations.\u201d<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1715145714,"updatedAt":1715157760,"publishedAt":1715157351,"firstPublishedAt":1715157354,"lastPublishedAt":1715157351,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","callToActionText":null,"width":1019,"caption":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/42\/20\/44\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_609b45e6-0f61-5bd9-9b3d-62853cd1fdf4-8422044.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":552},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","callToActionText":null,"width":1023,"caption":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/42\/20\/44\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_422ac6c5-333e-54b2-9694-8c6a19f26535-8422044.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":612},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"International Atomic Energy Organization, IAEA, Director General Rafael Grossi, left, and head of Iran's atomic energy department Mohammad Eslami shake hands at the conclusion","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/42\/20\/44\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_bd7c0a2c-6dcc-5dc5-af31-54920844843a-8422044.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Majid Asgaripour\/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":" A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":" A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/43\/47\/08\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_85642631-263f-5693-8f7e-2a4c51aeb9c8-7434708.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":668}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"nuclear-war","titleRaw":"Nuclear war","id":27520,"title":"Nuclear 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IN IRAN","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"IAEA chief in Iran seeking tougher checks on country's nuclear programme","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"IAEA chief seeks tougher checks on Iran's nuclear programme","titleListing2":"IAEA chief in Iran seeking tougher checks on country's nuclear programme","leadin":"Iran has limited the UN nuclear watchdog's ability to conduct proper checks on its nuclear activities and the body faces a number of other hurdles imposed by Tehran.","summary":"Iran has limited the UN nuclear watchdog's ability to conduct proper checks on its nuclear activities and the body faces a number of other hurdles imposed by Tehran.","keySentence":"","url":"iaea-chief-in-iran-seeking-tougher-checks-on-countrys-nuclear-programme","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/05\/07\/iaea-chief-in-iran-seeking-tougher-checks-on-countrys-nuclear-programme","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is in Iran seeking tougher checks on the country's nuclear programme. \n\nThe IAEA faces increasing difficulty in monitoring the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing nuclear programme, exacerbated by tensions across the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war. \n\nGrossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make \"several\" nuclear bombs. \n\nHe has acknowledged the agency can't guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges may have been peeled away for secret enrichment. \n\nBut the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation said that cooperation with the IAEA and adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty \"tops the policies and strategy of the Islamic Republic.\" \n\n\"22 per cent of IAEA inspections are done in Iran. This amount of inspections has never been done in any country throughout history,\" said Mohammad Eslami. \n\nBut in keeping with officials who have always maintained Iran's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, added that Tehran \"will expand nuclear technology with determination.\" \n\nBut Iran has limited the IAEA's ability to conduct proper checks on its nuclear activities and the UN agency faces several challenges from Tehran's failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites to barring almost all the IAEA's top enrichment experts. \n\nLandmark deal \n\nThe landmark nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed by Iran, mostly Western countries, and the European Union in 2015. \n\nThat agreement saw Iran receive sanctions relief in return for placing limits on its nuclear activities, particularly the degree to which it enriches uranium. \n\nBut the deal was derailed in 2018 when then-president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it, slamming it as \"the worst deal in history\". \n\nThe White House then slapped a raft of new sanctions back on Iran, adopting a 'maximum pressure' campaign in a bid to force the country to limit its nuclear activities. \n\nThat campaign had the opposite effect, driving Iran further from its JCPOA commitments. Iran has since started exceeding agreed-upon limits of enriched uranium and developed new centrifuges. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is in Iran seeking tougher checks on the country's nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<p>The IAEA faces increasing difficulty in monitoring the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing nuclear programme, exacerbated by tensions across the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-medium widget--align-left\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1787484322082980265\"><\/div>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on the purpose of his Iran trip<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make \"several\" nuclear bombs.<\/p>\n<p>He has acknowledged the agency can't guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges may have been peeled away for secret enrichment.<\/p>\n<p>But the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation said that cooperation with the IAEA and adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty \"tops the policies and strategy of the Islamic Republic.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"22 per cent of IAEA inspections are done in Iran. This amount of inspections has never been done in any country throughout history,\" said Mohammad Eslami.<\/p>\n<p>But in keeping with officials who have always maintained Iran's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, added that Tehran \"will expand nuclear technology with determination.\"<\/p>\n<p>But Iran has limited the IAEA's ability to conduct proper checks on its nuclear activities and the UN agency faces several challenges from Tehran's failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites to barring almost all the IAEA's top enrichment experts.<\/p>\n<h3>Landmark deal<\/h3><p>The landmark nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed by Iran, mostly Western countries, and the European Union in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>That agreement saw Iran receive sanctions relief in return for placing limits on its nuclear activities, particularly the degree to which it enriches uranium.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6665969899665551\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//41//95//00//808x539_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg/" alt=\"IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during his meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister in Tehran, May 6, 2024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/384x256_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/640x427_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/750x500_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/828x552_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/1080x720_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/1200x800_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/1920x1280_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during his meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister in Tehran, May 6, 2024<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>But the deal was derailed in 2018 when then-president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it, slamming it as \"the worst deal in history\".<\/p>\n<p>The White House then slapped a raft of new sanctions back on Iran, adopting a 'maximum pressure' campaign in a bid to force the country to limit its nuclear activities.<\/p>\n<p>That campaign had the opposite effect, driving Iran further from its JCPOA commitments. Iran has since started exceeding agreed-upon limits of enriched uranium and developed new centrifuges.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1715050760,"updatedAt":1715059280,"publishedAt":1715059275,"firstPublishedAt":1715059280,"lastPublishedAt":1715059275,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_11c72265-2c50-5907-b5dc-2983d3f7b221-8419500.jpg","altText":"A man walks past a banner showing missiles being launched from an Iranian map in Tehran, April 19, 2024","caption":"A man walks past a banner showing missiles being launched from an Iranian map in Tehran, April 19, 2024","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4320,"height":2880},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/95\/00\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_f3fbcbab-8f42-527d-b650-32962eb68a26-8419500.jpg","altText":" IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during his meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister in Tehran, May 6, 2024","caption":" IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during his meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister in Tehran, May 6, 2024","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4784,"height":3189}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":16212,"slug":"iran-nukleer-anlasmas-","urlSafeValue":"iran-nukleer-anlasmas-","title":"Iranian Nuclear Agreement","titleRaw":"Iranian Nuclear Agreement"},{"id":14872,"slug":"iran-nuclear-program","urlSafeValue":"iran-nuclear-program","title":"Iran nuclear program","titleRaw":"Iran nuclear program"},{"id":153,"slug":"iran","urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","titleRaw":"Iran"},{"id":347,"slug":"iaea","urlSafeValue":"iaea","title":"IAEA","titleRaw":"IAEA"},{"id":15026,"slug":"us-withdrawal-from-jcpoa","urlSafeValue":"us-withdrawal-from-jcpoa","title":"US WITHDRAWAL FROM JCPOA","titleRaw":"US WITHDRAWAL FROM JCPOA"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":1},{"slug":"twitter","count":1}],"related":[{"id":2526726},{"id":2525104},{"id":2535012}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":{"id":4056,"urlSafeValue":"tehran","title":"Tehran"},"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_politics','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','gb_arms_edu','gb_arms_high_med_low','gs_science','neg_zegna_eng','gs_science_geography','gs_politics_issues_policy','gs_politics_misc','gv_arms','neg_saudiaramco','neg_bucherer','mofa_feb24_eng','neg_tiktok_q1_2024_eng','gv_military','gs_politics_american','gs_science_misc'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/05\/07\/iaea-chief-in-iran-seeking-tougher-checks-on-countrys-nuclear-programme","lastModified":1715059275},{"id":2535012,"cid":8414276,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240503_BUSU_55454610","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"BUSINESS - How the rug got pulled out from under Iran's traditional carpet weavers","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"How the rug got pulled out from under Iran's traditional carpet weavers","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"How the rug got pulled from under Iran's traditional carpet weavers","titleListing2":"How the rug got pulled out from under Iran's traditional carpet weavers","leadin":"The export of traditional Persian rugs from Iran, a market which once exceeded $2 billion, has plummeted to less than $50 million in the last year.","summary":"The export of traditional Persian rugs from Iran, a market which once exceeded $2 billion, has plummeted to less than $50 million in the last year.","keySentence":"","url":"how-the-rug-got-pulled-out-from-under-irans-traditional-carpet-weavers","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/2024\/05\/04\/how-the-rug-got-pulled-out-from-under-irans-traditional-carpet-weavers","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The historic Kashan bazaar in central Iran once sat on a major caravan route, its silk carpets known the world over. But for the weavers trying to sell their rugs under its ancient arches, their world has unravelled since the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and wider tensions with the West. \n\nRug exports, which exceeded $2 billion (\u20ac1.86 billion) two decades ago, have plummeted to less than $50 million (\u20ac46.5 million) in the last year that ended in March, according to government customs figures.\u00a0 \n\nWith fewer tourists coming and increasing difficulties in making international transactions, the centuries old market for Persian rugs made in Iran has collapsed leaving some \u00a0 weavers working for as little as $4 a day. \n\n\"Americans were some of our best customers,\" said Ali Faez, the owner of one carpet shop at the bazaar. \"Rugs are a luxury product and they were eager to buy it and they used to make very good purchases. Unfortunately, this has been cut \u2014 and the connection between the two countries for visitors to come and go has gone away.\" \n\nCultural heritage facing sanctions \n\nKashan's rug-weaving industry has been designated by UNESCO on a list of the world's \u201cintangible cultural heritage.\u201d Many of the weavers are women, with the skills needed for the Farsi weaving style passed down through generation to generation, using materials like vine leaves and the skins of pomegranate fruit and walnuts to make the dyes for their threads. A single rug can take many months to make. \n\nFor decades, Western tourists and others would pass through Iran, picking up rugs as gifts to take back home. However, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the US increased sanctions on Iran's theocratic government over the American Embassy siege and Tehran's links to militant attacks and other issues. \n\nBut in 2000, the outgoing administration of former President Bill Clinton lifted a ban on the import of Iranian caviar, rugs and pistachios. \n\nBy 2010, with concerns rising over Iran's nuclear program, the US again banned Iranian-made Persian rugs. But in 2015, Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers which greatly reduced and drastically lowered the purity of Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium. The rug trade was allowed once again. \n\nThree years later, in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal. Since then, Iran began enriching uranium at near-weapons-grade levels and has been blamed for a series of attacks at sea and on land, including an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack targeting Israel last month. \n\nFor the carpet weavers, that's meant their wares were once again banned under US law. \n\n\u201cIt started when Trump signed that paper,\" Faez told The Associated Press, referring to the renewed sanctions. \"He ruined everything.\u201d \n\nAbdullah Bahrami, the head of a national syndicate for handwoven rug producers, also blamed the collapse of the industry on the Trump sanctions. Prior to this, he put the value of exports to the US as high as $80 million a year (\u20ac74.3 million). \n\n\"The whole world used to know Iran by its rugs,\" Bahrami told the state-run IRNA news agency in March. \n\n'No credit cards, please' \n\nMaking things worse is what carpet sellers see as a fall in tourists to Kashan as well.\u00a0 \n\nHigh-value American and European tourism in Iran has largely stopped, the daily Shargh newspaper warned last year.\u00a0 \n\nBut even those tourists that do show up face the challenge of Iran's financial system, where no major international credit cards are accepted for purchases. \n\n\"I had a Chinese customer the other week. He was struggling to somehow make the payment because he loved the rug and didn\u2019t want to let go of it,\" Faez said. \"We have to pay a lot of commission to those who can transfer money and have bank accounts abroad. Sometimes they cancel their orders because they don\u2019t have enough cash with them.\" \n\nThe collapse of the rial currency has also left many Iranians unable to purchase the handwoven rugs. Wages in the industry are low, leading to a growing number of Afghan migrants working in workshops around Kashan as well. \n\nDesigner Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, said his orders have fallen from 10 a year to just two. He has let go of staff and now works alone in a cramped space. \n\n\"Inflation rose every hour. People were hit repeatedly by inflation,\" he said. \"I used to have four to five assistants in a big workshop.\u201d \n\nOffering a bitter laugh alone in his workshop, he added, \"We\u2019ve been left isolated.\" \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The historic Kashan bazaar in central Iran once sat on a major caravan route, its silk carpets known the world over. But for the weavers trying to sell their rugs under its ancient arches, their world has unravelled since the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and wider tensions with the West.<\/p>\n<p>Rug exports, which exceeded $2 billion (\u20ac1.86 billion) two decades ago, have plummeted to less than $50 million (\u20ac46.5 million) in the last year that ended in March, according to government customs figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With fewer tourists coming and increasing difficulties in making international transactions, the centuries old market for Persian rugs made in Iran has collapsed leaving some \u00a0 weavers working for as little as $4 a day.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8270434\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//02//27//iran-refuses-to-recognise-national-currencys-fall-in-free-markets/">Iran refuses to recognise national currency\u2019s fall in free markets <\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\"Americans were some of our best customers,\" said Ali Faez, the owner of one carpet shop at the bazaar. \"Rugs are a luxury product and they were eager to buy it and they used to make very good purchases. Unfortunately, this has been cut \u2014 and the connection between the two countries for visitors to come and go has gone away.\"<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Cultural heritage facing sanctions<\/strong><\/h2><p>Kashan's rug-weaving industry has been designated by UNESCO on a list of the world's \u201cintangible cultural heritage.\u201d Many of the weavers are women, with the skills needed for the Farsi weaving style passed down through generation to generation, using materials like vine leaves and the skins of pomegranate fruit and walnuts to make the dyes for their threads. A single rug can take many months to make.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-extended widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//41//42//76//1280x853_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg/" alt=\"A worker carries carpets at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/384x256_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/640x427_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/750x500_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/828x552_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1080x720_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1200x800_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1920x1281_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">A worker carries carpets at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For decades, Western tourists and others would pass through Iran, picking up rugs as gifts to take back home. However, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the US increased sanctions on Iran's theocratic government over the American Embassy siege and Tehran's links to militant attacks and other issues.<\/p>\n<p>But in 2000, the outgoing administration of former President Bill Clinton lifted a ban on the import of Iranian caviar, rugs and pistachios.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8373924\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//04//15//how-irans-attack-on-israel-could-impact-commodities/">The effect Iran's attack on Israel could have on commodities<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>By 2010, with concerns rising over Iran's nuclear program, the US again banned Iranian-made Persian rugs. But in 2015, Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers which greatly reduced and drastically lowered the purity of Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium. The rug trade was allowed once again.<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, in 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal. Since then, Iran began enriching uranium at near-weapons-grade levels and has been blamed for a series of attacks at sea and on land, including an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack targeting Israel last month.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-extended widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6748046875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//41//42//76//1280x865_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg/" alt=\"An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop in the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/384x259_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/640x432_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/750x506_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/828x559_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1080x729_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1200x810_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1920x1296_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop in the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For the carpet weavers, that's meant their wares were once again banned under US law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt started when Trump signed that paper,\" Faez told The Associated Press, referring to the renewed sanctions. \"He ruined everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abdullah Bahrami, the head of a national syndicate for handwoven rug producers, also blamed the collapse of the industry on the Trump sanctions. Prior to this, he put the value of exports to the US as high as $80 million a year (\u20ac74.3 million).<\/p>\n<p>\"The whole world used to know Iran by its rugs,\" Bahrami told the state-run IRNA news agency in March.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>'No credit cards, please'<\/strong><\/h2><p>Making things worse is what carpet sellers see as a fall in tourists to Kashan as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>High-value American and European tourism in Iran has largely stopped, the daily Shargh newspaper warned last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But even those tourists that do show up face the challenge of Iran's financial system, where no major international credit cards are accepted for purchases.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-extended widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//41//42//76//1280x853_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg/" alt=\"Iranian carpet designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, works at his workshop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, Iran.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/384x256_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/640x427_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/750x500_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/828x552_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1080x720_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1200x800_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/1920x1281_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Iranian carpet designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, works at his workshop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, Iran.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\"I had a Chinese customer the other week. He was struggling to somehow make the payment because he loved the rug and didn\u2019t want to let go of it,\" Faez said. \"We have to pay a lot of commission to those who can transfer money and have bank accounts abroad. Sometimes they cancel their orders because they don\u2019t have enough cash with them.\"<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8203650\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//01//29//irans-currency-tumbles-as-tensions-escalate-in-the-middle-east/">Iran's currency tumbles as tensions escalate in the Middle East<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The collapse of the rial currency has also left many Iranians unable to purchase the handwoven rugs. Wages in the industry are low, leading to a growing number of Afghan migrants working in workshops around Kashan as well.<\/p>\n<p>Designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, said his orders have fallen from 10 a year to just two. He has let go of staff and now works alone in a cramped space.<\/p>\n<p>\"Inflation rose every hour. People were hit repeatedly by inflation,\" he said. \"I used to have four to five assistants in a big workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Offering a bitter laugh alone in his workshop, he added, \"We\u2019ve been left isolated.\"<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1714736736,"updatedAt":1714799526,"publishedAt":1714798820,"firstPublishedAt":1714774069,"lastPublishedAt":1714798870,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_158ef1e0-4f08-5d17-9993-65c97e8891a9-8414276.jpg","altText":"Iranian carpet shop owner Ali Faez works at his shop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran.","caption":"Iranian carpet shop owner Ali Faez works at his shop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"height":683},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_966289b6-6704-5b29-bbe6-60e819c13adc-8414276.jpg","altText":"Iranian carpet designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, works at his workshop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, Iran.","caption":"Iranian carpet designer Javad Amorzesh, one of just a few of Kashan's old-school artists, works at his workshop at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, Iran.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"height":683},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_b083d7c0-4dc8-5c6c-8764-db4e01e6a991-8414276.jpg","altText":"An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop in the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.","caption":"An Iranian woman weaves a carpet at a workshop in the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"height":691},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/41\/42\/76\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_be3ed45a-822b-5561-adad-a19d170fdb62-8414276.jpg","altText":"A worker carries carpets at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.","caption":"A worker carries carpets at the traditional bazaar of the city of Kashan, about 152 miles (245 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 30, 2024.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"katanich","title":"Doloresz Katanich","twitter":"@doloreskatanich"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[{"urlSafeValue":"yilmaz","title":"Mert Can Yilmaz","twitter":null}]},"keywords":[{"id":8735,"slug":"tradition","urlSafeValue":"tradition","title":"Tradition","titleRaw":"Tradition"},{"id":572,"slug":"economy","urlSafeValue":"economy","title":"Economy","titleRaw":"Economy"},{"id":11915,"slug":"iranian-economy","urlSafeValue":"iranian-economy","title":"Iranian economy","titleRaw":"Iranian economy"},{"id":11916,"slug":"iranian-culture","urlSafeValue":"iranian-culture","title":"Iranian culture","titleRaw":"Iranian culture"},{"id":17576,"slug":"iran-sanctions","urlSafeValue":"iran-sanctions","title":"Iran sanctions","titleRaw":"Iran sanctions"},{"id":28344,"slug":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie","urlSafeValue":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie","title":"currency depreciation","titleRaw":"currency depreciation"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":3},{"slug":"related","count":3}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"MAq-_zYk8iM","dailymotionId":"x8xxvds"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":156440,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":19532117,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/BU\/SU\/24\/05\/03\/en\/240503_BUSU_55454610_55454630_156440_173940_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":156440,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":30012757,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/BU\/SU\/24\/05\/03\/en\/240503_BUSU_55454610_55454630_156440_173940_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/business\/business"},"vertical":"business","verticals":[{"id":11,"slug":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":11,"slug":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"},"themes":[{"id":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/business"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":7,"urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gv_safe','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gt_mixed','gb_safe','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_politics','gs_science','gs_science_geography','neg_saudiaramco','gs_politics_issues_policy','gs_politics_misc','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','neg_bucherer','gs_busfin','neg_intel_en','neg_zegna_eng','gs_busfin_economy','gs_economy_misc'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/business\/2024\/05\/04\/how-the-rug-got-pulled-out-from-under-irans-traditional-carpet-weavers","lastModified":1714798870},{"id":2525104,"cid":8384596,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240419_NWSU_55339624","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN TENSIONS AFTERNOON UPDATE","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"No nuclear sites damaged after Israel launched retaliatory strikes","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"No nuclear sites damaged after Israel launched retaliatory strikes","titleListing2":"No nuclear sites damaged after Israel allegedly launched retaliatory strikes against Iran.","leadin":"No nuclear sites were damaged after Israel allegedly launched retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.","summary":"No nuclear sites were damaged after Israel allegedly launched retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.","keySentence":"","url":"no-nuclear-sites-damaged-after-israel-launched-retaliatory-strikes","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/04\/19\/no-nuclear-sites-damaged-after-israel-launched-retaliatory-strikes","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"No nuclear sites were damaged after Israel allegedly launched retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). \n\n\u201cI\u2019m urging everyone to exercise maximum restraint,\u201d said Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, and said the situation was \u201cof great concern.