Latest news with #AliKhamenei
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US hits Iranian shipping network with major new sanctions
The US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions for over 100 Iran-linked entities in move to place "maximum pressure" on the regime. The US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities, and vessels on Wednesday, in a sign that the Trump administration is doubling down on its "maximum pressure" campaign after bombing Tehran's key nuclear sites in June. The sanctions broadly target the shipping interests of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who is himself an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The US Treasury described the move as the most significant Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, during President Donald Trump's first administration. Shamkhani's shipping network According to the US Treasury, Shamkhani controls a vast network of container ships and tankers through a complex web of intermediaries that sell Iranian and Russian oil and other goods throughout the world. The Treasury Department accused Shamkhani of using personal connections and corruption in Tehran to generate tens of billions of dollars in profits, much of which is used to prop up the Iranian regime. This is a developing story.
Toronto Star
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
US and NATO allies warn of increasing Iranian threats in Europe, North America
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting with judiciary officials in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) VS flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Newsweek
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Iran Issues Update on Nuclear Enrichment
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country still has the experts, technology and equipment to restart uranium enrichment despite damage to its facilities. He confirmed in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper that Tehran had been preparing to activate a site near Isfahan when it was hit in U.S. strikes toward the end of the 12-day war with Israel. Araghchi said he did not know the location of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, which had been relocated before the U.S. military intervention ordered last month by President Donald Trump. Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for comment. Why It Matters Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program remain stalled following strikes by Israel and the United States. The bombing of key nuclear facilities has deepened Iran's mistrust of Washington and reinforced its resolve to continue enrichment. In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a ceremony commemorating military personnel, nuclear scientists and other... In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd during a ceremony commemorating military personnel, nuclear scientists and other people who were killed during Israeli airstrikes in June, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. More Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP What To Know "Buildings can be rebuilt. Machines can be replaced, because the technology is there. We have plenty of scientists and technicians who used to work in our facilities," Araghchi said. "But when and how we restart our enrichment depends on the circumstances." Western and Israeli officials said the strikes seriously damaged Iran's nuclear sites but did not destroy them, only delaying its program. Trump previously said the U.S. had hit and "completely obliterated" the fortified underground facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and for civilian energy use, but international observers believe the country has enriched uranium far beyond what is needed for non-nuclear purposes. "The President has said repeatedly that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek last week. Missing Uranium Stockpile Western officials are raising alarms over the disappearance of what the IAEA estimates is more than 400 kilograms—nearly 900 pounds—of enriched uranium, removed by Tehran during the conflict. After declaring Iran non-compliant with its safeguarding obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the IAEA later pulled out its inspectors following Iran's suspension of cooperation in response to the Israeli attacks. The global nuclear watchdog said that since 2019, Iran has failed to comply on "undeclared nuclear material" and activities at "multiple undeclared locations." Later, under growing diplomatic pressure from the West, the agency identified a planned uranium enrichment site near Isfahan, one of Iran's major nuclear hubs. Araghchi confirmed the site was struck by U.S. bombs last month. Trump said last week he would hit Iranian nuclear sites again "if necessary," repeating his warning to Tehran that it should abandon its uranium enrichment ambitions. Iran says its forces are ready to respond to any new attack. Iran Sets Conditions Araghchi said Tehran remained open to resuming talks with Washington, but only under certain conditions—Iran wants U.S. compensation for damage done to its facilities in June. "They should explain why they attacked us in the middle of negotiations, and they have to ensure that they are not going to repeat that," he told the FT. Iran and the U.S. held several talks in the weeks before the military conflict, and it is continuing talks with France, the U.K. and Germany following a recent meeting in Turkey. What People Are Saying Iran's Foreign Minster Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times on Thursday: "We can negotiate, they can present their argument, and we will present our own argument. But with zero enrichment, we don't have a thing." U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in Scotland on Monday: "We wiped out their nuclear possibilities. They can start again. If they do, we'll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it." A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Newsweek last week: "The Iranian leadership has a window of opportunity to choose a path of peace and prosperity for their people. We are ready to talk directly to the Iranians." What Happens Next Escalating threats and rising tensions with Iran could push the region closer to a renewed military confrontation.