\u201d \n\nIran fired air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones, which were suspected to be part of an Israeli attack in retaliation for Tehran\u2019s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country. \n\nNo Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. \n\nEuropean politicians have also urged against further escalation in the region. \n\n\u201cEveryone must now and in the near future ensure that there is no further escalation of the war,\u201d said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>No nuclear sites were damaged after Israel allegedly launched retaliatory strikes against Iran, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m urging everyone to exercise maximum restraint,\u201d said Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, and said the situation was \u201cof great concern.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iran fired air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones, which were suspected to be part of an Israeli attack in retaliation for Tehran\u2019s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.<\/p>\n<p>No Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>European politicians have also urged against further escalation in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone must now and in the near future ensure that there is no further escalation of the war,\u201d said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1713525594,"updatedAt":1713544998,"publishedAt":1713532570,"firstPublishedAt":1713532573,"lastPublishedAt":1713532573,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"Women walking past banner showing missiles being launched from Iranian map","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Women walking past banner showing missiles being launched from Iranian map","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/38\/45\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_388324c3-f7a8-58ca-8607-507e5fb5b664-8384596.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"irans-attack-on-israel","titleRaw":"Iran's attack on Israel","id":29760,"title":"Iran's attack on Israel","slug":"irans-attack-on-israel"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-and-israel","titleRaw":"Iran and Israel ","id":14870,"title":"Iran and Israel ","slug":"iran-and-israel"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-missile-attack","titleRaw":"iran missile attack ","id":22402,"title":"iran missile attack ","slug":"iran-missile-attack"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":2524336},{"id":2521824}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"pWJpgsllMuE","dailymotionId":"x8x4jes"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":90400,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":11469256,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/19\/en\/240419_NWSU_55339624_55339704_90400_181541_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":90400,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":17334728,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/19\/en\/240419_NWSU_55339624_55339704_90400_181541_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world 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MARKETS OIL GOLD SPIKE IRAN","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Gold and oil prices rise following reports of Israel strike on Iran","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Gold and oil prices rise following reports of Israel strike on Iran","titleListing2":"Gold and oil prices rise following reports of Israel strike on Iran","leadin":"Oil prices rose on Friday morning with both Brent and US crude trading higher after Israel reportedly carried out a military attack on Iran.","summary":"Oil prices rose on Friday morning with both Brent and US crude trading higher after Israel reportedly carried out a military attack on Iran.","keySentence":"","url":"traders-spooked-as-oil-prices-rise-following-israel-attack-on-iran","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/2024\/04\/19\/traders-spooked-as-oil-prices-rise-following-israel-attack-on-iran","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Both oil benchmarks gained in early trading, initially jumping over 3% on news of explosions in Iran as the conflict continues to influence investor sentiment and drive market fluctuations. \n\nGlobal benchmark Brent traded 1.73% higher at $88.62 a barrel after topping $90 earlier, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.75% to $84.1 per barrel. \n\n\u201cOil prices were briefly above $90 per barrel before easing while gold moved within touching distance of all-time highs. A combination of chip stocks tanking on yesterday\u2019s weak guidance from semiconductor manufacturer TSMC and the threat of conflict saw Japanese stocks chalk up big losses,\"\u00a0 Russ Mould,\u00a0 AJ Bell investment director, said. \n\nThe price of gold also rose to $2,411.09 per ounce in early trade on Friday, as investors turned to the deemed safe haven asset. \n\n\"Financial markets had a rough week amid escalating tensions in the Middle East after reports of explosions and a possible Israeli airstrike in Iran. This added to investor concerns following disappointing corporate results and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials,\" market analysts at IG said on Friday morning. \n\n\"The news from Iran drove up prices for safe-haven assets like gold, the US dollar and Japanese yen, while stocks fell and bonds rallied. Comments from a Fed official warning rates may need to go higher if data calls for it also rattled investors who had been expecting rate cuts later this year,\" IG analysts added in a note to clients. \n\nThe escalation in the Middle East follows Iran unleashing a barrage of 300 aerial drones and missiles toward Israel in a retaliatory move on 13 April.\u00a0 \n\nThe attack was in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month that killed 12 people.\u00a0 \n\nAmong the dead were two senior Iranian generals. \n\nImpact on central bank interest rate decisions \n\nCentral banks will be closely monitoring any further commodity market fluctuations as higher oil prices can sway inflation and thus the European Central Bank's monetary policy path. \n\nOn Monday, Lithuanian ECB member, Gegiminas Simkus, stated that geopolitical shocks such as an escalation in the Israel and Iran conflict could cancel the ECB June rate cut. \n\nMeanwhile, according to Goldman Sachs, Iran's crude oil production has increased to approximately 3.4 million barrels per day, accounting for 3.3% of the global supply and marking an increase of about 0.6 million barrels per day over the last two years, with the majority of exports directed to China. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Both oil benchmarks gained in early trading, initially jumping over 3% on news of explosions in Iran as the conflict continues to influence investor sentiment and drive market fluctuations.<\/p>\n<p>Global benchmark Brent traded 1.73% higher at $88.62 a barrel after topping $90 earlier, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.75% to $84.1 per barrel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOil prices were briefly above $90 per barrel before easing while gold moved within touching distance of all-time highs. A combination of chip stocks tanking on yesterday\u2019s weak guidance from semiconductor manufacturer TSMC and the threat of conflict saw Japanese stocks chalk up big losses,\"\u00a0Russ Mould,\u00a0AJ Bell investment director, said.<\/p>\n<p>The price of gold also rose to $2,411.09 per ounce in early trade on Friday, as investors turned to the deemed safe haven asset.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8378492\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//04//17//eurozone-inflation-eases-trends-across-the-continent-and-ecb-rate-expectations/">Eurozone inflation eases: Trends across the continent and ECB rate expectations<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\"Financial markets had a rough week amid escalating tensions in the Middle East after reports of explosions and a possible Israeli airstrike in Iran. This added to investor concerns following disappointing corporate results and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials,\" market analysts at IG said on Friday morning.<\/p>\n<p>\"The news from Iran drove up prices for safe-haven assets like gold, the US dollar and Japanese yen, while stocks fell and bonds rallied. Comments from a Fed official warning rates may need to go higher if data calls for it also rattled investors who had been expecting rate cuts later this year,\" IG analysts added in a note to clients.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8373664\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//04//15//aluminum-prices-soar-after-uk-and-us-ban-russian-metals-trade/">Aluminium prices soar after UK and US ban Russian metals trade<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The escalation in the Middle East follows Iran unleashing a barrage of 300 aerial drones and missiles toward Israel in a retaliatory move on 13 April.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The attack was in retaliation to a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month that killed 12 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among the dead were two senior Iranian generals.<\/p>\n<h2>Impact on central bank interest rate decisions<\/h2><p>Central banks will be closely monitoring any further commodity market fluctuations as higher oil prices can sway inflation and thus the European Central Bank's monetary policy path.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Lithuanian ECB member, Gegiminas Simkus, stated that geopolitical shocks such as an escalation in the Israel and Iran conflict could cancel the ECB June rate cut.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, according to Goldman Sachs, Iran's crude oil production has increased to approximately 3.4 million barrels per day, accounting for 3.3% of the global supply and marking an increase of about 0.6 million barrels per day over the last two years, with the majority of exports directed to China.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1713508599,"updatedAt":1713960290,"publishedAt":1713509171,"firstPublishedAt":1713509174,"lastPublishedAt":1713960290,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP","altText":"Israel Palestinians Oil Prices","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Israel Palestinians Oil Prices","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/02\/46\/28\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_9adf5449-af38-55d9-a946-02b6433cd8d5-8024628.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"barnes","twitter":"@ABarnesNews","title":"Angela Barnes"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"oil-prices","titleRaw":"Oil prices","id":14574,"title":"Oil prices","slug":"oil-prices"},{"urlSafeValue":"markets","titleRaw":"Markets","id":183,"title":"Markets","slug":"markets"},{"urlSafeValue":"irans-attack-on-israel","titleRaw":"Iran's attack on Israel","id":29760,"title":"Iran's attack on Israel","slug":"irans-attack-on-israel"}],"widgets":[{"count":2,"slug":"related"}],"related":[{"id":2524874},{"id":2526726}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"markets","urlSafeValue":"markets","title":"Markets","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/markets\/markets"},"vertical":"business","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"business","id":11,"title":"Business","slug":"business"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":11,"slug":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"markets","id":"markets","title":"Markets","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/markets"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":74,"urlSafeValue":"markets","title":"Markets"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"urlSafeValue":"asia","id":12,"title":"Asia"},"country":{"urlSafeValue":"iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','pos_ukrainecrisis','gs_busfin','gs_economy','gs_science','gs_science_geography','gt_negative','neg_facebook','gt_negative_fear'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/business\/2024\/04\/19\/traders-spooked-as-oil-prices-rise-following-israel-attack-on-iran","lastModified":1713960290},{"id":2524736,"cid":8383480,"versionId":12,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240419_NWSU_55336041","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IRAN ISRAEL ESCALATION","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"European leaders call for calm after reported Israeli retaliation against Iran","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"European leaders call for calm after reported Israeli strike on Iran","titleListing2":"Explosions as Israel reportedly retaliates against Iran ","leadin":"The G7 foreign ministers warned against new sanctions on Iran and called all parties to prevent further escalation in the Middle East.","summary":"The G7 foreign ministers warned against new sanctions on Iran and called all parties to prevent further escalation in the Middle East.","keySentence":"","url":"live-explosions-as-israel-retaliates-against-iran","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/04\/19\/live-explosions-as-israel-retaliates-against-iran","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Sources say Israel has retaliated against Iran, following Tehran's recent attack on Israel.\u00a0 \n\nRising tensions between the two regional foes have pushed the Middle East ever closer to war, causing concern in Western capitals.\u00a0 \n\nIran has been on high alert for days after Israel vowed to respond to Tehran firing 300 drones and missiles against its territory on Saturday night.\u00a0 \n\nFollow Euronews' live coverage below.\u00a0 \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Sources say Israel has retaliated against Iran, following Tehran's recent attack on Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rising tensions between the two regional foes have pushed the Middle East ever closer to war, causing concern in Western capitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iran has been on high alert for days after Israel vowed to respond to Tehran firing 300 drones and missiles against its territory on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Follow Euronews' live coverage below.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"arena liveblog\" data-liveblog-type=\"arena\" data-id=\"cyaiqE7\">\n <div class=\"arena-liveblog\" data-publisher=\"euronews\" data-event=\"cyaiqE7\" data-version=\"2\"><\/div>\n <script data-no-lazy-load=\"true\" defer src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////go.eu.arena.im//public//js//arenalib.js?p=euronews&e=cyaiqE7\%22><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n%22,%22hashtag%22:null,%22createdAt%22:1713490619,%22updatedAt%22:1713546999,%22publishedAt%22:1713501589,%22firstPublishedAt%22:1713501592,%22lastPublishedAt%22:1713546999,%22expiresAt%22:0,%22images%22:[{%22sourceUrl%22:null,%22sourceCredit%22:null,%22callToActionUrl%22:null,%22captionCredit%22:%22Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"An air defence battery.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"An air defence battery.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/38\/34\/80\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2d383bb0-a28a-5b96-ba66-aa46b6914bbb-8383480.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":627},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"An air defence battery.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"An air defence battery.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/24\/78\/40\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_52af6629-59e8-5a3a-9d6f-2026112f0f4d-8247840.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"preve","twitter":null,"title":"Clara Preve"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"air-defence-system","titleRaw":"air defence system","id":26766,"title":"air defence system","slug":"air-defence-system"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel","titleRaw":"Israel","id":157,"title":"Israel","slug":"israel"},{"urlSafeValue":"missile","titleRaw":"Missile","id":8311,"title":"Missile","slug":"missile"},{"urlSafeValue":"drones","titleRaw":"Drones","id":12609,"title":"Drones","slug":"drones"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"arena"}],"related":[{"id":2521436}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"JPoNFNbRp6Y","dailymotionId":"x8x2jdq"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":55000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":7256238,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/19\/en\/240419_NWSU_55336041_55336067_55000_073216_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":55000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":10720942,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/19\/en\/240419_NWSU_55336041_55336067_55000_073216_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Angela Skujins","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gv_military','gt_negative','gv_death_injury','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gv_terrorism','gb_terrorism_edu','gb_terrorism_high_med','gb_terrorism_high_med_low','gb_terrorism_news-ent','gb_safe_from_high'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/04\/19\/live-explosions-as-israel-retaliates-against-iran","lastModified":1713546999},{"id":2521824,"cid":8373838,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240415_TNSU_55299095","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"TRAVEL IRAN FLIGHT TIME INCREASES","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran attack: Middle Eastern airspace closure could see continuing flight delays","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"What does the Middle East airspace closure mean for air travel? ","titleListing2":"Iran attack: Middle Eastern airspace closure could see continuing flight delays","leadin":"The decision to reroute flights travelling through the Middle East comes as Iran\u2019s attack on Israel prompts concern over potential regional escalation.","summary":"The decision to reroute flights travelling through the Middle East comes as Iran\u2019s attack on Israel prompts concern over potential regional escalation.","keySentence":"","url":"iran-attack-middle-eastern-airspace-closure-could-see-continuing-flight-delays","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/travel\/2024\/04\/15\/iran-attack-middle-eastern-airspace-closure-could-see-continuing-flight-delays","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Flights between Europe and Asia could see significant delays and longer journey times, following the first direct attack from Iran on Israel on Saturday night. \n\nImmediately following the onslaught of drones and missiles, a number of Middle Eastern countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq temporarily closed their airspaces, while Israel and Iran imposed restrictions on theirs. \n\nMany European and Asian airlines fly over the region on their way between a number of popular destinations and have expressed concerns that the necessary rerouting will prolong flight times and add to fuel costs. \n\nDeutsche Lufthansa, Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines are all currently weighing up options. \n\nQatar Airways and Emirates managed to resume some suspended services on Sunday as airspaces began to reopen, but there are still warnings in place that disruption will likely continue for an unspecified amount of time. \n\nWhat caused airlines to temporarily cease or reroute flights? \n\nIran\u2019s airspace is one of the most frequently used by airlines travelling between Europe and India or Southeast Asia. \n\nAirspaces throughout the region are often plagued by risks and complexities due to ongoing conflicts. \n\nIran\u2019s attack came following difficulties for airlines surrounding Russia\u2019s continuing invasion of Ukraine, which still forces many carriers to take lengthy diversions, more than two years on. \n\nAt the start of Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza, airlines were forced to cancel or change the routes of flights through and around Tel Aviv. That situation has been monitored closely since 7 October. \n\nOn Saturday, though, Israel was forced to shut down its airspace for both domestic and international routes entirely, before reopening it on Sunday morning. \n\nIran\u2019s attack came following a suspected Israeli attack on Iran\u2019s embassy in Syria on 1 April, in which a top military commander was killed. \n\nOn Saturday night, Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel in an apparent retaliatory strike, which has raised the threat of a wider regional conflict. \n\nAs a result of that action, Lufthansa Group suspended flights to several cities in the Middle East. That group\u2019s airlines include Germany\u2019s flag carrier Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines. \n\nWhat impact has Iran\u2019s attack had on airspace around the region? \n\nSwiss says it has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice and announced that all of its planes were avoiding the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Israel, causing delays to flights from India and Singapore. \n\nLufthansa has halted flights to Amman, Beirut, Erbil and Tel Aviv and says it will avoid\u00a0 the airspace above Israel, Jordan and Iraq for the foreseeable future. \n\nAustrian Airlines also announced it was suspending flights to Tehran until at least 18 April. \n\n\u201cLong-haul routes through the Middle East will also be rerouted accordingly due to various airspace closures,\u201d the airline said in a statement given to press. \n\nAustralian carrier Qantas had to put a brief stop to its direct Perth-London flights, adding a stop in Singapore in order to refuel. The closure of the airspace meant the route would have taken too long and the craft could not carry enough fuel. \n\nSingapore Airlines announced that it is not flying over Iranian airspace for now and Cathay Pacific said although its operations remain normal, it is keeping a close eye on the situation in the Middle East.\u00a0 \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Flights between Europe and Asia could see significant delays and longer journey times, following the first direct attack from Iran on Israel on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately following the onslaught of drones and missiles, a number of Middle Eastern countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq temporarily closed their airspaces, while Israel and Iran imposed restrictions on theirs.<\/p>\n<p>Many European and Asian airlines fly over the region on their way between a number of popular destinations and have expressed concerns that the necessary rerouting will prolong flight times and add to fuel costs.<\/p>\n<p>Deutsche Lufthansa, Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines are all currently weighing up options.<\/p>\n<p>Qatar Airways and Emirates managed to resume some suspended services on Sunday as airspaces began to reopen, but there are still warnings in place that disruption will likely continue for an unspecified amount of time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//37//38//38//808x539_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg/" alt=\"Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel on Sunday\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/384x256_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/640x427_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/750x500_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/828x552_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/1080x720_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/1200x800_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/1920x1280_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel on Sunday<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">TOMER NEUBERG\/AP Photo<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>What caused airlines to temporarily cease or reroute flights?<\/h2><p>Iran\u2019s airspace is one of the most frequently used by airlines travelling between Europe and India or Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Airspaces throughout the region are often plagued by risks and complexities due to ongoing conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s attack came following difficulties for airlines surrounding Russia\u2019s continuing invasion of Ukraine, which still forces many carriers to take lengthy diversions, more than two years on.<\/p>\n<p>At the start of Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza, airlines were forced to cancel or change the routes of flights through and around Tel Aviv. That situation has been monitored closely since 7 October.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, though, Israel was forced to shut down its airspace for both domestic and international routes entirely, before reopening it on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s attack came following a suspected Israeli attack on Iran\u2019s embassy in Syria on 1 April, in which a top military commander was killed.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday night, Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel in an apparent retaliatory strike, which has raised the threat of a wider regional conflict.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of that action, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//travel//2024//04//03//emirates-lufthansa-swiss-which-airline-is-ranked-best-for-first-class/">Lufthansa Group suspended flights to several cities in the Middle East. That group\u2019s airlines include Germany\u2019s flag carrier Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1779826385713877392\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>What impact has Iran\u2019s attack had on airspace around the region?<\/h2><p>Swiss says it has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice and announced that all of its planes were avoiding the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Israel, causing delays to flights from India and Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>Lufthansa has halted flights to Amman, Beirut, Erbil and Tel Aviv and says it will avoid\u00a0the airspace above Israel, Jordan and Iraq for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//travel//2024//02//29//european-planes-are-the-safest-theyve-ever-been-heres-why/">Austrian Airlines<\/strong><\/a> also announced it was suspending flights to Tehran until at least 18 April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLong-haul routes through the Middle East will also be rerouted accordingly due to various airspace closures,\u201d the airline said in a statement given to press.<\/p>\n<p>Australian carrier <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//travel//2023//09//01//false-and-deceptive-why-is-australias-consumer-watchdog-taking-qantas-to-court/">Qantas had to put a brief stop to its direct Perth-London flights, adding a stop in Singapore in order to refuel. The closure of the airspace meant the route would have taken too long and the craft could not carry enough fuel.<\/p>\n<p>Singapore Airlines announced that it is not flying over Iranian airspace for now and Cathay Pacific said although its operations remain normal, it is keeping a close eye on the situation in the Middle East.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1713174350,"updatedAt":1713186051,"publishedAt":1713186011,"firstPublishedAt":1713181641,"lastPublishedAt":1713186051,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Michael Probst\/The AP","altText":"Lufthansa is one of the airlines forced to change their operations after the attack","callToActionText":null,"width":1257,"caption":"Lufthansa is one of the airlines forced to change their operations after the attack","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_558bd909-c673-597e-95c3-43d5a42d07fa-8373838.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":800},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"TOMER NEUBERG\/AP Photo","altText":"Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel on Sunday","callToActionText":null,"width":1200,"caption":"Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel on Sunday","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/38\/38\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0da37098-0b01-5362-8463-3512418ea832-8373838.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":800}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"odonoghue","twitter":null,"title":"Saskia 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war","slug":"israel-hamas-war"},{"urlSafeValue":"lufthansa","titleRaw":"Lufthansa","id":7927,"title":"Lufthansa","slug":"lufthansa"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"image"},{"count":1,"slug":"twitter"}],"related":[{"id":2521234},{"id":2521302},{"id":2525104}],"technicalTags":[{"path":"travel"}],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"travel-news","urlSafeValue":"travel-news","title":"Travel News","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/travel\/travel-news\/travel-news"},"vertical":"travel","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"travel","id":7,"title":"Travel","slug":"travel"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":7,"slug":"travel","urlSafeValue":"travel","title":"Travel"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"travel-news","id":"travel-news","title":"Travel News","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/travel\/travel-news"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":21,"urlSafeValue":"travel-news","title":"Travel News"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe_from_high','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_science_geography','gs_science','neg_meta_oct23_eng','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','neg_tiktok_q1_2024_eng','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','gt_negative','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook','gs_politics','neg_saudiaramco','gs_war_conflict','gs_busfin_indus','gs_tech_compute','gs_tech_compute_apps','gs_tech_compute_apps_maps','gt_negative_anger','gv_death_injury'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/travel\/2024\/04\/15\/iran-attack-middle-eastern-airspace-closure-could-see-continuing-flight-delays","lastModified":1713186051},{"id":2521436,"cid":8372632,"versionId":7,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240414_NWSU_55294294","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IMPACT OF ATTACK ON IRANIANS","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Something to celebrate? How is the Israel attack viewed in Iran?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"How is the Israel attack viewed in Iran?","titleListing2":"Something to celebrate? How is the Israel attack viewed in Iran?","leadin":"Tehran's strikes on Israel likely mean more problems for ordinary citizens, already struggling under a deeply unpopular Islamic regime.","summary":"Tehran's strikes on Israel likely mean more problems for ordinary citizens, already struggling under a deeply unpopular Islamic regime.","keySentence":"","url":"criticism-and-concern-how-the-israel-attack-is-viewed-in-iran","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/04\/14\/criticism-and-concern-how-the-israel-attack-is-viewed-in-iran","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran's first direct military confrontation with Israel on Saturday did not come as a surprise to some.\u00a0 \n\nIranian Supreme Leader\u00a0Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself warned Israel would \"be slapped\", following a suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month.\u00a0 \n\nStill, the fallout from the strike - which saw Tehran launch more than 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at Israel - is no less concerning for Iran's population.\u00a0 \n\nWhile state media depict mass celebrations, a significant portion of the public is deeply concerned about the economic fallout, more internal repression and possible retaliatory action by Israel that could drag the country into war.\u00a0 \n\nIran's crisis-ridden economy \n\nEscalating inflation and shortages of essential goods, which could worsen amid a new wave of international sanctions, have become a primary concern for Iranians in recent years. \n\nAnd things could get worse owing to the strikes.\u00a0 \n\nIran's currency against the dollar, euro and pound reached a record low following the attacks, with the price of 1 US dollar hitting\u00a0more than 70,000 Iranian rials for an hour on Sunday, though later decreased.\u00a0 \n\nIran's currency has lost 94 per cent of its value against the dollar over the past decade, analysis by the Economist revealed in March 2023.\u00a0 \n\nThis has hit peoples' standard of living hard and sunk millions into poverty as the price of imported goods, especially food, became more expensive.\u00a0 \n\nWhile Washington is not looking to\u00a0participate in Israel's possible retaliation against Iran, US President Joe Biden has called for a coordinated and diplomatic response from the G7 industrialised nations.\u00a0 \n\nIf the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan hit Iran's already ailing economy with sanctions, more hardship for Iran's population could follow.\u00a0 \n\nRisk of internal repression \n\nIn 2022, Iran's Islamic regime saw the largest outburst of anti-government unrest in decades.\u00a0 \n\nProtests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly and wearing skinny jeans.\u00a0 \n\nThough demonstrations have largely been suppressed, contestation still surrounds Islamic dress codes and the government has lost legitimacy in the eyes of many.\u00a0 \n\nSome in Iran worry a more direct military confrontation with Israel\u00a0will allow the Islamic Republic to quash internal challenges more easily under the pretext of avoiding instability or\u00a0extraordinary war conditions.\u00a0 \n\nIran's government may be able to persist in its violations of human rights and enforce stricter mandatory hijab laws, which were quietly implemented yesterday but overshadowed by Iran's attack on Israel. \n\nOn Sunday, the Iranian Revoluntary Guard Corps warned it would\u00a0deal with \"supporters of Israel in cyberspace.\"\u00a0 \n\nOnline criticism of the Islamic Republic's regional policy and its military operation on Saturday could be considered as \"supporting Israel\" in this vein.\u00a0 \n\nRisk of a wider war \n\nWithin Iran's population of approximately 88 million, there exists a segment supportive of the regime's foreign policies.\u00a0 \n\nSome are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and criticise what they see as harmful policies by Israel and its principal ally the US in the Middle East.\u00a0 \n\nHowever, Iranian security forces have taken measures to suppress dissenting voices, banning newspapers and public figures from expressing any form of opposition to the attack on Israel and its aftermath.\u00a0 \n\nA prevailing anxiety among Iranians is for their families and future in the event of direct conflict. \n\nThe haunting memory of the brutal eight-year war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988 - which saw some 200,000 Iranian casualties - adds weight to these concerns. \n\nRecent trends on social media suggest a significant portion of internet users scrutinise Iran's claimed success in the attack on Israeli soil, suspecting it to be a premeditated move potentially permitted by the White House.\u00a0 \n\nAnother segment of opinions on social media regards the real winner of this attack to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who managed once again to showcase his country's defensive capabilities by neutralising 99% of Iran's drones and missiles.\u00a0 \n\nTehran's hesitancy to act against Israel with many days passing after the strike on its consular building underscores its weakness, some say.\u00a0 \n\nBy fending off Iran's attack, Netanyahu has demonstrated that even amidst domestic crises and increasing international criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, Israel still possesses the necessary capability to rally the West and its allies. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran's first direct military confrontation with Israel on Saturday did not come as a surprise to some.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Supreme Leader\u00a0Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself warned Israel would \"be slapped\", following a suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, the fallout from the strike - which saw Tehran launch more than 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at Israel - is no less concerning for Iran's population.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While state media depict mass celebrations, a significant portion of the public is deeply concerned about the economic fallout, more internal repression and possible retaliatory action by Israel that could drag the country into war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Iran's crisis-ridden economy<\/h2><p>Escalating inflation and shortages of essential goods, which could worsen amid a new wave of international sanctions, have become a primary concern for Iranians in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>And things could get worse owing to the strikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iran's currency against the dollar, euro and pound reached a record low following the attacks, with the price of 1 US dollar hitting\u00a0more than 70,000 Iranian rials for an hour on Sunday, though later decreased.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//37//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg/" alt=\"FILE - In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Iranians walk through the Tajrish bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1920x1281_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">FILE - In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Iranians walk through the Tajrish bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2018 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Iran's currency has lost 94 per cent of its value against the dollar over the past decade, analysis by the Economist revealed in March 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This has hit peoples' standard of living hard and sunk millions into poverty as the price of imported goods, especially food, became more expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Washington is not looking to\u00a0participate in Israel's possible retaliation against Iran, US President Joe Biden has called for a coordinated and diplomatic response from the G7 industrialised nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan hit Iran's already ailing economy with sanctions, more hardship for Iran's population could follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Risk of internal repression<\/h2><p>In 2022, Iran's Islamic regime saw the largest outburst of anti-government unrest in decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly and wearing skinny jeans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though demonstrations have largely been suppressed, contestation still surrounds Islamic dress codes and the government has lost legitimacy in the eyes of many.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some in Iran worry a more direct military confrontation with Israel\u00a0will allow the Islamic Republic to quash internal challenges more easily under the pretext of avoiding instability or\u00a0extraordinary war conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//37//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg/" alt=\"An Iranian woman protesting in 2022.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1920x1281_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">An Iranian woman protesting in 2022.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Esteban Felix\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Iran's government may be able to persist in its violations of human rights and enforce stricter mandatory hijab laws, which were quietly implemented yesterday but overshadowed by Iran's attack on Israel.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, the Iranian Revoluntary Guard Corps warned it would\u00a0deal with \"supporters of Israel in cyberspace.\"\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Online criticism of the Islamic Republic's regional policy and its military operation on Saturday could be considered as \"supporting Israel\" in this vein.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Risk of a wider war<\/h2><p>Within Iran's population of approximately 88 million, there exists a segment supportive of the regime's foreign policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and criticise what they see as harmful policies by Israel and its principal ally the US in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, Iranian security forces have taken measures to suppress dissenting voices, banning newspapers and public figures from expressing any form of opposition to the attack on Israel and its aftermath.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A prevailing anxiety among Iranians is for their families and future in the event of direct conflict.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6640625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//37//26//32//808x535_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg/" alt=\"In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, photo, a girl walks past a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/384x255_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/640x425_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/750x498_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/828x550_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1080x717_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1200x797_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/1920x1275_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, photo, a girl walks past a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The haunting memory of the brutal eight-year war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988 - which saw some 200,000 Iranian casualties - adds weight to these concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Recent trends on social media suggest a significant portion of internet users scrutinise Iran's claimed success in the attack on Israeli soil, suspecting it to be a premeditated move potentially permitted by the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another segment of opinions on social media regards the real winner of this attack to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who managed once again to showcase his country's defensive capabilities by neutralising 99% of Iran's drones and missiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tehran's hesitancy to act against Israel with many days passing after the strike on its consular building underscores its weakness, some say.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By fending off Iran's attack, Netanyahu has demonstrated that even amidst domestic crises and increasing international criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, Israel still possesses the necessary capability to rally the West and its allies.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1713108912,"updatedAt":1716140588,"publishedAt":1713114800,"firstPublishedAt":1713114892,"lastPublishedAt":1713114800,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Ebrahim Noroozi\/Copyright 2017 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"FILE - Iranians with their national flag. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"FILE - Iranians with their national flag. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_91341030-140f-5633-9ce0-039e15d6b9b1-8372632.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, photo, a girl walks past a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, photo, a girl walks past a poster of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_fcf3ab11-c849-57ae-af1b-bcc7e3ea95e7-8372632.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":680},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Esteban Felix\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"An Iranian woman protesting in 2022. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"An Iranian woman protesting in 2022. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_98749ab2-9b85-50dd-b4dc-26e3714329f5-8372632.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2018 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"FILE - In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Iranians walk through the Tajrish bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"FILE - In this July 19, 2016 file photo, Iranians walk through the Tajrish bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2b5c4468-747d-5d96-b3b5-8902397e78b1-8372632.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel","titleRaw":"Israel","id":157,"title":"Israel","slug":"israel"},{"urlSafeValue":"protests-in-iran","titleRaw":"Protests in Iran","id":9321,"title":"Protests in Iran","slug":"protests-in-iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel-hamas-war","titleRaw":"Israel Hamas war","id":29226,"title":"Israel Hamas war","slug":"israel-hamas-war"},{"urlSafeValue":"irans-attack-on-israel","titleRaw":"Iran's attack on Israel","id":29760,"title":"Iran's attack on Israel","slug":"irans-attack-on-israel"},{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-politics","titleRaw":"Iranian politics","id":9349,"title":"Iranian politics","slug":"iranian-politics"}],"widgets":[{"count":3,"slug":"image"}],"related":[{"id":2521578},{"id":2524736}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews Persian","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe_from_high','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_politics','gs_busfin','gt_negative','neg_meta_oct23_eng','gs_busfin_economy','neg_facebook_q4','gs_politics_issues_policy','gs_politics_misc','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','neg_intel_en','gs_science_geography','gs_science','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','neg_facebook','gs_busfin_economy_fincrisis','gt_negative_fear','gv_military','gt_negative_anger','gv_death_injury'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/2024\/04\/14\/criticism-and-concern-how-the-israel-attack-is-viewed-in-iran","lastModified":1713114800},{"id":2520890,"cid":8371458,"versionId":25,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240413_NWSU_55288771","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"VESSEL SEIZED IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Israeli military says Iran has launched drones at Israel, will take hours to arrive","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"IDF says Iran has launched drones at Israel, will take hours to arrive","titleListing2":"Israeli military says Iran has launched drones at Israel, will take hours to arrive","leadin":"Following an airstrike in Syria last week that killed two Iranian generals, Israel has been on high alert. Iran has blamed Israel for the strike and vowed retaliation.","summary":"Following an airstrike in Syria last week that killed two Iranian generals, Israel has been on high alert. Iran has blamed Israel for the strike and vowed retaliation.","keySentence":"","url":"tensions-soar-as-iran-seizes-container-ship-linked-to-israel","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/04\/13\/tensions-soar-as-iran-seizes-container-ship-linked-to-israel","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The Israeli military says Iran has launched a number of drones toward Israel.\u00a0The army\u2019s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said it would take several hours for the aircraft to arrive.\u00a0\"Israel was prepared,\" Hagari said on Saturday night. \n\nTel Aviv has been on heightened alert since an airstrike last week killed two Iranian generals in Syria. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack and vowed revenge. \n\nIn a statement by Iran\u2019s state-run IRNA news agency, the country\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching \u201cdozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.\u201d The statement did not elaborate. \n\nThe drone launch late Saturday was the first full-scale military assault by Iran on Israel, marking a significant escalation after decades of hostility that began with Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. \n\nShortly after reports of Iran's drone attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran\u2019s supreme leader, said, \"The malicious Zionist regime will be punished,\" on his X account. \n\nIsraeli aviation authorities said they were closing the country\u2019s airspace to all flights as of 12:30 a.m. local time. \n\n\"Our defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong\". Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a video shared on social media. \n\nEarlier Saturday, the Israeli military said it was canceling school and limiting public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people as a safety precaution. \n\nThe head of the US Central Command, General Erik Kurilla, has been in Israel in recent days to coordinate with Israel about the Iranian threats. \n\nIsrael has a number of layers of air defense capable of intercepting everything from long-range missiles to UAV\u2019s and short-range rockets.\u00a0 \n\nIDF spokesperson Hagari said Israel has an \u201cexcellent air defense system\u201d but stressed it is not 100% effective and urged the public to listen to safety announcements. \n\nWhite House: US will 'support' Israel's defense against attack from Iran \n\nThe Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart \u201cto discuss urgent regional threats ... and made clear that Israel could count on full US support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.\"\u00a0 \n\nNational security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington's \u201cironclad commitment to the security of Israel\u201d. \n\nUS President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his Delaware beach home to return to the White House where he will monitor events in the Middle East. \n\nThe Netherlands plans to close its embassy in Tehran on Sunday, the Dutch foreign ministry wrote in a statement, citing the rising tension between Iran and Israel. \n\nMeanwhile the Lufthansa Group extended its suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran through until Thursday. It said its planes would avoid Iranian airspace. \n\nDutch airline KLM said it would not longer fly over Iran or Israel, but would continue flights to and from Tel Aviv on Israel's Mediterranean coast. \n\nThe developments follow Iran's seizure of a\u00a0container ship linked to Israel.\u00a0 \n\nCommandos from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rappeled down from a helicopter on the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, around 80km off the coast of the UAE. \n\nThe ship, MSC Aries, is\u00a0associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer\u2019s Zodiac Group. \n\nZodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC.\u00a0Geneva-based MSC said 25 crew members were on board the ship, acknowledging the seizure.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cWe are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing and safe return of the vessel,\u201d MSC said.\u00a0 \n\nIranian authorities did not immediately comment on the incident. However, the country's media has celebrated the actions of Iranian special forces against the \"Zionist regime\". \n\nThe state-run IRNA news agency said the ship was being transported to Iranian waters.\u00a0 \n\nThe Portugese-flagged ship was last located off Dubai heading toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. \n\nIt had turned off its tracking data, which has been common for Israeli-affiliated ships moving through the region, the AP news agency reported. \n\nVideo of the seizure obtained by AP shows a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the IRGC and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen have used in the past to conduct commando raids on ships. \n\nA crew member can be heard in the footage saying: \u201cDon\u2019t come out.\u201d\u00a0 \n\nHe then tells his colleagues to go to the ship\u2019s bridge as Iranian commandos take positions on the ship. One commando can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them with potential cover fire. \n\nThe British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the vessel was \u201cseized by regional authorities\u201d in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah.\u00a0 \n\nIt did not elaborate further. \n\nThe Middle East had braced for potential retaliation by Tehran after a suspected Israeli strike earlier this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people. \n\nA senior IRGC general who once commanded its expeditionary Quds Force was among the dead.\u00a0 \n\nAttacks on diplomatic missions are illegal under international law,\u00a0codified in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Convention on Consular Relations. \n\nFor days, Iranian officials up to and including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have threatened to \u201cslap\u201d Israel for the Syria strike.\u00a0 \n\nIn response to the seizure,\u00a0Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. \n\nIran \u201cis a criminal regime that supports Hamas\u2019 crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,\u201d Katz said.\u00a0 \n\nIsrael's devastating war against Hamas in Gaza has sent long-running tensions in the region skyrocketing.\u00a0 \n\nTehran supports the Palestinian cause and has used its proxy forces in Lebanon and Yemen to attack Israel.\u00a0 \n\nIran since 2019 has engaged in a series of ship seizures and attacks amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme. \n\nIran in the past largely avoided directly attacking Israel, despite it carrying out the targeted killing of nuclear scientists and sabotage campaigns against Iran's atomic sites. Iran has targeted Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces.\u00a0 \n\nThe Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all globally traded oil passes.\u00a0 \n\nFujairah, on the United Arab Emirates\u2019 eastern coast, is the main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew. \n\nSince 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen a series of explosions and hijackings. The US Navy blamed Iran for limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The Israeli military says Iran has launched a number of drones toward Israel.\u00a0The army\u2019s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said it would take several hours for the aircraft to arrive.\u00a0\"Israel was prepared,\" Hagari said on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<p>Tel Aviv has been on heightened alert since an airstrike last week killed two Iranian generals in Syria. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack and vowed revenge.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement by Iran\u2019s state-run IRNA news agency, the country\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching \u201cdozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.\u201d The statement did not elaborate.<\/p>\n<p>The drone launch late Saturday was the first full-scale military assault by Iran on Israel, marking a significant escalation after decades of hostility that began with Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after reports of Iran's drone attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran\u2019s supreme leader, said, \"The malicious Zionist regime will be punished,\" on his X account.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1779250053909028956\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Israeli aviation authorities said they were closing the country\u2019s airspace to all flights as of 12:30 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n<p>\"Our defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong\". Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a video shared on social media.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1779242295902048407\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military said it was canceling school and limiting public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people as a safety precaution.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the US Central Command, General Erik Kurilla, has been in Israel in recent days to coordinate with Israel about the Iranian threats.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has a number of layers of air defense capable of intercepting everything from long-range missiles to UAV\u2019s and short-range rockets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>IDF spokesperson Hagari said Israel has an \u201cexcellent air defense system\u201d but stressed it is not 100% effective and urged the public to listen to safety announcements.<\/p>\n<h2>White House: US will 'support' Israel's defense against attack from Iran<\/h2><p>The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart \u201cto discuss urgent regional threats ... and made clear that Israel could count on full US support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.\"\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>National security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington's \u201cironclad commitment to the security of Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>US President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his Delaware beach home to return to the White House where he will monitor events in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The Netherlands plans to close its embassy in Tehran on Sunday, the Dutch foreign ministry wrote in a statement, citing the rising tension between Iran and Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile the Lufthansa Group extended its suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran through until Thursday. It said its planes would avoid Iranian airspace.<\/p>\n<p>Dutch airline KLM said it would not longer fly over Iran or Israel, but would continue flights to and from Tel Aviv on Israel's Mediterranean coast.<\/p>\n<p>The developments follow Iran's seizure of a\u00a0container ship linked to Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Commandos from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rappeled down from a helicopter on the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, around 80km off the coast of the UAE.<\/p>\n<p>The ship, MSC Aries, is\u00a0associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer\u2019s Zodiac Group.<\/p>\n<p>Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC.\u00a0Geneva-based MSC said 25 crew members were on board the ship, acknowledging the seizure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing and safe return of the vessel,\u201d MSC said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian authorities did not immediately comment on the incident. However, the country's media has celebrated the actions of Iranian special forces against the \"Zionist regime\".<\/p>\n<p>The state-run IRNA news agency said the ship was being transported to Iranian waters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1779176626275721522\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Portugese-flagged ship was last located off Dubai heading toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>It had turned off its tracking data, which has been common for Israeli-affiliated ships moving through the region, the AP news agency reported.<\/p>\n<p>Video of the seizure obtained by AP shows a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the IRGC and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen have used in the past to conduct commando raids on ships.<\/p>\n<p>A crew member can be heard in the footage saying: \u201cDon\u2019t come out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He then tells his colleagues to go to the ship\u2019s bridge as Iranian commandos take positions on the ship. One commando can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them with potential cover fire.<\/p>\n<p>The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the vessel was \u201cseized by regional authorities\u201d in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It did not elaborate further.<\/p>\n<p>The Middle East had braced for potential retaliation by Tehran after a suspected Israeli strike earlier this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people.<\/p>\n<p>A senior IRGC general who once commanded its expeditionary Quds Force was among the dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Attacks on diplomatic missions are illegal under international law,\u00a0codified in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Convention on Consular Relations.<\/p>\n<p>For days, Iranian officials up to and including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have threatened to \u201cslap\u201d Israel for the Syria strike.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1759582861177594078\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In response to the seizure,\u00a0Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n<p>Iran \u201cis a criminal regime that supports Hamas\u2019 crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,\u201d Katz said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Israel's devastating war against Hamas in Gaza has sent long-running tensions in the region skyrocketing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tehran supports the Palestinian cause and has used its proxy forces in Lebanon and Yemen to attack Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iran since 2019 has engaged in a series of ship seizures and attacks amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme.<\/p>\n<p>Iran in the past largely avoided directly attacking Israel, despite it carrying out the targeted killing of nuclear scientists and sabotage campaigns against Iran's atomic sites. Iran has targeted Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all globally traded oil passes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fujairah, on the United Arab Emirates\u2019 eastern coast, is the main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen a series of explosions and hijackings. The US Navy blamed Iran for limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1713008017,"updatedAt":1713485903,"publishedAt":1713010562,"firstPublishedAt":1713010569,"lastPublishedAt":1713485903,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/AP","altText":"FILE - Iranian police special forces rappel down from their helicopter during an exercise commemorating \"Police Week\", in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Oct. 7, 2011","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"FILE - Iranian police special forces rappel down from their helicopter during an exercise commemorating \"Police Week\", in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Oct. 7, 2011","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/37\/14\/58\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a7508ce1-7c4e-539c-ad64-09e84fece6ef-8371458.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel-hamas-war","titleRaw":"Israel Hamas war","id":29226,"title":"Israel Hamas war","slug":"israel-hamas-war"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel","titleRaw":"Israel","id":157,"title":"Israel","slug":"israel"}],"widgets":[{"count":4,"slug":"twitter"}],"related":[{"id":2520534},{"id":2519940},{"id":2525226}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"dailymotionId":"x8wr5my","youtubeId":"-bR1qHkrtXs"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":35000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":4717410,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/13\/en\/240413_NWSU_55288771_55288798_35000_160322_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":35000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":6665570,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/04\/13\/en\/240413_NWSU_55288771_55288798_35000_160322_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world 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news\u2019: Big cat conservationists jailed on espionage charge in Iran released after 6 years","channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"\u2018Wonderful news\u2019: Big cat conservationists jailed on espionage charge in Iran released after 6 years","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran frees four conservationists jailed while working to save cheetahs","titleListing2":"\u2018Wonderful news\u2019: Big cat conservationists jailed on espionage charge in Iran released after 6 years","leadin":"The conservationists were arrested on espionage charges in 2018 while working to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah.","summary":"The conservationists were arrested on espionage charges in 2018 while working to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah.","keySentence":"","url":"wonderful-news-big-cat-conservationists-jailed-on-espionage-charge-in-iran-released-after-","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2024\/04\/10\/wonderful-news-big-cat-conservationists-jailed-on-espionage-charge-in-iran-released-after-","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Four conservationists convicted of espionage in Iran have been released after six years in jail. \n\nThey were arrested in 2018 after being accused of spying while working to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah. Their conviction in 2019 was condemned around the world by conservationists, scientists and human rights organisations. \n\nThe group, which worked with the nonprofit Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), includes Niloufar Bayani - an Iranian wildlife researcher and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) consultant - and environmental activists Houman Jowkar, Taher Ghadirian and Sepideh Kashani. \n\nThe four are among over 2,000 prisoners granted amnesty on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. \n\nUNEP, which has consistently called for the release of the conservationists, welcomed their release. \n\nEnvironmentalists welcome the release of the prisoners \n\n\u201cEnvironmental conservationists are critical allies in protecting the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. They are essential to building a sustainable world for current and future generations,\u201d Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP , said in a statement. \n\n\u201cAs Iran, the region and the world continue to face grave environmental challenges, including climate change, desertification and pollution , it is clear that no country is immune to the devastating impacts of environmental degradation,\u201d she continued. \n\n\u201cAll voices must be heard and protected as we seek environmental stewardship of the one and only planet on which we all depend.\u201d \n\nEnvironmental activists and ministers also expressed joy at their release, with Norway\u2019s former Climate Minister Erik Solheim tweeting: \u201cWonderful news\u2026 I knew Niloufar from UN Environment where she served diligently. She is a remarkable environmentalist and human being. Finally she can be reunited with her family. I couldn't be happier!\u201d \n\nBBC Persian reporter Siavash Ardalan, meanwhile, shared an image of the smiling conservationists celebrating their release. \n\nWhy were the conservationists arrested? \n\nThe conservationists were arrested in 2018, along with five others, including Kavous Seyed-Emami, the 64-year-old founder of PWHF. \n\nThey were accused of espionage after using cameras to track endangered species in Iran, including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard. Authorities claimed they were using scientific and environmental projects as a cover to collect classified military information. \n\n\u201cProtecting endangered wildlife is not a crime. These conservationists are scientists who were carrying out legitimate research,\u201d Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International said at the time. \u201cIt is absurd that they have been prosecuted without any evidence and are being treated as criminals.\u201d \n\nIranian authorities released Sam Rajabi, another member of the group, in 2023. \n\nSeyed-Emami, an Iranian-Canadian dual citizen, died while awaiting trial under disputed circumstances. \n\nBayani was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in 2019, while the others received six-to-eight-year terms on espionage charges. \n\nThe case against members of PWHF came as protests and unrest shook parts of Iran amid a government-imposed internet shutdown. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Four conservationists convicted of espionage in Iran have been released after six years in jail.<\/p>\n<p>They were arrested in 2018 after being accused of spying while working to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah. Their conviction in 2019 was condemned around the world by conservationists, scientists and human rights organisations.<\/p>\n<p>The group, which worked with the nonprofit Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), includes Niloufar Bayani - an Iranian wildlife researcher and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) consultant - and environmental activists Houman Jowkar, Taher Ghadirian and Sepideh Kashani.<\/p>\n<p>The four are among over 2,000 prisoners granted amnesty on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n<p>UNEP, which has consistently called for the release of the conservationists, welcomed their release.<\/p>\n<h2>Environmentalists welcome the release of the prisoners<\/h2><p>\u201cEnvironmental <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2023//08//28//overwhelmingly-white-meet-the-environmentalists-who-want-to-diversify-conservation/">conservationists are critical allies in protecting the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. They are essential to building a sustainable world for current and future generations,\u201d Inger Andersen, Executive Director of <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2023//11//20//world-on-track-for-up-to-29c-of-warming-under-current-climate-plans-un-report-warns/">UNEP, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Iran, the region and the world continue to face grave environmental challenges, including climate change, desertification and <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//03//20//only-seven-countries-in-the-world-breathe-safe-air-three-of-them-are-in-europe/">pollution, it is clear that no country is immune to the devastating impacts of environmental degradation,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8286802,8361334\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//04//09//top-european-human-rights-court-could-rule-that-governments-have-to-protect-people-from-cl/">/u2018Historic/u2019 European Court of Human Rights ruling backs Swiss women in climate change case<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//03//06//the-un-is-investigating-the-environmental-impact-of-the-war-in-gaza-heres-what-it-says-so-/">The UN is investigating the environmental impact of the war in Gaza. Here\u2019s what it says so far<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll voices must be heard and protected as we seek <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//02//24//green-recovery-in-ukraine-is-a-strategic-imperative-for-the-european-union/">environmental stewardship<\/strong><\/a> of the one and only planet on which we all depend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Environmental activists and ministers also expressed joy at their release, with Norway\u2019s former Climate Minister Erik Solheim tweeting: \u201cWonderful news\u2026 I knew Niloufar from UN Environment where she served diligently. She is a remarkable <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//01//19//be-an-actionist-an-environmental-trailblazers-inspiring-message-to-climate-activists-from-/">environmentalist and human being. Finally she can be reunited with her family. I couldn't be happier!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BBC Persian reporter Siavash Ardalan, meanwhile, shared an image of the smiling conservationists celebrating their release.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Smiling for the cameras, Iranian conservationists celebrate their freedom by taking a group photo in remembrance of the collective ordeal they shared. All they wanted was to save Iran's endangered Asiatic cheetahs but were slandered and tried for espionage. They are now all free. <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////t.co//lAXCUsIiVE/">pic.twitter.com//lAXCUsIiVE— Siavash Ardalan (@BBCArdalan) <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////twitter.com//BBCArdalan//status//1777711604437549474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\%22>April 9, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////platform.twitter.com//widgets.js/" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Why were the conservationists arrested?<\/h2><p>The conservationists were arrested in 2018, along with five others, including Kavous Seyed-Emami, the 64-year-old founder of PWHF.<\/p>\n<p>They were accused of <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2023//05//30//the-threat-of-sabotage-to-critical-infrastructure-is-real-belgian-navy-official-warns/">espionage after using cameras to track endangered species in Iran, including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard. Authorities claimed they were using scientific and environmental projects as a cover to collect classified military information.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtecting <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2023//06//07//we-must-end-this-war-on-nature-europes-most-endangered-species-to-protect-on-world-wildlif/">endangered wildlife<\/strong><\/a> is not a crime. These conservationists are scientists who were carrying out legitimate research,\u201d Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International said at the time. \u201cIt is absurd that they have been prosecuted without any evidence and are being treated as criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8362514\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//green//2024//04//10//dutch-woman-whose-elbow-was-broken-by-police-at-climate-protest-says-she-will-not-give-up/">Dutch woman whose elbow was \u2018broken\u2019 by police at climate protest says she will not give up<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Iranian authorities released Sam Rajabi, another member of the group, in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Seyed-Emami, an Iranian-Canadian dual citizen, died while awaiting trial under disputed circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Bayani was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in 2019, while the others received six-to-eight-year terms on espionage charges.<\/p>\n<p>The case against members of PWHF came as <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2018//01//02//how-iran-s-recent-protests-are-different-from-the-green-revolution-/">protests and unrest shook parts of Iran amid a government-imposed internet shutdown.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1712753006,"updatedAt":1712757708,"publishedAt":1712757657,"firstPublishedAt":1712753885,"lastPublishedAt":1712757708,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA via AP","altText":"Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, lies down at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, 2022. The conservationists were working to track Asiatic cheetahs.","callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"caption":"Iran's only Asiatic cheetah cub in captivity, Pirouz, lies down at the Pardisan Park in Tehran, Iran, 2022. The conservationists were working to track Asiatic cheetahs.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/36\/47\/58\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2ee47eb7-434f-57e8-b6c6-d6726422a3f6-8364758.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"symons","twitter":null,"title":"Angela Symons"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"espionage","titleRaw":"Espionage","id":8133,"title":"Espionage","slug":"espionage"},{"urlSafeValue":"cheetah","titleRaw":"cheetah","id":14454,"title":"cheetah","slug":"cheetah"},{"urlSafeValue":"wildlife-conservation","titleRaw":"wildlife conservation","id":24900,"title":"wildlife conservation","slug":"wildlife-conservation"},{"urlSafeValue":"activism","titleRaw":"Activism","id":9665,"title":"Activism","slug":"activism"},{"urlSafeValue":"human-rights","titleRaw":"Human Rights","id":142,"title":"Human Rights","slug":"human-rights"},{"urlSafeValue":"animals","titleRaw":"Animals","id":10233,"title":"Animals","slug":"animals"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"html"},{"count":2,"slug":"related"}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"green-news","urlSafeValue":"green-news","title":"Green News","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/green-news\/green-news"},"vertical":"green","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"green","id":8,"title":"Green","slug":"green"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":8,"slug":"green","urlSafeValue":"green","title":"Green"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"green-news","id":"green-news","title":"Green News","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/green-news"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":35,"urlSafeValue":"green-news","title":"Green News"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gs_science','gb_safe_from_high','pos_facebook','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_science_environ','gs_science_environment','gs_law','gb_crime_high_med','gb_crime_high_med_low','gb_crime_news-ent','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gt_mixed','gb_crime_edu','gs_society','neg_audi_list1','neg_facebook','neg_facebook_q4','neg_saudiaramco','gv_crime','gs_society_religion','climatechange','neg_tiktok_q1_2024_eng','neg_pmi'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"path":"\/green\/2024\/04\/10\/wonderful-news-big-cat-conservationists-jailed-on-espionage-charge-in-iran-released-after-","lastModified":1712757708},{"id":2503098,"cid":8316818,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240319_NWSU_55088024","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Regimes, rebels and social change: Interview with Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Regimes and rebels: Interview with Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad","titleListing2":"Regimes, rebels and social change: Interview with Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad","leadin":"Masih Alinejad has been persecuted by the Iranian government for decades for speaking out against women\u2019s rights violations in Iran. Now, she is urging people to unite against gender apartheid.","summary":"Masih Alinejad has been persecuted by the Iranian government for decades for speaking out against women\u2019s rights violations in Iran. Now, she is urging people to unite against gender apartheid.","keySentence":"","url":"regimes-rebels-and-social-change-interview-with-iranian-dissident-masih-alinejad","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/03\/26\/regimes-rebels-and-social-change-interview-with-iranian-dissident-masih-alinejad","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"After the 1979 Islamic Revolution,\u00a0Iran's\u00a0Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini began a harsh assault on women's rights.\u00a0 \n\nToday, Iranian women are subject to strict dress codes, including the mandatory hijab, and face legal and political discrimination. \n\nViolations of the rules are frequently met with intense and sometimes fatal brutality. \n\nSpeaking exclusively to Euronews, Iranian women's rights activist Masih Alinejad has called on Western leaders to unite in favour of democracy and challenge\u00a0 dictatorships across the world.\u00a0 \n\nPersecuted by Iran's government herself, the journalist-author recently launched a campaign\u00a0United Against Gender Apartheid, which aims to share the stories of women living under the shadow of oppressive regimes.\u00a0 \n\nHere is what she said.\u00a0 \n\nEuronews: Let's start by speaking about your latest initiative, United Against Gender Apartheid. What inspired you to start the campaign, and what is the aim? \n\nMasih Alinejad: I launched this campaign because I believe in the power of storytelling. If every single woman takes her camera and talks about how it feels to be a second-class citizen in Afghanistan, how it feels to get kicked out of schools, how it feels to get lashes, to get beaten up in the streets in Iran for the crime of showing their hair \u2013 they can bring all women together. \n\nIt\u2019s not just women in Iran and Afghanistan. Their stories have encouraged the women of Africa to join us.\u00a0I think this campaign gives a picture of all women from all authoritarian regimes.\u00a0 \n\nYou see women from Nicaragua, women from Venezuela, women from Sudan, from Africa, joining women from Iran and Afghanistan and calling for an end to the gender apartheid regime. And this unity is the key. \n\nEuronews: What assistance have you received from the international community? \n\nAlinejad: \u00a0So far, some Western countries are trying to understand how the women of Iran and Afghanistan are suffering under gender apartheid, and how they can help to have gender apartheid classified in all international laws. \n\nThere are meetings with groups of women from Iran and Afghanistan, member states, and politicians and policymakers everywhere in European countries. But I think this is not sufficient. \n\nWe need a global rally, a global movement to unite all women across the globe, to call on their leaders, to get united to end gender apartheid. \n\nEuronews: Dictators are uniting and seeking assistance to avoid sanctions and punishment from Western countries. At the same time, we see how Western leaders are scared to fully punish these regimes. How do you see regimes being held accountable by the new initiative? \n\nAlinejad: This initiative is just one of the tools in our hands, the hands of dissidents, to bring the democratic countries together. Our struggle is important, but it\u2019s not sufficient. The international community must hear the call from the World Liberty Congress. \n\nWe had our first general assembly where we united dissidents from 60 authoritarian regimes, the leaders of the movement in every authoritarian country from Africa to Latin America, to many regions in the Middle East, to Eastern Europe, to Asia, and people from Hong Kong. There are pro-democracy movements in each region. But at the same time, all the dictators from these regions are helping each other. \n\nTwo-thirds of the global population is living under authoritarian regimes. It is shocking, but it is true. It is a fact that 70% of the global population is living under autocrats. Democracy is in recession. I believe that only sanctions are not sufficient. It is a tool, but it\u2019s not sufficient. We need to see all the democratic countries as united as authoritarian regimes to isolate dictatorships and terrorists. \n\nEuronews: You\u2019re asking women across the world who are under authoritarian regimes to record a video of themselves, exposing the atrocities that they\u2019re facing every day. Yet, we\u2019ve also seen how many of these regimes have condemned and arrested people for speaking out. Have you seen a change in the mentality of people in their willingness to speak up against these regimes? \n\nAlinejad: In my country, the regime created a new law saying that if anyone sent videos to Masih Alinejad would be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. I remember I felt guilty. I felt the burden on my shoulders. I wanted to shut down my campaign. But guess what happened? I was bombarded by women sending videos. \n\nNow mothers who lost their beloved ones in the protests, in the uprising, are sending videos to me in the same street where their children got killed, saying: \u201cMasih, you should be our voice because we don't have anything to lose. They killed our children, and now are telling us to stop being our storytellers? They want us to stop even crying for justice?\u201d \n\nWomen in my country, women in authoritarian regimes, are fearless. They have nothing to lose. They had enough. But at the same time, they have agency. I'm not putting their lives in danger. These are the authoritarian regimes putting their lives in danger. And that\u2019s why they believe they are like the women of suffrage. They have to risk their lives because they believe freedom is not free. \n\nIn my country, you see that the clerics are attacking women in the streets. Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, asked the police to put cameras everywhere to identify unveiled women. What happened? You see women showing their middle fingers to the cameras. You see women using their cameras as weapons to expose the violence of those who carry weapons, to expose the Islamic Republic, expose the Taliban, and African dictators. \n\nEuronews: During the recent parliamentary elections in Iran, we saw the lowest voter turnout since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. We are also witnessing government top officials voicing their discomfort with some of the conservatives\u2019 policies. People in the streets are rebelling against the establishment. Do you think that a possibility of change might be looming in Iran? \n\nAlinejad: I think the main change that the Iranian people want is regime change. They want to have a secular democracy. And they deserve to have it. There\u2019s a huge gap between the young generation and the rulers. All the criminals, they\u2019re ruling my country. So for that, I have to say that the Islamic Republic is not reformable. \n\nEven those moderate boys who now boycotted the election concluded that they must get rid of the Islamic Republic and have a secular democracy. And believe me, a secular democracy not only benefits the people of Iran, but also the people in the region and the people in the West. So an Iran without an Islamic Republic will benefit the rest of the world. \n\nWe, the people of Iran, we\u2019re not risking our lives to just save ourselves. We want to save the rest of the world from one of the most dangerous viruses, which is called the Islamic Republic. They are infecting the rest of the world. \n\nThere's a famous saying in America: \u201cWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas\u201d \u2013 but I believe what happened in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle East. They will expand their ideology in Europe. Extremism everywhere. \n\nI believe that change will come in my country sooner or later, but history will judge those who could be a voice for the women of Iran, but they decided to ignore them, instead shaking the hands of the killers of my women. \n\nThis transcript has been edited for clarity and length. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>After the 1979 Islamic Revolution,\u00a0Iran's\u00a0Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini began a harsh assault on women's rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Today, Iranian women are <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//01//08//outrage-in-iran-after-woman-whipped-for-refusing-to-wear-hijab/">subject to strict dress codes, including the mandatory hijab, and face legal and political discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Violations of the rules are frequently met with intense and sometimes fatal brutality.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking exclusively to Euronews, Iranian women's rights activist Masih Alinejad has called on Western leaders to unite in favour of democracy and challenge\u00a0<a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//03//16//russians-cast-ballots-on-second-day-of-elections/">dictatorships across the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Persecuted by Iran's government herself, the journalist-author recently launched a campaign\u00a0United Against Gender Apartheid, which aims to share the stories of women living under the shadow of oppressive regimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here is what she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Euronews:<\/strong> Let's start by speaking about your latest initiative, United Against Gender Apartheid. What inspired you to start the campaign, and what is the aim?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Masih Alinejad:<\/strong> I launched this campaign because I believe in the power of storytelling. If every single woman takes her camera and talks about how it feels to be a second-class citizen in Afghanistan, how it feels to get kicked out of schools, how it feels to get lashes, to get beaten up in the streets in Iran for the crime of showing their hair \u2013 they can bring all women together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.666015625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//07//23//81//22//808x539_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg/" alt=\"FILE - ranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/384x256_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/640x426_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/750x500_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/828x551_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/1080x719_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/1200x799_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/23\/81\/22\/1920x1279_cmsv2_6e67cc9a-1075-5020-94c8-44eda84df38d-7238122.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">FILE - ranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just women in Iran and Afghanistan. Their stories have encouraged the women of Africa to join us.\u00a0I think this campaign gives a picture of all women from all authoritarian regimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You see women from Nicaragua, women from Venezuela, women from Sudan, from Africa, joining women from Iran and Afghanistan and calling for an end to the gender apartheid regime. And this unity is the key.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Euronews:<\/strong> What assistance have you received from the international community?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alinejad:<\/strong>\u00a0So far, some Western countries are trying to understand how the women of Iran and Afghanistan are suffering under gender apartheid, and how they can help to have gender apartheid classified in all international laws.<\/p>\n<p>There are meetings with groups of women from Iran and Afghanistan, member states, and politicians and policymakers everywhere in European countries. But I think this is not sufficient.<\/p>\n<p>We need a global rally, a global movement to unite all women across the globe, to call on their leaders, to get united to end gender apartheid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1767529939249607051\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Euronews:<\/strong> Dictators are uniting and seeking assistance to avoid sanctions and punishment from Western countries. At the same time, we see how Western leaders are scared to fully punish these regimes. How do you see regimes being held accountable by the new initiative?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alinejad:<\/strong> This initiative is just one of the tools in our hands, the hands of dissidents, to bring the democratic countries together. Our struggle is important, but it\u2019s not sufficient. The international community must hear the call from the World Liberty Congress.<\/p>\n<p>We had our first general assembly where we united dissidents from 60 authoritarian regimes, the leaders of the movement in every authoritarian country from Africa to Latin America, to many regions in the Middle East, to Eastern Europe, to Asia, and people from Hong Kong. There are pro-democracy movements in each region. But at the same time, all the dictators from these regions are helping each other.<\/p>\n<p>Two-thirds of the global population is living under authoritarian regimes. It is shocking, but it is true. It is a fact that 70% of the global population is living under autocrats. Democracy is in recession. I believe that only sanctions are not sufficient. It is a tool, but it\u2019s not sufficient. We need to see all the democratic countries as united as authoritarian regimes to isolate dictatorships and terrorists.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//07//17//25//76//808x539_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg/" alt=\"A woman is painted on a her face during a protest against the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died while in police custody in Iran, during a rally in central Rome, Oct. 2022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/384x256_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/640x427_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/750x500_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/828x552_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/1080x720_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/1200x800_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/07\/17\/25\/76\/1920x1281_cmsv2_917dee69-dba5-5c4f-b0f7-f7d749dc9e2f-7172576.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">A woman is painted on a her face during a protest against the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died while in police custody in Iran, during a rally in central Rome, Oct. 2022<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Gregorio Borgia\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Euronews:<\/strong> You\u2019re asking women across the world who are under authoritarian regimes to record a video of themselves, exposing the atrocities that they\u2019re facing every day. Yet, we\u2019ve also seen how many of these regimes have condemned and arrested people for speaking out. Have you seen a change in the mentality of people in their willingness to speak up against these regimes?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alinejad:<\/strong> In my country, the regime created a new law saying that if anyone sent videos to Masih Alinejad would be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. I remember I felt guilty. I felt the burden on my shoulders. I wanted to shut down my campaign. But guess what happened? I was bombarded by women sending videos.<\/p>\n<p>Now mothers who lost their beloved ones in the protests, in the uprising, are sending videos to me in the same street where their children got killed, saying: \u201cMasih, you should be our voice because we don't have anything to lose. They killed our children, and now are telling us to stop being our storytellers? They want us to stop even crying for justice?\u201d<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"7032770\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//culture//2023//07//18//explained-why-is-the-hijab-significant-in-iranian-society/">Explained: Why the Islamic headscarf is crucial in Iranian society<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Women in my country, women in authoritarian regimes, are fearless. They have nothing to lose. They had enough. But at the same time, they have agency. I'm not putting their lives in danger. These are the authoritarian regimes putting their lives in danger. And that\u2019s why they believe they are like the women of suffrage. They have to risk their lives because they believe freedom is not free.<\/p>\n<p>In my country, you see that the clerics are attacking women in the streets. Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, asked the police to put cameras everywhere to identify unveiled women. What happened? You see women showing their middle fingers to the cameras. You see women using their cameras as weapons to expose the violence of those who carry weapons, to expose the Islamic Republic, expose the Taliban, and African dictators.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1769342529680420971\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Euronews:<\/strong> During the recent parliamentary <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//03//01//iranian-parliament-vote-first-since-2022-mass-protests-sees-a-low-turnout-despite-governme/">elections in Iran, we saw the lowest voter turnout since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. We are also witnessing government top officials voicing their discomfort with some of the conservatives\u2019 policies. People in the streets are rebelling against the establishment. Do you think that a possibility of change might be looming in Iran?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alinejad:<\/strong> I think the main change that the Iranian people want is regime change. They want to have a secular democracy. And they deserve to have it. There\u2019s a huge gap between the young generation and the rulers. All the criminals, they\u2019re ruling my country. So for that, I have to say that the Islamic Republic is not reformable.<\/p>\n<p>Even those moderate boys who now boycotted the election concluded that they must get rid of the Islamic Republic and have a secular democracy. And believe me, a secular democracy not only benefits the people of Iran, but also the people in the region and the people in the West. So an Iran without an Islamic Republic will benefit the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//31//68//18//808x539_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg/" alt=\"A woman cuts her hair in solidarity with Iranian women during a protest in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/384x256_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/640x427_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/750x500_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/828x552_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/1080x720_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/1200x800_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/1920x1281_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">A woman cuts her hair in solidarity with Iranian women during a protest in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Ariel Schalit\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>We, the people of Iran, we\u2019re not risking our lives to just save ourselves. We want to save the rest of the world from one of the most dangerous viruses, which is called the Islamic Republic. They are infecting the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<p>There's a famous saying in America: \u201cWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas\u201d \u2013 but I believe what happened in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle East. They will expand their ideology in Europe. Extremism everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that change will come in my country sooner or later, but history will judge those who could be a voice for the women of Iran, but they decided to ignore them, instead shaking the hands of the killers of my women.<\/p>\n<p><em>This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1710860665,"updatedAt":1711443694,"publishedAt":1711429815,"firstPublishedAt":1711357833,"lastPublishedAt":1711429840,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mary Altaffer\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8a6a63e0-ef0c-573c-b0b0-c70e9624477f-8316818.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":596},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mary Altaffer\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a0993bc7-d6f8-5111-a0cc-7e74b786555e-8316818.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":631},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Ariel Schalit\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"A woman cuts her hair in solidarity with Iranian women during a protest in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"A woman cuts her hair in solidarity with Iranian women during a protest in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_9f0e25c4-5ccb-5d03-9e2d-afa78c4665dd-8316818.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Markus Schreiber\/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"Activist Masih Alinejad speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2023.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Activist Masih Alinejad speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2023.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2b1d6356-aaec-5584-bafa-77554d3ec461-8316818.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mary Altaffer\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":" Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in New York on September 23, 2022.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/68\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8a3d0bde-0e97-594c-8b01-60f80808117c-8316818.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"preve","twitter":null,"title":"Clara Preve"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"masih-alinejad","titleRaw":"Masih Alinejad","id":27598,"title":"Masih Alinejad","slug":"masih-alinejad"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-protests-2023","titleRaw":"Iran protests 2023","id":27948,"title":"Iran protests 2023","slug":"iran-protests-2023"},{"urlSafeValue":"russian-presidential-election-2024","titleRaw":"Russian presidential elections 2024","id":29410,"title":"Russian presidential elections 2024","slug":"russian-presidential-election-2024"},{"urlSafeValue":"regime-change","titleRaw":"Regime change","id":21008,"title":"Regime change","slug":"regime-change"}],"widgets":[{"count":3,"slug":"image"},{"count":2,"slug":"twitter"},{"count":1,"slug":"related"}],"related":[{"id":2490936},{"id":2493246},{"id":2489086}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','neg_facebook','gb_crime_edu','gb_crime_high_med_low','gb_safe_from_high','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','pos_ukrainecrisis','gs_politics_misc','gs_politics_issues_policy','gs_science','gs_science_geography','neg_intel_en','neg_facebook_q4','neg_tiktok_q1_2024_eng','gs_law','gv_death_injury','gt_negative','gv_crime','gs_genres','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"web masih alinejad iran interview","path":"\/2024\/03\/26\/regimes-rebels-and-social-change-interview-with-iranian-dissident-masih-alinejad","lastModified":1711429840},{"id":2500844,"cid":8310316,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240315_NWSU_55063736","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"G7 allies warn Iran not to provide Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"G7 allies warn Iran not to provide Russia with ballistic missiles","titleListing2":"G7 allies warn Iran not to provide Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine","leadin":"Tehran could face major new Western sanctions if it goes ahead with a long-brewing deal.","summary":"Tehran could face major new Western sanctions if it goes ahead with a long-brewing deal.","keySentence":"","url":"g7-allies-warn-iran-not-to-provide-russia-with-ballistic-missiles-for-use-in-ukraine","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/03\/15\/g7-allies-warn-iran-not-to-provide-russia-with-ballistic-missiles-for-use-in-ukraine","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Members of the G7 alliance have warned Iran it will be hit with significant new Western sanctions if it moves forward with a plan to provide ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. \n\nThe Biden administration has raised alarms for months that Russia is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish its dwindling supplies.\u00a0 \n\nThe US has yet to confirm that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia, but Washington is alarmed by comments from Iranian officials suggesting a deal is imminent. \n\n\"Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran,\" the G7 leaders said in a statement. \n\nIran's UN Mission said last month there are no legal restrictions to prevent it from making ballistic missile sales, but the Iranian government is \"morally obligated to refrain from weapon transactions during the Russia-Ukraine conflict to prevent fuelling the war.\" \n\nTightening up \n\nThe Biden administration in January said US intelligence officials had determined a Russian-Iran deal had not been completed.\u00a0 \n\nThey were concerned that Russia's negotiations to acquire missiles from Iran were actively advancing, however.\u00a0 \n\nIn September, according to the White House, Iran hosted Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to show off a range of ballistic missile systems, raising US concerns about a looming deal.\u00a0 \n\nThe US and other countries have taken steps aimed at thwarting the supply, sale or transfer involving Iran and ballistic missile-related items, including issuing guidance to private companies about Iranian missile procurement practices to make sure they are not inadvertently supporting Iran's development efforts. \n\n\"We've sent very clear messages to Iran not to do it, this is a subject of considerable conversation among a number of countries,\" Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a news conference on Friday in Vienna. \n\nThe Biden administration has repeatedly sought to make the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on Iran and North Korea for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine.\u00a0 It has disclosed intelligence findings that it says prove this.\u00a0 \n\nRussia has acquired and used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine, but Ukraine claims the weapons have frequently missed their targets when deployed. \n\nRussia has received hundreds of one-way attack drones, as well as drone production-related equipment, from Iran, according to the White House.\u00a0 \n\nTehran has been accused by Washington of providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow. \n\nIran initially denied supplying drones to Russia, and only acknowledged providing a small number before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Members of the G7 alliance have warned Iran it will be hit with significant new Western sanctions if it moves forward with a plan to provide ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration has raised alarms for months that Russia is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish its dwindling supplies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The US has yet to confirm that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia, but Washington is alarmed by comments from Iranian officials suggesting a deal is imminent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.7508896797153025\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//31//03//16//808x608_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg/" alt=\"An Iranian-built missile is displayed during a rally in Tehran with the Milad telecommunication tower in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/384x288_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/640x481_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/750x563_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/828x622_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1080x811_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1200x901_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1920x1442_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">An Iranian-built missile is displayed during a rally in Tehran with the Milad telecommunication tower in the background.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi, File<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\"Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran,\" the G7 leaders said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Iran's UN Mission said last month there are no legal restrictions to prevent it from making ballistic missile sales, but the Iranian government is \"morally obligated to refrain from weapon transactions during the Russia-Ukraine conflict to prevent fuelling the war.\"<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Tightening up<\/strong><\/h2><p>The Biden administration in January said US intelligence officials had determined a Russian-Iran deal had not been completed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They were concerned that Russia's negotiations to acquire missiles from Iran were actively advancing, however.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In September, according to the White House, Iran hosted Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to show off a range of ballistic missile systems, raising US concerns about a looming deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The US and other countries have taken steps aimed at thwarting the supply, sale or transfer involving Iran and ballistic missile-related items, including issuing guidance to private companies about Iranian missile procurement practices to make sure they are not inadvertently supporting Iran's development efforts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//31//03//16//808x539_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg/" alt=\"Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, welcomes Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/384x256_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/640x427_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/750x500_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/828x552_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1080x720_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1200x800_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/1920x1281_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, welcomes Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Sergei Bobylev\/Sputnik<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\"We've sent very clear messages to Iran not to do it, this is a subject of considerable conversation among a number of countries,\" Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a news conference on Friday in Vienna.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration has repeatedly sought to make the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on Iran and North Korea for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine.\u00a0It has disclosed intelligence findings that it says prove this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Russia has acquired and used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine, but Ukraine claims the weapons have frequently missed their targets when deployed.<\/p>\n<p>Russia has received hundreds of one-way attack drones, as well as drone production-related equipment, from Iran, according to the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has been accused by Washington of providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>Iran initially denied supplying drones to Russia, and only acknowledged providing a small number before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1710517138,"updatedAt":1710519663,"publishedAt":1710519660,"firstPublishedAt":1710519663,"lastPublishedAt":1710519663,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Iranian Army via AP","altText":"A missile is launched during a military drill in southern Iran.","callToActionText":null,"width":1200,"caption":"A missile is launched during a military drill in southern Iran.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a15c8100-4e7b-5d9e-b32b-52ce21af066f-8310316.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":675},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Sergei Bobylev\/Sputnik","altText":"Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, welcomes Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, welcomes Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, for the talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_87b01a5b-323b-5f35-a0ff-6d73f3dfaddf-8310316.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi, File","altText":"An Iranian-built missile is displayed during a rally in Tehran with the Milad telecommunication tower in the background.","callToActionText":null,"width":843,"caption":"An Iranian-built missile is displayed during a rally in Tehran with the Milad telecommunication tower in the background.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/31\/03\/16\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_35244b4f-c2a2-5a19-a34c-732ea5d80abd-8310316.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":633}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"russia","titleRaw":"Russia","id":239,"title":"Russia","slug":"russia"},{"urlSafeValue":"war-in-ukraine","titleRaw":"Ukraine war","id":26692,"title":"Ukraine war","slug":"war-in-ukraine"},{"urlSafeValue":"ballistic-missile","titleRaw":"Ballistic missile","id":12353,"title":"Ballistic missile","slug":"ballistic-missile"}],"widgets":[{"count":2,"slug":"image"}],"related":[{"id":2500938}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world 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iran russia ballistic missiles g7","path":"\/2024\/03\/15\/g7-allies-warn-iran-not-to-provide-russia-with-ballistic-missiles-for-use-in-ukraine","lastModified":1710519663},{"id":2493246,"cid":8286408,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240305_NWSU_54972539","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran ramps up executions as Western countries divert focus towards Gaza","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran ramps up executions as Western countries\u2019 attention falters ","titleListing2":"Iran ramps up executions as Western countries divert focus towards Gaza","leadin":"Iran continues to execute \u2018Woman, Life, Freedom\u2019 protesters as Western countries fail to exercise the same pressure on the country\u2019s government they did in late 2022 and early 2023.","summary":"Iran continues to execute \u2018Woman, Life, Freedom\u2019 protesters as Western countries fail to exercise the same pressure on the country\u2019s government they did in late 2022 and early 2023.","keySentence":"","url":"iran-ramps-up-executions-as-western-countries-divert-focus-towards-gaza","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/03\/05\/iran-ramps-up-executions-as-western-countries-divert-focus-towards-gaza","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The nationwide mass protests sparked by the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 have been followed by the second-highest number of executions in the country in more than 20 years, according to a recent report. \n\nThe 2023 annual report on the death penalty in Iran by the NGO Iran Human Rights found that there were a total of 834 executions last year in the country, representing a 43% increase from 2022. Only 15% of these executions were announced by authorities, while 85% were not reported by official sources. \n\nEight protesters were among the executed last year, six of whom were arrested in relation to the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d protests. According to Iran Human Rights, they were sentenced to death in \u201cgrossly unfair trials without due process.\u201d \n\nThe unfairness and arbitrariness of the trials involving protesters in Iran was also previously condemned by Amnesty International , among others. \n\nAccording to the authors of the report, the execution of protesters in Iran is no longer eliciting the same level of attention and outrage from Western media and leaders that it did in the first half of 2023 before other events - like the war in Gaza - took place. Iranian authorities are taking advantage of the world\u2019s distraction to increase the number of executions, they wrote. \n\nThe average number of daily executions rose from two people before the onset of the war in Gaza to an average of 3-4 executions per day during the war, according to the report. \n\n\u201cThe Iranian regime uses the death penalty to prolong its survival. We are dealing with a regime that is oppressive, corrupt and incompetent to solve people\u2019s daily problems,\u201d Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a press release commenting on the report. \n\n\u201cInstilling societal fear is the regime\u2019s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument. Increasing the political cost of the executions by international pressure can slow down the regime\u2019s killing machine. The inconsistency in the international community\u2019s reaction to the executions in Iran is unfortunate and sends the wrong signal to the authorities.\u201d \n\nAt least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges - up from 256 in 2022 and 126 in 2021. According to Iran Human Rights, those executed for drug charges belong to \u201cthe most marginalised communities in society, and ethnic minorities, particularly the Baluch.\u201d \n\nAt least 282 executions were linked to murder charges. One man was executed for adultery charges - the first time this happened in Iran in 10 years. At least two of those executed were minors, the report writes - a violation of international law. \n\nLast year also see the number of public hangings in Iran triple compared to 2022, for a total of seven people hanged in public spaces, including a beach park. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The nationwide mass protests sparked by the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 have been followed by the second-highest number of executions in the country in more than 20 years, according to a recent report.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023 annual report on the death penalty in Iran by the NGO Iran Human Rights found that there were a total of 834 executions last year in the country, representing a 43% increase from 2022. Only 15% of these executions were announced by authorities, while 85% were not reported by official sources.<\/p>\n<p>Eight protesters were among the executed last year, six of whom were arrested in relation to the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d protests. According to Iran Human Rights, they were sentenced to death in \u201cgrossly unfair trials without due process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The unfairness and arbitrariness of the trials involving protesters in Iran was also previously condemned by <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2023//12//21//fears-for-irans-woman-life-freedom-protesters-amid-record-executions/">Amnesty International<\/strong><\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n<p>According to the authors of the report, the execution of protesters in Iran is no longer eliciting the same level of attention and outrage from Western media and leaders that it did in the first half of 2023 before other events - like the war in Gaza - took place. Iranian authorities are taking advantage of the world\u2019s distraction to increase the number of executions, they wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1763751689897586734\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The average number of daily executions rose from two people before the onset of the war in Gaza to an average of 3-4 executions per day during the war, according to the report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Iranian regime uses the death penalty to prolong its survival. We are dealing with a regime that is oppressive, corrupt and incompetent to solve people\u2019s daily problems,\u201d Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a press release commenting on the report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstilling societal fear is the regime\u2019s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument. Increasing the political cost of the executions by international pressure can slow down the regime\u2019s killing machine. The inconsistency in the international community\u2019s reaction to the executions in Iran is unfortunate and sends the wrong signal to the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges - up from 256 in 2022 and 126 in 2021. According to Iran Human Rights, those executed for drug charges belong to \u201cthe most marginalised communities in society, and ethnic minorities, particularly the Baluch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At least 282 executions were linked to murder charges. One man was executed for adultery charges - the first time this happened in Iran in 10 years. At least two of those executed were minors, the report writes - a violation of international law.<\/p>\n<p>Last year also see the number of public hangings in Iran triple compared to 2022, for a total of seven people hanged in public spaces, including a beach park.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1709646043,"updatedAt":1709651625,"publishedAt":1709651617,"firstPublishedAt":1709651625,"lastPublishedAt":1709651625,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"A woman walks past electoral posters of candidates for the March 1, parliamentary election, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. ","callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"caption":"A woman walks past electoral posters of candidates for the March 1, parliamentary election, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. ","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/28\/64\/08\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_23e749ed-1615-523e-8688-5945069238d0-8286408.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":900}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-protests-2022","titleRaw":"Iran Protests 2022","id":27750,"title":"Iran Protests 2022","slug":"iran-protests-2022"},{"urlSafeValue":"woman-life-freedom","titleRaw":"Woman Life Freedom","id":29360,"title":"Woman Life Freedom","slug":"woman-life-freedom"},{"urlSafeValue":"death-penalty","titleRaw":"Death penalty","id":379,"title":"Death penalty","slug":"death-penalty"},{"urlSafeValue":"execution","titleRaw":"Execution","id":8335,"title":"Execution","slug":"execution"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"twitter"}],"related":[{"id":2489086},{"id":2494102},{"id":2503098}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gt_negative','gb_crime_edu','gb_crime_high_med_low','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','pos_ukrainecrisis','gs_society','gs_law','gv_death_injury','gb_sensitive_high','gb_sensitive_high_med','gb_sensitive_high_med_low','gb_sensitive_serious','neg_saudiaramco','gs_society_misc','neg_facebook','neg_facebook_q4','neg_intel_en','gs_politics','gt_negative_dislike','gv_crime','gb_crime_high','gb_crime_high_med','gb_crime_serious','gb_sensitive_news-ent','gs_law_misc'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"EN WEB IRAN EXECUTIONS","path":"\/2024\/03\/05\/iran-ramps-up-executions-as-western-countries-divert-focus-towards-gaza","lastModified":1709651625},{"id":2490936,"cid":8279732,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240301_NWSU_54946965","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iranian parliament vote, first since 2022 mass protests, sees a low turnout despite government push","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iranian parliamentary vote sees low turnout depsite government push","titleListing2":"Iranian parliament vote, first since 2022 mass protests, sees a low turnout despite government push","leadin":"Officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to link turnout directly to taking a stand against Iran's enemies.","summary":"Officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to link turnout directly to taking a stand against Iran's enemies.","keySentence":"","url":"iranian-parliament-vote-first-since-2022-mass-protests-sees-a-low-turnout-despite-governme","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/03\/01\/iranian-parliament-vote-first-since-2022-mass-protests-sees-a-low-turnout-despite-governme","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran held its first parliamentary election Friday since mass 2022 protests over mandatory hijab laws following the death of Mahsa Amini, apparently drawing a low turnout amid calls for a boycott. \n\nThe state-owned polling center ISPA predicted\u00a0a turnout of 38.5% nationally with a 2% margin of error. Its estimate is based\u00a0on a survey of 5,121 voting-age people. In capital Tehran, it forecasts\u00a0a turnout of 23.5%. \n\nThat could put turnout on track to be its lowest ever. The lowest previous came in the last parliamentary election in 2019, which saw a 42% turnout. \n\nIt wasn't immediately clear if voter apathy or an active desire to send a message to Iran's theocracy depressed the number of voters coming to polling stations across the Islamic Republic. While state-controlled television broadcast images of lines of voters, others across the capital of Tehran saw largely empty polling stations. \n\nOfficials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to link turnout directly to taking a stand against Iran's enemies. Others, including imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, urged a boycott of a vote they derided as a \u201csham.\u201d \n\nAuthorities broadly barred politicians calling for any change within the country's government, known broadly as reformists, from running in the election. \n\nOf about 15,000 candidates vying for seats in the 290-member parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, only 116 are considered to be relatively moderate or pro-reform candidates. \n\nMeanwhile, Iran's economy continues to stagnate under Western sanctions over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program and the country's arming of militia proxies in the Middle East and Russia in its war on Ukraine. \n\nSome of the voters acknowledged the challenges facing the Islamic Republic. \n\n\u201cThere are many problems; too many problems,\" said one voter, who just gave her last name, Sajjad. \"We are sad, we are sorrowful and we voice our criticism as much as we can. God willing, those responsible will start thinking about us, and probably many of them do care.\u201d \n\nThe boycott calls have put the government under renewed pressure \u2014 since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran\u2019s theocracy has based its legitimacy in part on turnout in elections. \n\nIn one polling place Friday in Tehran, a young woman without a hijab and her mother, wearing one, entered. There was no comment from officials or police on hand. \n\n\u201cI accompanied my mother who wanted to vote just to remind authorities about last year\u2019s crackdown,\u201d said the daughter, who gave her first name, Zohreh. Her mother voted for a relative moderate running in their district, while Zohreh declined to cast a ballot, she said. \n\nMeanwhile, a heavy security presence could be seen across the capital, with ordinary and anti-riot police officers visible in main squares and junctions. Some 200,000 security forces have been deployed across the country as over 59,000 polling stations opened. Another 1 million people reportedly are running the election, home to some 85 million people. \n\nEstimates put the voting-age population at 61 million. \n\nParliament terms run for four years, and five seats are reserved for Iran\u2019s religious minorities. Under the law, the parliament has oversight over the executive branch, votes on treaties and handles other issues. In practice, absolute power in Iran rests with its supreme leader. \n\nHard-liners have controlled the parliament for the past two decades \u2014 with chants of \u201cDeath to America\u201d often heard from the floor. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran held its first parliamentary election Friday since mass 2022 protests over mandatory hijab laws following the death of Mahsa Amini, apparently drawing a low turnout amid calls for a boycott.<\/p>\n<p>The state-owned polling center ISPA predicted\u00a0a turnout of 38.5% nationally with a 2% margin of error. Its estimate is based\u00a0on a survey of 5,121 voting-age people. In capital Tehran, it forecasts\u00a0a turnout of 23.5%.<\/p>\n<p>That could put turnout on track to be its lowest ever. The lowest previous came in the last parliamentary election in 2019, which saw a 42% turnout.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn't immediately clear if voter apathy or an active desire to send a message to Iran's theocracy depressed the number of voters coming to polling stations across the Islamic Republic. While state-controlled television broadcast images of lines of voters, others across the capital of Tehran saw largely empty polling stations.<\/p>\n<p>Officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sought to link turnout directly to taking a stand against Iran's enemies. Others, including imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, urged a boycott of a vote they derided as a \u201csham.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Authorities broadly barred politicians calling for any change within the country's government, known broadly as reformists, from running in the election.<\/p>\n<p>Of about 15,000 candidates vying for seats in the 290-member parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, only 116 are considered to be relatively moderate or pro-reform candidates.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Iran's economy continues to stagnate under Western sanctions over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program and the country's arming of militia proxies in the Middle East and Russia in its war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the voters acknowledged the challenges facing the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are many problems; too many problems,\" said one voter, who just gave her last name, Sajjad. \"We are sad, we are sorrowful and we voice our criticism as much as we can. God willing, those responsible will start thinking about us, and probably many of them do care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The boycott calls have put the government under renewed pressure \u2014 since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran\u2019s theocracy has based its legitimacy in part on turnout in elections.<\/p>\n<p>In one polling place Friday in Tehran, a young woman without a hijab and her mother, wearing one, entered. There was no comment from officials or police on hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI accompanied my mother who wanted to vote just to remind authorities about last year\u2019s crackdown,\u201d said the daughter, who gave her first name, Zohreh. Her mother voted for a relative moderate running in their district, while Zohreh declined to cast a ballot, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a heavy security presence could be seen across the capital, with ordinary and anti-riot police officers visible in main squares and junctions. Some 200,000 security forces have been deployed across the country as over 59,000 polling stations opened. Another 1 million people reportedly are running the election, home to some 85 million people.<\/p>\n<p>Estimates put the voting-age population at 61 million.<\/p>\n<p>Parliament terms run for four years, and five seats are reserved for Iran\u2019s religious minorities. Under the law, the parliament has oversight over the executive branch, votes on treaties and handles other issues. In practice, absolute power in Iran rests with its supreme leader.<\/p>\n<p>Hard-liners have controlled the parliament for the past two decades \u2014 with chants of \u201cDeath to America\u201d often heard from the floor.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1709314477,"updatedAt":1709323383,"publishedAt":1709316739,"firstPublishedAt":1709316745,"lastPublishedAt":1709316745,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP","altText":"Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":1599,"caption":"Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/97\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0b7e3fd4-7b21-503c-a5f1-42ef5ab1b911-8279732.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":899}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran-elections","titleRaw":"Iran Elections","id":22762,"title":"Iran Elections","slug":"iran-elections"},{"urlSafeValue":"ayatollah-khomeini","titleRaw":"Ayatollah Khomeini ","id":27256,"title":"Ayatollah Khomeini ","slug":"ayatollah-khomeini"},{"urlSafeValue":"mahsa-amini","titleRaw":"Mahsa amini","id":27438,"title":"Mahsa 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IRAN A LOW TURNOUT","path":"\/2024\/03\/01\/iranian-parliament-vote-first-since-2022-mass-protests-sees-a-low-turnout-despite-governme","lastModified":1709316745},{"id":2489086,"cid":8273472,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240228_NWSU_54923878","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iranians prepare for elections on Friday amid widespread fear and discontent","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iranians headed to the ballots on Friday amid widespread discontent","titleListing2":"Iranians prepare for elections on Friday amid widespread fear and discontent","leadin":"While Ayatollah Khamenei is urging his people to vote, many might still sit out this week's parliamentary election.","summary":"While Ayatollah Khamenei is urging his people to vote, many might still sit out this week's parliamentary election.","keySentence":"","url":"iranians-prepare-for-elections-on-friday-amid-widespread-fear-and-discontent","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/02\/29\/iranians-prepare-for-elections-on-friday-amid-widespread-fear-and-discontent","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran will hold parliamentary elections on Friday amid widespread discontent over the country\u2019s failing economy, but it\u2019s likely that few voters will turn out at the ballot. \n\nIranians will be voting to\u00a0elect members to the 290-seat Parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Terms run for four years, and five seats are reserved for Iran\u2019s religious minorities. \n\nSeparately, Iranians will vote to fill the Assembly of Experts, whose 88 members serve eight-year terms on a panel that will appoint the country\u2019s next supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who\u2019s now 84. \n\nBut as the country's political climate remains tense, many Iranians said they won\u2019t be taking part. \n\nPoor and exhausted \n\nIran recently faced nationwide mass protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the country\u2019s morality police in September 2022. The protests were repressed by authorities, who have increased their clampdown on dissent. \n\nThe country has also faced growing tensions with the West over its nuclear programme and its support for Russia in its war in Ukraine. \n\nWhile Iranian authorities have encouraged people to go to the ballot on Friday, the state-owned polling centre ISPA has not yet released any information on the election\u2019s expected turnout. \n\nOut of 21 Iranians interviewed by the Associated Press, only five said they would be voting on Friday. Three said they were undecided, while 13 said they wouldn\u2019t vote. \n\nSome mentioned the poor state of the country\u2019s economy as a reason for their disengagement. Inflation is reportedly at around 50%, with unemployment around 20% for young Iranians. \n\n\u201cIf I protest about some shortcoming, many police and security agents will try to stop me,\u201d said Amin, a 21-year-old university student who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals. \u201cBut if I die from hunger on the corner of one of the main streets, they will show no reaction.\u201d \n\nMorteza, a 53-year-old taxi driver who gave only his first name for fear of reprisal, also expressed disenchantment. \n\n\u201cWhy should I vote?\u201d he asked. \u201cI voted many times in the past yet I am paying for the schooling of my three daughters. ... I am still a renter and continuously I keep moving to a poorer area.\u201d \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran will hold parliamentary elections on Friday amid widespread discontent over the country\u2019s failing economy, but it\u2019s likely that few voters will turn out at the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Iranians will be voting to\u00a0elect members to the 290-seat Parliament, formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Terms run for four years, and five seats are reserved for Iran\u2019s religious minorities.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, Iranians will vote to fill the Assembly of Experts, whose 88 members serve eight-year terms on a panel that will appoint the country\u2019s next supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who\u2019s now 84.<\/p>\n<p>But as the country's political climate remains tense, many Iranians said they won\u2019t be taking part.<\/p>\n<h2>Poor and exhausted<\/h2><p>Iran recently faced nationwide mass protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the country\u2019s morality police in September 2022. The protests were repressed by authorities, who have increased their clampdown on dissent.<\/p>\n<p>The country has also faced growing tensions with the West over its nuclear programme and its support for Russia in its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>While Iranian authorities have encouraged people to go to the ballot on Friday, the state-owned polling centre ISPA has not yet released any information on the election\u2019s expected turnout.<\/p>\n<p>Out of 21 Iranians interviewed by the Associated Press, only five said they would be voting on Friday. Three said they were undecided, while 13 said they wouldn\u2019t vote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.646484375\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//27//34//72//808x521_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg/" alt=\"Iranian women at an election rally wave posters of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/384x248_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/640x414_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/750x485_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/828x535_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/1080x698_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/1200x776_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/1920x1241_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Iranian women at an election rally wave posters of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Some mentioned the poor state of the country\u2019s economy as a reason for their disengagement. Inflation is reportedly at around 50%, with unemployment around 20% for young Iranians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I protest about some shortcoming, many police and security agents will try to stop me,\u201d said Amin, a 21-year-old university student who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals. \u201cBut if I die from hunger on the corner of one of the main streets, they will show no reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morteza, a 53-year-old taxi driver who gave only his first name for fear of reprisal, also expressed disenchantment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy should I vote?\u201d he asked. \u201cI voted many times in the past yet I am paying for the schooling of my three daughters. ... I am still a renter and continuously I keep moving to a poorer area.\u201d<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1709131103,"updatedAt":1709216107,"publishedAt":1709215643,"firstPublishedAt":1709132548,"lastPublishedAt":1709215696,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"Iranian women wave their country's flags during an election campaign rally ahead of the March 1, parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran on Feb. 27.","callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"caption":"Iranian women wave their country's flags during an election campaign rally ahead of the March 1, parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran on Feb. 27.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_e74b0391-71a5-58b6-b8dd-38ed825091dd-8273472.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":900},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved","altText":"Iranian women at an election rally wave posters of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Iranian women at an election rally wave posters of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/34\/72\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_cb80209a-73e6-50d5-bfdf-1ed5bc40a770-8273472.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":662}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-politics","titleRaw":"Iranian politics","id":9349,"title":"Iranian politics","slug":"iranian-politics"},{"urlSafeValue":"parliamentary-elections","titleRaw":"Parliamentary elections","id":9287,"title":"Parliamentary elections","slug":"parliamentary-elections"},{"urlSafeValue":"ali-khamenei","titleRaw":"Ali Khamenei","id":9899,"title":"Ali Khamenei","slug":"ali-khamenei"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"image"}],"related":[{"id":2490300},{"id":2493246},{"id":2503098}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"Fz7Nyzu3iOY"},"video":1,"videos":[{"duration":20000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":0,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/02\/29\/en\/240229_NWSU_54926988_54929283_135000_075706_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"md"},{"duration":20000,"editor":"","filesizeBytes":0,"format":"mp4","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/EN\/NW\/SU\/24\/02\/29\/en\/240229_NWSU_54926988_54929283_135000_075706_en.mp4","expiresAt":0,"quality":"hd"}],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gb_safe','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_politics','gs_politics_misc','gs_politics_issues_policy','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_politics_elections','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook','gs_science','neg_intel_en','neg_citi_campaign','neg_zegna_eng','neg_ukraine_russia_war','gs_education','gv_death_injury','gs_politics_civicaffairs','gs_science_geography'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"EN IRAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION","path":"\/2024\/02\/29\/iranians-prepare-for-elections-on-friday-amid-widespread-fear-and-discontent","lastModified":1709215696},{"id":2489604,"cid":8275142,"versionId":3,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240229_NWWB_54930776","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran's upcoming election is a mafia-style tussle of Khamenei's minions","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran's upcoming election is a mafia-style tussle of Khamenei's minions","titleListing2":"Opinion | The 1 March election is set to be an insider patron-client fight, with various oligarchic clans competing for a greater slice of the pie in the kleptocratic so-called \u201choly system\u201d that is the Islamic Republic, Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi write.","leadin":"The 1 March election is set to be an insider patron-client fight, with various oligarchic clans competing to have the upper-hand insider hand and ultimately a greater slice of the pie in the kleptocratic so-called \u201choly system\u201d that is the Islamic Republic, Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi write.","summary":"The 1 March election is set to be an insider patron-client fight, with various oligarchic clans competing to have the upper-hand insider hand and ultimately a greater slice of the pie in the kleptocratic so-called \u201choly system\u201d that is the Islamic Republic, Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi write.","keySentence":"","url":"irans-upcoming-election-is-a-mafia-style-tussle-of-khameneis-minions","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/02\/29\/irans-upcoming-election-is-a-mafia-style-tussle-of-khameneis-minions","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Friday marks parliamentary election day in the Islamic Republic of Iran\u00a0\u2014\u00a0or so the regime will want the world to believe.\u00a0 \n\nCue the staged queues lining up at the ballot box ready to deliver their rehearsed script on \u201cIslamic democracy\u201d to international journalists, who will in turn flaunt their \u201crare and exclusive\u201d reports in Iran.\u00a0 \n\nAnd while some mainstream media outlets in the West will no doubt fall into the ayatollah\u2019s trap, polling day on 1 March is anything but a free and fair vote. \n\nOf course, this will (hopefully) come as no surprise to many: there are no democratic elections in Iran.\u00a0 \n\nRather, all candidates are pre-approved by the 84-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei \u2014 who rules with absolute authority as God\u2019s representative on Earth\u00a0\u2014 and the outcome is manufactured to his taste.\u00a0 \n\nBut even for the standards of the Islamic Republic, election engineering has been unprecedented this time around. \n\nA patron-client fight is about to unfold \n\nThe lack of consequences for the Islamic Republic has meant the previously self-conscious Khamenei no longer cares what the world thinks of his regime.\u00a0 \n\nHe has pulled off the veil of electoral \u201clegitimacy\u201d and exposed the naked totalitarianism of his regime. \n\nIn the process, we\u2019ve witnessed mass disqualifications and even the boycotting of the vote by some elements of the Islamist left (often wrongly depicted as \u201creformists\u201d).\u00a0 \n\nIn turn, only the Islamist right\u00a0\u2014 the social base of Khamenei and his all-powerful paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) \u2014 has been permitted to run for office. \n\nBut \u201celectoral\u201d competition, if we can call it that, isn\u2019t between political parties. Instead, 1 March will be an insider patron-client fight, with various oligarchic clans competing to have the upper-hand insider hand and ultimately a greater slice of the pie in the kleptocratic so-called \u201choly system\u201d that is the Islamic Republic.\u00a0 \n\nCompetition is centred on egos, personalities and resources, not political power per se. After all, Iran's legislature, the Majlis, has very little, if any, authority\u00a0\u2014 and the successful candidates will be nothing more than Khamenei\u2019s minions. \n\nSo, who are the patron-client networks battling it out? \n\nThe infighting of the old guard \n\nIn simplest terms, this mafia-like tussle is between the old cohort of Khamenei absolutists and the supreme leader\u2019s younger generation of zealots. \n\nThe figureheads of each clan have produced a list of Khamenei pre-approved candidates that will represent their network on the \u201cballot\u201d.\u00a0 \n\nWhile some of these patrons have entered the race themselves, others have preferred to guide from afar\u00a0\u2014 and, in doing so, present themselves as less opportunistic. \n\nThe old guard all fall under three main figures. \n\nThe first is none other than Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the incumbent Majlis speaker who has earned the title of the IRGC\u2019s \u201cmost corrupt commander\u201d\u00a0\u2014 a remarkable achievement given the already rampant corruption in the Guard.\u00a0 \n\nGhalibaf\u2019s most recent corruption scandal took place this week, with leaked documents revealing his son laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in Western banks.\u00a0 \n\nUntil now, Ghalibaf has been continuously bailed out by Khamenei\u2019s close circle each time he has found himself in a corruption scandal. But the latest case may prove too far\u00a0\u2014 and it has provided his opponents with ammo to strike. \n\nNext in line is Gholam-Ali Hadad Adel, a senior adviser to the supreme leader.\u00a0 \n\nHadad- Adel is very much in the inner circle of Khamenei connected through family relations, with his daughter married to Khamenei\u2019s power-hungry son, Mojtaba\u00a0\u2014 tipped to be the next supreme leader. \n\nLast but certainly not least is fiery hardline cleric Morteza Aghatehrani. Aghatehrani was the student and prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taqhi Mesbah-Yazdi, the IRGC\u2019s ideological forefather who once issued a fatwa that encouraged acid attacks on women with \u201cimproper\u201d hijab. \n\nWhile this old cohort will be battling out between themselves, their main fight will be with the younger generation of elites who are just as, if not more, radical and extreme. They can be split into two patron-client groups. \n\nThe 'kids' are not alright \n\nThe first falls under Mehrdad Bazrpash, incumbent Minister for Roads and Urban Development and the former IRGC\u2019s Student Basij Organisation for Sharif University\u00a0\u2014 an entity\u00a0sanctioned for gross human rights violations.\u00a0 \n\nBazrpash\u2019s rise took place under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when at only 27, the former hardline president made him head of \u201cSaipa\u201d and \u201cPars Khodro\u201d, two of the biggest car manufacturing companies in Iran\u00a0\u2014 all as a reward for his ideological commitment.\u00a0 \n\nWhile Bazrpash will not be directly participating, he will be fielding candidates under his political faction called \u201cSharayan\u201d. \n\nAnd finally, there\u2019s the new crazy on the block: the IRGC-affiliated Ali Akbar Raeifpour.\u00a0 \n\nRaefipour can be best described as a radical antisemitic conspiracy preacher. He has teamed up with Saeed Mohammad \u2014 a young and radical IRGC commander who had rising political ambitions that were cut short by the Guard\u2019s old cohort, not least Ghalibaf.\u00a0 \n\nDespite the noise, Raeifpour\u2019s network is unlikely to mount a serious challenge to the old oligarchic elite.\u00a0 \n\nBut the fact that this radical preacher, whose extremism was once regarded as being \u201ctoo irrational\u201d even for segments of the hardline clerical establishment is indicative of the \u201cdumbification\u201d of the regime.\u00a0 \n\nThe \u201cdumbification\u201d refers to Khamenei\u2019s systematic effort to replace experience and knowledge for absolute ideological commitment\u00a0\u2014 or what his circle has termed \u201cpurification\u201d. \n\nThe regime doesn't care \n\nThis mafia-like competition between the supreme leader\u2019s older and younger zealots in the Majlis is identical to that of the coming elections for the so-called \u201cAssembly of Experts\u201d, which are also taking place on 1 March.\u00a0 \n\nIn theory, this body is responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, but in practice, it is tightly controlled by Khamenei. \n\nIn the past five years, as part of his manifesto for the next 40 years, Khamenei has been able to fully personalise power in the Islamic Republic and \u201cpurify\u201d its ranks so as to ensure the triumph of his cult of personality across every branch of government.\u00a0 \n\nIn doing so, the 84-year-old ayatollah\u2019s goal is to both guarantee a smooth succession process\u00a0\u2014 ousting all but absolutists\u00a0\u2014 and to ensure his hardline Islamist ideology outlives him. \n\nWhile these patron-client oligarchs will be battling it out for a bigger share of the pie, the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people have paid no attention to the election circus.\u00a0 \n\nAccording to state-backed figures, which are always inflated, as few as 15% of Iranians in the capital Tehran are planning to actually go to the polls. Not that the regime cares. \n\nInevitably, there will be only one winner from this week's \u201cvote\u201d\u00a0\u2014 namely, Khamenei himself. \n\nKasra Aarabi is Director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), specialising in Iranian military and security affairs and Shi\u2019a extremism. He is also a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.\u00a0Saeid Golkar is Senior Advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and UC Foundation Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. \n\nAt Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Friday marks parliamentary election day in the Islamic Republic of Iran\u00a0\u2014\u00a0or so the regime will want the world to believe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cue the staged queues lining up at the ballot box ready to deliver their rehearsed script on \u201cIslamic democracy\u201d to international journalists, who will in turn flaunt their \u201crare and exclusive\u201d reports in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And while some mainstream media outlets in the West will no doubt fall into the ayatollah\u2019s trap, polling day on 1 March is anything but a free and fair vote.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this will (hopefully) come as no surprise to many: there are no democratic elections in Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rather, all candidates are pre-approved by the 84-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei \u2014 who rules with absolute authority as God\u2019s representative on Earth\u00a0\u2014 and the outcome is manufactured to his taste.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But even for the standards of the Islamic Republic, election engineering has been unprecedented this time around.<\/p>\n<h2>A patron-client fight is about to unfold<\/h2><p>The lack of consequences for the Islamic Republic has meant the previously self-conscious Khamenei no longer cares what the world thinks of his regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He has pulled off the veil of electoral \u201clegitimacy\u201d and exposed the naked totalitarianism of his regime.<\/p>\n<p>In the process, we\u2019ve witnessed mass disqualifications and even the boycotting of the vote by some elements of the Islamist left (often wrongly depicted as \u201creformists\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">Competition is centred on egos, personalities and resources, not political power per se. After all, Iran's legislature, the Majlis, has very little, if any, authority \u2014 and the successful candidates will be nothing more than Khamenei\u2019s minions.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//27//51//42//808x539_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg/" alt=\"An Iranian man sits in an election campaign rally ahead of the 1 March parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran, February 2024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/384x256_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/640x427_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/750x500_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/828x552_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1080x720_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1200x800_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1920x1281_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">An Iranian man sits in an election campaign rally ahead of the 1 March parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran, February 2024<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In turn, only the Islamist right\u00a0\u2014 the social base of Khamenei and his all-powerful paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) \u2014 has been permitted to run for office.<\/p>\n<p>But \u201celectoral\u201d competition, if we can call it that, isn\u2019t between political parties. Instead, 1 March will be an insider patron-client fight, with various oligarchic clans competing to have the upper-hand insider hand and ultimately a greater slice of the pie in the kleptocratic so-called \u201choly system\u201d that is the Islamic Republic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8273472,8270434\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//02//27//iran-refuses-to-recognise-national-currencys-fall-in-free-markets/">Iran refuses to recognise national currency\u2019s fall in free markets <\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//02//29//iranians-prepare-for-elections-on-friday-amid-widespread-fear-and-discontent/">Iranians prepare for elections on Friday amid widespread fear and discontent<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Competition is centred on egos, personalities and resources, not political power per se. After all, Iran's legislature, the Majlis, has very little, if any, authority\u00a0\u2014 and the successful candidates will be nothing more than Khamenei\u2019s minions.<\/p>\n<p>So, who are the patron-client networks battling it out?<\/p>\n<h2>The infighting of the old guard<\/h2><p>In simplest terms, this mafia-like tussle is between the old cohort of Khamenei absolutists and the supreme leader\u2019s younger generation of zealots.<\/p>\n<p>The figureheads of each clan have produced a list of Khamenei pre-approved candidates that will represent their network on the \u201cballot\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While some of these patrons have entered the race themselves, others have preferred to guide from afar\u00a0\u2014 and, in doing so, present themselves as less opportunistic.<\/p>\n<p>The old guard all fall under three main figures.<\/p>\n<p>The first is none other than Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the incumbent Majlis speaker who has earned the title of the IRGC\u2019s \u201cmost corrupt commander\u201d\u00a0\u2014 a remarkable achievement given the already rampant corruption in the Guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">Until now, Ghalibaf has been continuously bailed out by Khamenei\u2019s close circle each time he has found himself in a corruption scandal. But the latest case may prove too far \u2014 and it has provided his opponents with ammo to strike.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6474609375\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//27//51//42//808x525_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg/" alt=\"Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during his first press conference as a presidential hopeful, in Tehran, April 2005\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/384x249_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/640x414_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/750x486_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/828x536_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1080x699_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1200x777_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1920x1243_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during his first press conference as a presidential hopeful, in Tehran, April 2005<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Ghalibaf\u2019s most recent corruption scandal took place this week, with leaked documents revealing his son laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in Western banks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Until now, Ghalibaf has been continuously bailed out by Khamenei\u2019s close circle each time he has found himself in a corruption scandal. But the latest case may prove too far\u00a0\u2014 and it has provided his opponents with ammo to strike.<\/p>\n<p>Next in line is Gholam-Ali Hadad Adel, a senior adviser to the supreme leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hadad-Adel is very much in the inner circle of Khamenei connected through family relations, with his daughter married to Khamenei\u2019s power-hungry son, Mojtaba\u00a0\u2014 tipped to be the next supreme leader.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"7785510,7903640\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2023//09//18//the-women-of-iran-deserve-a-tough-eu-line/">The women of Iran deserve a tough EU line \u2014 and Mahsa Amini the Sakharov Prize<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2023//07//28//the-west-turned-its-gaze-away-from-iran-but-the-regimes-cruelties-are-far-from-over/">The West turned its gaze away from Iran, but the regime's cruelties are far from over<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Last but certainly not least is fiery hardline cleric Morteza Aghatehrani. Aghatehrani was the student and prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taqhi Mesbah-Yazdi, the IRGC\u2019s ideological forefather who once issued a fatwa that encouraged acid attacks on women with \u201cimproper\u201d hijab.<\/p>\n<p>While this old cohort will be battling out between themselves, their main fight will be with the younger generation of elites who are just as, if not more, radical and extreme. They can be split into two patron-client groups.<\/p>\n<h2>The 'kids' are not alright<\/h2><p>The first falls under Mehrdad Bazrpash, incumbent Minister for Roads and Urban Development and the former IRGC\u2019s Student Basij Organisation for Sharif University\u00a0\u2014 an entity\u00a0sanctioned for gross human rights violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bazrpash\u2019s rise took place under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when at only 27, the former hardline president made him head of \u201cSaipa\u201d and \u201cPars Khodro\u201d, two of the biggest car manufacturing companies in Iran\u00a0\u2014 all as a reward for his ideological commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Bazrpash will not be directly participating, he will be fielding candidates under his political faction called \u201cSharayan\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">In the past five years, as part of his manifesto for the next 40 years, Khamenei has been able to fully personalise power in the Islamic Republic and \u201cpurify\u201d its ranks so as to ensure the triumph of his cult of personality across every branch of government.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6669921875\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//27//51//42//808x539_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg/" alt=\"People walk past an anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, August 2023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/384x256_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/640x427_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/750x500_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/828x552_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1080x720_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1200x800_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/1920x1281_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">People walk past an anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, August 2023<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>And finally, there\u2019s the new crazy on the block: the IRGC-affiliated Ali Akbar Raeifpour.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raefipour can be best described as a radical antisemitic conspiracy preacher. He has teamed up with Saeed Mohammad \u2014 a young and radical IRGC commander who had rising political ambitions that were cut short by the Guard\u2019s old cohort, not least Ghalibaf.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite the noise, Raeifpour\u2019s network is unlikely to mount a serious challenge to the old oligarchic elite.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8126892,6841368\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2022//07//12//putin-to-visit-tehran-amid-iranian-drone-acquisition-allegations/">Putin to visit Tehran amid Iranian drone acquisition allegations<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2023//12//21//fears-for-irans-woman-life-freedom-protesters-amid-record-executions/">Fears for Iran\u2019s \u2018Woman Life Freedom\u2019 protesters amid record executions<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>But the fact that this radical preacher, whose extremism was once regarded as being \u201ctoo irrational\u201d even for segments of the hardline clerical establishment is indicative of the \u201cdumbification\u201d of the regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cdumbification\u201d refers to Khamenei\u2019s systematic effort to replace experience and knowledge for absolute ideological commitment\u00a0\u2014 or what his circle has termed \u201cpurification\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>The regime doesn't care<\/h2><p>This mafia-like competition between the supreme leader\u2019s older and younger zealots in the Majlis is identical to that of the coming elections for the so-called \u201cAssembly of Experts\u201d, which are also taking place on 1 March.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In theory, this body is responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, but in practice, it is tightly controlled by Khamenei.<\/p>\n<p>In the past five years, as part of his manifesto for the next 40 years, Khamenei has been able to fully personalise power in the Islamic Republic and \u201cpurify\u201d its ranks so as to ensure the triumph of his cult of personality across every branch of government.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In doing so, the 84-year-old ayatollah\u2019s goal is to both guarantee a smooth succession process\u00a0\u2014 ousting all but absolutists\u00a0\u2014 and to ensure his hardline Islamist ideology outlives him.<\/p>\n<p>While these patron-client oligarchs will be battling it out for a bigger share of the pie, the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people have paid no attention to the election circus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to state-backed figures, which are always inflated, as few as 15% of Iranians in the capital Tehran are planning to actually go to the polls. Not that the regime cares.<\/p>\n<p>Inevitably, there will be only one winner from this week's \u201cvote\u201d\u00a0\u2014 namely, Khamenei himself.<\/p>\n<p><em>Kasra Aarabi is Director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), specialising in Iranian military and security affairs and Shi\u2019a extremism. He is also a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.\u00a0Saeid Golkar is Senior Advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and UC Foundation Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at <a href=https://www.euronews.com/news/asia/\"mailto:view@euronews.com\">view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.<\/em><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1709201612,"updatedAt":1709208255,"publishedAt":1709205385,"firstPublishedAt":1709205388,"lastPublishedAt":1709208255,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Euronews","altText":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei salutes during a meeting with army's air force and air defence staff, in Tehran, February 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"caption":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei salutes during a meeting with army's air force and air defence staff, in Tehran, February 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_b94bdedd-8de0-5196-881f-9e98375ff4a7-8275142.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":900},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"People walk past an anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, August 2023","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"People walk past an anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, August 2023","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_01198b44-d5c7-52a6-ad0c-8e88f625f6b6-8275142.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during his first press conference as a presidential hopeful, in Tehran, April 2005","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during his first press conference as a presidential hopeful, in Tehran, April 2005","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5ef99c55-fd87-5b83-a565-62c1a5783808-8275142.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":663},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi","altText":"An Iranian man sits in an election campaign rally ahead of the 1 March parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran, February 2024","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"An Iranian man sits in an election campaign rally ahead of the 1 March parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, in Tehran, February 2024","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/51\/42\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0341b4b8-8a16-5e4e-bd7a-3d13f4babf4e-8275142.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"iran-elections","titleRaw":"Iran Elections","id":22762,"title":"Iran Elections","slug":"iran-elections"},{"urlSafeValue":"iranian-politics","titleRaw":"Iranian politics","id":9349,"title":"Iranian politics","slug":"iranian-politics"},{"urlSafeValue":"ali-khamenei","titleRaw":"Ali Khamenei","id":9899,"title":"Ali Khamenei","slug":"ali-khamenei"},{"urlSafeValue":"mahmoud-ahmadinejad","titleRaw":"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad","id":7853,"title":"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad","slug":"mahmoud-ahmadinejad"},{"urlSafeValue":"euroviews","titleRaw":"Euroviews","id":22480,"title":"Euroviews","slug":"euroviews"}],"widgets":[{"count":3,"slug":"image"},{"count":3,"slug":"quotation"},{"count":3,"slug":"related"}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Saeid Golkar, Kasra Aarabi","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world 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IRAN ELECTION TEHRAN","path":"\/2024\/02\/29\/irans-upcoming-election-is-a-mafia-style-tussle-of-khameneis-minions","lastModified":1709208255},{"id":2488214,"cid":8270434,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240227_ECSU_54913079","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran refuses to recognise national currency\u2019s fall in free markets ","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran refuses to recognise national currency\u2019s fall in free markets ","titleListing2":"Why is Iran not acknowledging the rial's fall in free markets? Find out here ","leadin":"The Iranian rial has plunged rapidly against the dollar ever since the Israel-Hamas war led to increased worries of a direct US-Iran confrontation.","summary":"The Iranian rial has plunged rapidly against the dollar ever since the Israel-Hamas war led to increased worries of a direct US-Iran confrontation.","keySentence":"","url":"iran-refuses-to-recognise-national-currencys-fall-in-free-markets","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/2024\/02\/27\/iran-refuses-to-recognise-national-currencys-fall-in-free-markets","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran\u2019s national currency has dropped about 13% since early January this year, having steadily declined ever since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. As of mid-February, one US dollar was worth about 570,000 rials (\u20ac12.51). Back on 29 January this year, the rial had hit an 11-month low, with one dollar being worth about 582,500 rials. \n\nHowever, despite this sustained and very glaring devaluation, it looks like Iran may be more comfortable burying its head in the sand when it comes to global currency rates. The Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, as reported by Iran International, recently said \u201cwe certainly do not recognize the free market exchange rate officially.\u201d \n\nInstead it only recognises the lower government rate set by the Iran Center for Exchange as the official rate. Since 6 October 2023, this figure increased about 4.1%, with one dollar being equivalent to about 429,210 rials by the end of January. \n\nThe government also insists that the strategies it has employed so far to keep the rial afloat in the international currency market are working, although evidence seems to be pointing otherwise. \n\nSince foreign currency at the lower government rate is very scarcely available, most people have been forced to turn to the black market in order to stock up on US dollars. This comes with its own set of risks though, as the Iranian government has now cracked down on several transactions, labelling them as unauthorised. These include exchanges made virtually. \n\nExchange offices in Iran\u2019s capital, Tehran, are also not allowed to share rates with the public, nor are they allowed to sell foreign currency to the public. Iranians also face some restrictions on the transfer of rials from domestic bank accounts. \n\nRising worries of US-Iran conflict could further deflate rial \n\nEver since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Iran has faced more international criticism, due to the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebel group attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. Ships of several countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, UK, South Korea, US and more have been struck. The Houthis have revealed that this is in protest of Israel\u2019s actions in Palestine. \n\nThis has led to prominent shipping companies such as Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Hapag Lloyd announcing that they would be temporarily pausing their journeys through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. In some cases, this has also involved going around the African continent. \n\nThere are also speculations of Iran supporting Hamas, as well as other Palestinian resistance groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). \n\nHowever, following a Houthi attack on a US military base in Jordan on 28 January, speculations of a US-Iran direct conflict have been increasing. This has led to an atmosphere of considerable unrest and turmoil in Iran. If the tensions between these two countries escalate further, the rial may potentially deteriorate further. \n\nHowever, Iranian government officials continue to maintain that the devaluation is mainly due to illegal currency brokers. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran\u2019s national currency has dropped about 13% since early January this year, having steadily declined ever since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. As of mid-February, one US dollar was worth about 570,000 rials (\u20ac12.51). Back on 29 January this year, the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//01//29//irans-currency-tumbles-as-tensions-escalate-in-the-middle-east/">rial had hit an 11-month low, with one dollar being worth about 582,500 rials.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite this sustained and very glaring devaluation, it looks like Iran may be more comfortable burying its head in the sand when it comes to global currency rates. The Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, as reported by Iran International, recently said \u201cwe certainly do not recognize the free market exchange rate officially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead it only recognises the lower government rate set by the Iran Center for Exchange as the official rate. Since 6 October 2023, this figure increased about 4.1%, with one dollar being equivalent to about 429,210 rials by the end of January.<\/p>\n<p>The government also insists that the strategies it has employed so far to keep the rial afloat in the international currency market are working, although evidence seems to be pointing otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>Since foreign currency at the lower government rate is very scarcely available, most people have been forced to turn to the black market in order to stock up on US dollars. This comes with its own set of risks though, as the Iranian government has now cracked down on several transactions, labelling them as unauthorised. These include exchanges made virtually.<\/p>\n<p>Exchange offices in Iran\u2019s capital, Tehran, are also not allowed to share rates with the public, nor are they allowed to sell foreign currency to the public. Iranians also face some restrictions on the transfer of rials from domestic bank accounts.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8269670,8267246\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//02//26//us-diesel-exports-to-europe-see-slide-in-february/">US diesel exports to Europe see slide in February<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//business//2024//02//27//eib-president-backs-nuclear-power-as-she-outlines-new-vision/">EIB president backs nuclear power as she outlines new vision<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Rising worries of US-Iran conflict could further deflate rial<\/h2><p>Ever since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Iran has faced more international criticism, due to the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebel group attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. Ships of several countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, UK, South Korea, US and more have been struck. The Houthis have revealed that this is in protest of Israel\u2019s actions in Palestine.<\/p>\n<p>This has led to prominent shipping companies such as Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Hapag Lloyd announcing that they would be temporarily pausing their journeys through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. In some cases, this has also involved going around the African continent.<\/p>\n<p>There are also speculations of Iran supporting Hamas, as well as other Palestinian resistance groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).<\/p>\n<p>However, following a Houthi attack on a US military base in Jordan on 28 January, speculations of a US-Iran direct conflict have been increasing. This has led to an atmosphere of considerable unrest and turmoil in Iran. If the tensions between these two countries escalate further, the rial may potentially deteriorate further.<\/p>\n<p>However, Iranian government officials continue to maintain that the devaluation is mainly due to illegal currency brokers.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1709041585,"updatedAt":1709049517,"publishedAt":1709049478,"firstPublishedAt":1709049477,"lastPublishedAt":1709049517,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.","altText":"Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes and foreign currencies are displayed by a vendor at a commercial district in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes and foreign currencies are displayed by a vendor at a commercial district in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/27\/04\/34\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2cefbcc6-58cb-5670-8a9b-f3b061d68d5a-8270434.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"lahiri","twitter":null,"title":"Indrabati Lahiri"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie","titleRaw":"currency depreciation","id":28344,"title":"currency depreciation","slug":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie"},{"urlSafeValue":"foreign-exchange-market","titleRaw":"Foreign exchange market","id":11077,"title":"Foreign exchange market","slug":"foreign-exchange-market"},{"urlSafeValue":"us-iran-crisis","titleRaw":"US-Iran crisis","id":22392,"title":"US-Iran crisis","slug":"us-iran-crisis"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"related"}],"related":[{"id":2487896},{"id":2487410}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"markets","urlSafeValue":"markets","title":"Markets","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/markets\/markets"},"vertical":"business","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"business","id":11,"title":"Business","slug":"business"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":11,"slug":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"markets","id":"markets","title":"Markets","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/markets"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":74,"urlSafeValue":"markets","title":"Markets"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_busfin','gs_science','gs_science_geography','gs_busfin_economy','gs_busfin_economy_currencies','neg_meta_oct23_eng','gs_politics','gs_economy_misc','neg_saudiaramco','shadow9hu7_pos_ukrainecrisis','neg_bucherer','gt_negative','gt_negative_anger','gs_politics_issues_policy','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','gv_military','gb_crime_edu','gb_crime_high_med_low'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"Iran refuses to recognise national currency\u2019s fall in free markets","path":"\/business\/2024\/02\/27\/iran-refuses-to-recognise-national-currencys-fall-in-free-markets","lastModified":1709049517},{"id":2477594,"cid":8237450,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240213_NWSU_54792919","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Head of UN nuclear watchdog says Iran not being 'entirely transparent' about enrichment programme","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Head of UN nuclear watchdog says Iran not being 'entirely transparent'","titleListing2":"The warning comes two days after the military displayed a series of missiles at the Islamic Republic's 45th anniversary celebrations.","leadin":"The warning comes two days after the military displayed a series of missiles at the Islamic Republic's 45th anniversary celebrations.","summary":"The warning comes two days after the military displayed a series of missiles at the Islamic Republic's 45th anniversary celebrations.","keySentence":"","url":"head-of-un-nuclear-watchdog-says-iran-not-being-entirely-transparent-about-enrichment-prog","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/02\/13\/head-of-un-nuclear-watchdog-says-iran-not-being-entirely-transparent-about-enrichment-prog","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The head of the United Nations\u2019 nuclear watchdog warned on Tuesday that Iran is \u201cnot entirely transparent\u201d regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran\u2019s program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon \u201cin our hands.\u201d \n\nSpeaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, alluded to remarks made this weekend by Ali Akbar Salehi. \n\nIran is \u201cpresenting a face which is not entirely transparent when it comes to its nuclear activities. Of course this increases dangers,\u201d Grossi warned. \u201cThere\u2019s loose talk about nuclear weapons more and more, including in Iran recently. A very high official said, in fact, we have everything, it\u2019s disassembled. Well, please let me know what you have.\u201d \n\nGrossi did not identify the official. However, in a late night Iranian state television show on Sunday, Salehi appeared and said that the country had all it needed to build a weapon. \n\n\u201cWe have all the (pieces) of nuclear science and technology. Let me give an example,\u201d Salehi said. \u201cWhat does a car need? It needs a chassis, it needs an engine, it needs a steering wheel, it needs a gearbox. Have you made a gearbox? I say yes. An engine? But each one is for its own purpose.\u201d \n\nSalehi made a similar comment Saturday. \n\n\u201cWe have it in our hands,\u201d he said. \n\nThe warning from Grossi comes two days after the military displayed a series of missiles at the Islamic Republic's 45th anniversary celebrations. \n\n\nGrossi noted \u201can accumulation of complexities\u201d in the wider Middle East amid Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. \n\nSince the collapse of the 2015 deal with several world powers that allowed it to continue enriching uranium below a certain threshold, Iran has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. Tehran has accumulated enough enriched uranium to build several weapons, if it so chose.\u00a0 \n\nHowever, US intelligence agencies and others assess that Iran has yet to begin a full-blown weapons program. \n\nIsrael is widely agreed to be in possession of its own nuclear weapons, but pursues a policy of neither confirming nor denying the existence of such a programme. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The head of the United Nations\u2019 nuclear watchdog warned on Tuesday that Iran is \u201cnot entirely transparent\u201d regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran\u2019s program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon \u201cin our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, alluded to remarks made this weekend by Ali Akbar Salehi.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is \u201cpresenting a face which is not entirely transparent when it comes to its nuclear activities. Of course this increases dangers,\u201d Grossi warned. \u201cThere\u2019s loose talk about nuclear weapons more and more, including in Iran recently. A very high official said, in fact, we have everything, it\u2019s disassembled. Well, please let me know what you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grossi did not identify the official. However, in a late night Iranian state television show on Sunday, Salehi appeared and said that the country had all it needed to build a weapon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.703125\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//08//23//74//50//808x569_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg/" alt=\"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 11, 2023.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/384x270_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/640x450_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/750x527_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/828x582_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/1080x759_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/1200x844_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/1920x1350_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 11, 2023.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AP\/AP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have all the (pieces) of nuclear science and technology. Let me give an example,\u201d Salehi said. \u201cWhat does a car need? It needs a chassis, it needs an engine, it needs a steering wheel, it needs a gearbox. Have you made a gearbox? I say yes. An engine? But each one is for its own purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Salehi made a similar comment Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have it in our hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The warning from Grossi comes two days after the military displayed a series of missiles at the Islamic Republic's 45th anniversary celebrations. <\/p>\n<p>Grossi noted \u201can accumulation of complexities\u201d in the wider Middle East amid Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8201408\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//01//28//iran-launches-three-rockets-into-space-as-part-of-ballistic-missile-programme/">Iran launches three rockets into space as part of ballistic missile programme<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Since the collapse of the 2015 deal with several world powers that allowed it to continue enriching uranium below a certain threshold, Iran has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. Tehran has accumulated enough enriched uranium to build several weapons, if it so chose.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, US intelligence agencies and others assess that Iran has yet to begin a full-blown weapons program.<\/p>\n<p>Israel is widely agreed to be in possession of its own nuclear weapons, but pursues a policy of neither confirming nor denying the existence of such a programme.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1707830426,"updatedAt":1707844903,"publishedAt":1707837314,"firstPublishedAt":1707837318,"lastPublishedAt":1707837318,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Kamran Jebreili\/AP","altText":"UAE WGS IAEA Grossi - WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT - Dubai - 13 February 2024.","callToActionText":null,"width":4000,"caption":"UAE WGS IAEA Grossi - WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT - Dubai - 13 February 2024.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/60\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_78ffb680-f961-531e-977c-28e23cb4027f-8237460.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":2666},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/AP","altText":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 11, 2023.","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 11, 2023.","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/23\/74\/50\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_80ba644b-b0bf-5f38-b808-4c54f3545ad9-8237450.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":720}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"nuclear-energy","titleRaw":"Nuclear Energy","id":216,"title":"Nuclear 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IRAN NUCLEAR","path":"\/2024\/02\/13\/head-of-un-nuclear-watchdog-says-iran-not-being-entirely-transparent-about-enrichment-prog","lastModified":1707837318},{"id":2466364,"cid":8203650,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240129_ECSU_54659310","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran's currency tumbles as tensions escalate in the Middle East","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran's currency tumbles as tensions escalate in the Middle East","titleListing2":"Iran's currency tumbles as tensions escalate in the Middle East","leadin":"The rial lost 17% in the past four months in the free market against the US dollar, as Iran tackles inflation soaring above 40%.","summary":"The rial lost 17% in the past four months in the free market against the US dollar, as Iran tackles inflation soaring above 40%.","keySentence":"","url":"irans-currency-tumbles-as-tensions-escalate-in-the-middle-east","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/2024\/01\/29\/irans-currency-tumbles-as-tensions-escalate-in-the-middle-east","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The escalating risk of a direct military confrontation between the US and Iran is hitting the Middle Eastern country's economy hard: its currency the rial has been tumbling against the US dollar in recent months.\u00a0 \n\nThe intensification of attacks by Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East against US positions is fuelling these fears and putting increasing pressure on Iran's economy. \n\nThe rial has suffered a sharp devaluation on the free market, which is not officially recognised by the central bank.\u00a0 \n\nThe dollar was worth 498,000 rials in Tehran's free market on 6 October, a day before Hamas attacked Israel. As of the early afternoon of 29 January - a day after the deadly attack by Iran-backed Houthis on the US military base in Jordan - the rate reached 582,500 rials, which is the lowest rate in the past 11 months. \n\nMeanwhile, one euro stood at 630,500 rials on Monday, which is a historical record in the Tehran currency market. \n\n\nAnalysts believe that concerns about a direct military confrontation between Iran and the US have been the main influence on the 17% weakening of the rial in just a few months.\u00a0 \n\nIranian households are trying to squirrel away their savings by buying dollars while battling inflation, which was slightly above 40% in December 2023 and down from its peak of 55.5% in April.\u00a0 \n\nInflation has not been below 10% in Iran since 2018.\u00a0 \n\nHowever, the Central Bank of Iran has repeatedly said that it does not accept the exchange rate of the free market. The central bank considers the rate set by the Iran Center for Exchange to be official, which has increased by 4.1% since 6 October 2023 and reached 429,210 rials to the dollar. \n\nAccording to the law approved by the Iranian parliament two years ago, buying and selling foreign currencies in the free market is considered smuggling and is punishable.\u00a0 \n\nThe Central Bank of Iran has also prohibited the free sale of currency to the public by bureaux de change and has also restricted the transfer of rials from personal bank accounts. \n\nThe fear of a potential war has spilt from the currency market over the Tehran Stock Exchange too, whose index (TEDPIX) lost around 1% by early Monday afternoon and more than 4% altogether in the past 40 days. \n\nMeanwhile, government officials in Iran continue to claim that the turmoil in the financial markets is down to the activity of illegal currency brokers on social media and keep reassuring the public that things will settle soon. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The escalating risk of a direct military confrontation between the US and Iran is hitting the Middle Eastern country's economy hard: its currency the rial has been tumbling against the US dollar in recent months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The intensification of attacks by Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East against US positions is fuelling these fears and putting increasing pressure on Iran's economy.<\/p>\n<p>The rial has suffered a sharp devaluation on the free market, which is not officially recognised by the central bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div\n data-stories-id=\"8202218,8201996\"\n data-event=\"widget_related\"\n class=\"widget widget--type-related widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <ul class=\"widget__related_list\"><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//01//29//iran-denies-involvement-in-drone-strike-as-biden-says-us-must-respond/">Iran denies involvement in drone strike as Biden says US 'must respond'<\/a> <\/li><li class=\"widget__related_listItem\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2024//01//28//three-americans-killed-many-wounded-in-drone-attack-by-iran-backed-militia-in-jordan/">Three Americans killed, 'many' wounded in drone attack by Iran-backed militia in Jordan<\/a> <\/li><\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The dollar was worth 498,000 rials in Tehran's free market on 6 October, a day before Hamas attacked Israel. As of the early afternoon of 29 January - a day after the deadly attack by Iran-backed Houthis on the US military base in Jordan - the rate reached 582,500 rials, which is the lowest rate in the past 11 months.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, one euro stood at 630,500 rials on Monday, which is a historical record in the Tehran currency market. <\/p>\n<p>Analysts believe that concerns about a direct military confrontation between Iran and the US have been the main influence on the 17% weakening of the rial in just a few months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iranian households are trying to squirrel away their savings by buying dollars while battling inflation, which was slightly above 40% in December 2023 and down from its peak of 55.5% in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Inflation has not been below 10% in Iran since 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-flourish widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart u-min-height-375\" data-src=\"visualisation\/16230605?92060\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>However, the Central Bank of Iran has repeatedly said that it does not accept the exchange rate of the free market. The central bank considers the rate set by the Iran Center for Exchange to be official, which has increased by 4.1% since 6 October 2023 and reached 429,210 rials to the dollar.<\/p>\n<p>According to the law approved by the Iranian parliament two years ago, buying and selling foreign currencies in the free market is considered smuggling and is punishable.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Central Bank of Iran has also prohibited the free sale of currency to the public by bureaux de change and has also restricted the transfer of rials from personal bank accounts.<\/p>\n<p>The fear of a potential war has spilt from the currency market over the Tehran Stock Exchange too, whose index (TEDPIX) lost around 1% by early Monday afternoon and more than 4% altogether in the past 40 days.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, government officials in Iran continue to claim that the turmoil in the financial markets is down to the activity of illegal currency brokers on social media and keep reassuring the public that things will settle soon.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1706534907,"updatedAt":1706539931,"publishedAt":1706539926,"firstPublishedAt":1706539931,"lastPublishedAt":1706539931,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Vahid Salemi\/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu","altText":"A street money exchanger poses for a photo without showing his face as he counts foreign banknotes in Ferdowsi street, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, Iran","callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":"A street money exchanger poses for a photo without showing his face as he counts foreign banknotes in Ferdowsi street, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, Iran","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/20\/36\/50\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_b13c1fea-9beb-5da1-add8-98d03c0ccb78-8203650.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"urlSafeValue":"shamdanihagh","twitter":null,"title":"Ali Shamdanihagh"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie","titleRaw":"currency depreciation","id":28344,"title":"currency depreciation","slug":"depreciation-de-la-monnaie"},{"urlSafeValue":"cryptocurrency","titleRaw":"cryptocurrency","id":12822,"title":"cryptocurrency","slug":"cryptocurrency"},{"urlSafeValue":"inflation","titleRaw":"Inflation","id":150,"title":"Inflation","slug":"inflation"},{"urlSafeValue":"middle-east","titleRaw":"Middle East","id":11950,"title":"Middle East","slug":"middle-east"},{"urlSafeValue":"israel-hamas-war","titleRaw":"Israel Hamas war","id":29226,"title":"Israel Hamas war","slug":"israel-hamas-war"},{"urlSafeValue":"stock-market-activity","titleRaw":"Stock market activity","id":11089,"title":"Stock market activity","slug":"stock-market-activity"}],"widgets":[{"count":1,"slug":"related"},{"count":1,"slug":"flourish"}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"economy","urlSafeValue":"economy","title":"Economy","online":0,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/economy\/economy"},"vertical":"business","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"business","id":11,"title":"Business","slug":"business"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":11,"slug":"business","urlSafeValue":"business","title":"Business"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"economy","id":"economy","title":"Economy","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/business\/economy"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":72,"urlSafeValue":"economy","title":"Economy"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','gb_safe_from_high','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','pos_ukraine-russia','gs_busfin','gb_death_injury_high_med','gb_death_injury_high_med_low','gb_death_injury_news-ent','gs_economy','gs_busfin_economy','gs_economy_misc','neg_nespresso','neg_saudiaramco','gs_science','gs_science_geography','gv_death_injury','gs_busfin_economy_currencies','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook','gv_military','gs_personalfin_banking','gt_negative'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"BUSINESS - Iran currency","path":"\/business\/2024\/01\/29\/irans-currency-tumbles-as-tensions-escalate-in-the-middle-east","lastModified":1706539931},{"id":2465590,"cid":8201408,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"240128_NWSU_54650051","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":3},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12},{"id":14}],"status":2,"title":"Iran launches three rockets into space as part of ballistic missile programme","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Iran launches three rockets into space as part of missile programme","titleListing2":"\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf7 Iran launches three rockets into space as part of ballistic missile programme","leadin":"Analysis of the footage showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran\u2019s rural Semnan province.","summary":"Analysis of the footage showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran\u2019s rural Semnan province.","keySentence":"","url":"iran-launches-three-rockets-into-space-as-part-of-ballistic-missile-programme","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2024\/01\/28\/iran-launches-three-rockets-into-space-as-part-of-ballistic-missile-programme","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket that had multiple failures in the past, the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles. \n\nThe launch comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel\u2019s continued war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sparking fears of a regional conflict. \n\nWhile Iran has not intervened militarily in the conflict, it has faced increased pressure within its theocracy for action after a deadly Islamic State suicide bombing earlier this month and as proxy groups like Yemen's Houthi rebels conduct attacks linked to the war. Meanwhile, Western nations remain worried about Iran's rapidly expanding nuclear program. \n\nFootage released by Iranian state television showed a nighttime launch for the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis of the footage showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran\u2019s rural Semnan province. \n\n\u201cThe roar of the Simorgh (rocket) resonated in our country\u2019s sky and infinite space,\" said Abbas Rasooli, a state TV reporter, in the footage. \n\nState TV named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1. It described the Mahda as a research satellite, while the Kayhan and the Hatef were nanosatellites focused on global positioning and communication respectively. Iran's Information and Communications Technology Minister Isa Zarepour said the Mahda had already sent signals back to Earth. \n\nThere have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a satellite-carrying rocket. The Simorgh, or \u201cPhoenix,\u201d rocket failures have been part of a series of setbacks in recent years for Iran's civilian space program, including fatal fires and a launchpad rocket explosion that drew the attention of former U.S. President Donald Trump. \n\nThe footage showed the rocket launched Sunday bore the slogan \u201cWe Can\" in Farsi, likely referring to the previous failures. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Iran said Sunday it successfully launched three satellites into space with a rocket that had multiple failures in the past, the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n<p>The launch comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel\u2019s continued war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sparking fears of a regional conflict.<\/p>\n<p>While Iran has not intervened militarily in the conflict, it has faced increased pressure within its theocracy for action after a deadly Islamic State suicide bombing earlier this month and as proxy groups like Yemen's Houthi rebels conduct attacks linked to the war. Meanwhile, Western nations remain worried about Iran's rapidly expanding nuclear program.<\/p>\n<p>Footage released by Iranian state television showed a nighttime launch for the Simorgh rocket. An Associated Press analysis of the footage showed that it took place at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran\u2019s rural Semnan province.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe roar of the Simorgh (rocket) resonated in our country\u2019s sky and infinite space,\" said Abbas Rasooli, a state TV reporter, in the footage.<\/p>\n<p>State TV named the launched satellites Mahda, Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1. It described the Mahda as a research satellite, while the Kayhan and the Hatef were nanosatellites focused on global positioning and communication respectively. Iran's Information and Communications Technology Minister Isa Zarepour said the Mahda had already sent signals back to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, a satellite-carrying rocket. The Simorgh, or \u201cPhoenix,\u201d rocket failures have been part of a series of setbacks in recent years for Iran's civilian space program, including fatal fires and a launchpad rocket explosion that drew the attention of former U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The footage showed the rocket launched Sunday bore the slogan \u201cWe Can\" in Farsi, likely referring to the previous failures.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1706438494,"updatedAt":1706453800,"publishedAt":1706453798,"firstPublishedAt":1706453800,"lastPublishedAt":1706453800,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Associatd Press","altText":"This photo released by the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, claims to show Simorgh, or \"Phoenix,\" satellite carrier before being launched","callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"caption":"This photo released by the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, claims to show Simorgh, or \"Phoenix,\" satellite carrier before being launched","url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/20\/14\/08\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_bb5a05c5-0cac-5588-81a0-6bc467a68d6f-8201408.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":900},{"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP\/Iranian Defense Ministry","altText":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1024,"caption":null,"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/20\/14\/06\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_33df8db1-d70b-573e-972a-8a45eee0290a-8201406.jpg","captionUrl":null,"height":683}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"urlSafeValue":"iran","titleRaw":"Iran","id":153,"title":"Iran","slug":"iran"},{"urlSafeValue":"satellite","titleRaw":"satellite","id":13236,"title":"satellite","slug":"satellite"},{"urlSafeValue":"space-technology","titleRaw":"Space technology","id":9689,"title":"Space technology","slug":"space-technology"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":2460060},{"id":2479780},{"id":2489608}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"endDate":0,"startDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"Associated Press","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"world news","online":1,"url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"vertical":"news","verticals":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":1,"title":"News","slug":"news"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"urlSafeValue":"news","id":"news","title":"World","url":"\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":12,"urlSafeValue":"asia","title":"Asia"},"country":{"id":153,"urlSafeValue":"iran","title":"Iran","url":"\/news\/asia\/iran"},"town":[],"grapeshot":"'gv_safe','gb_safe','gb_safe_from_high','gb_safe_from_high_med','gs_science','gs_science_geography','gs_science_chemistry','gs_science_misc'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"daletEventName":"WEB IRAN SATELLITE LAUNCH","path":"\/2024\/01\/28\/iran-launches-three-rockets-into-space-as-part-of-ballistic-missile-programme","lastModified":1706453800}]"
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