Rudaw Net
a day ago
- Business
- Rudaw Net
Iran condemns US sanctions against energy, oil industries
Also in Iran President Barzani, Iranian delegation discuss bilateral ties, cross-border cooperation Three dead in natural park blaze in Iran's Kurdistan province: Watchdog Iran executes over 100 Kurds in 2025 amid post-war crackdown: Watchdog Tensions rise in Iranian parliament ahead of IAEA visit A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned a fresh wave of United States sanctions against the Islamic republic's petroleum industry as a 'blatant assault' on the Iranian people. The US State Department on Wednesday slapped sanctions on 20 entities involved in Iran's petroleum trade, as well 'five vessel management companies and a petroleum wholesale company for their involvement in the transport and purchase of Iranian petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products,' it said in a statement. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei condemned the sanctions as 'clear evidence of the hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian people.' 'The Iranian people, aware of malicious intentions of the aggressor sanctions, who have no goal other than to weaken Iran and violate the fundamental rights of every Iranian, will stand firm with all their might to protect their dignity and interests,' Baghaei said. He accused Washington of a 'chronis addiction' to unilateralism, further slamming the use of 'pressure tactics in pursuit of such illegitimate goals.' The sanctions entities include companies and vessels based in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, India, Comoros, and Gabon, according to the statement. On Wednesday, the US Treasury impose sanctions on a shipping fleet controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top political aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'The United States will continue to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime … until Iran accepts a deal that advances regional peace and security and in which Iran forgoes all aspirations for a nuclear weapon,' the State Department said. Washington on June 24 brokered a ceasefire to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later declared victory, claiming that US President Donald Trump had exaggerated the destruction caused by US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Under a 2015 deal with world powers - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions. But the deal began unraveling in 2018 when Washington, under President Donald Trump's first term, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, which in turn began rolling back on its nuclear commitments. Before the war with Israel, Iran had five rounds of Oman-mediated indirect nuclear talks with the US.
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
A century of western meddling in Iran
On 22 June this year, seven B2 Stealth bombers flew on a 37-hour round trip from bases in the US to drop 14 30,000lb bombs on two nuclear facilities in Iran. A third was attacked with cruise missiles fired from a submarine, possibly in the Persian Gulf. Few can say with any certainty how much damage was done to the Iranian nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes, but it is likely to have been considerable. Whether this will slow or accelerate Iran's effort to build a bomb is unclear. This massive demonstration of American firepower brought the brief 12-day war between Iran and Israel to a rapid close. Iran came off considerably worse than its adversary in the conflict, though you would not know it from the rhetoric of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader. One joke I heard in Israel in the days after the war's end was that the Iranians were entirely justified in celebrating a tremendous victory over 'the Zionist entity', as they had shown the world how they could destroy more than a dozen of the biggest bombs ever built with nothing more than two multi-billion-dollar nuclear plants. Scott Anderson's fine, thorough and gripping account of the early stages of the Iranian revolution is a useful read for anyone who wants to learn quite how and why relations deteriorated to such an extent with what was once a staunch, if sometimes independent-minded, ally of the West. Some accounts of the Iranian revolution – and there are many – do not bother overly with the deeper history of the country. This is not one, and Anderson covers much ground easily and elegantly. We learn of the rotten Qajar dynasty (1789-1925) and its failure to resist the depredations of imperial freebooters and powers, chiefly Britain. He then moves briskly on to Reza Shah Pahlavi, the uneducated, tough and efficacious cavalry officer who seized power in the 1920s and set about modernising the country in the usual style of military strongmen. Many of his expansive reforms, Anderson notes, caused great concern to Iran's conservative clergy, including a young, gifted scholar called Ruhollah Khomeini. Britain deposed Reza Shah during the second world war and installed his son, the slightly drippy Mohammad, on the throne. In 1953, the Americans – now the growing power in the region – schemed, along with the British, to save the young monarch from the populist prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who wanted to nationalise the country's oil industry in a coup that Iranians have never forgotten, as some sloganeering in Iran in June made clear. Anderson describes the growing megalomania and authoritarianism of 'the Shah', as he was soon known to the West, who conceived monstrously ambitious projects without the technical understanding or political skills to make them a success. Israel and the US assisted in setting up a frightening, though not always effective, security service. This helped protect Iran's ruler from growing unrest led by ideologically diverse figures including the charismatic and increasingly vocal Khomeini, whom he exiled to Iraq in the early 1960s. The Shah's 'White Revolution' – a bid to transform Iran's society and economy but not politics – led to massive change throughout that decade, turbocharged by vastly increased oil revenues in the early 1970s. But these fuelled inflation, a huge influx of rural poor into urban slums and fierce resentment of a corrupt, wealthy, westernised elite. For much of this period (and Anderson largely misses this in his otherwise fairly comprehensive account), the extreme left were the vanguard of opposition in Iran. The Shah spoke of the 'Red threat' and the 'Black threat' – the left and the religious reactionaries – but feared the former most. The communist party, Tudeh, had been weakened by decades of repression; but groups spawned in the heyday of the new left's revolutionary moment at the end of the 1960s waged a sometimes spectacular, if ineffectual, terrorist campaign against the Shah's rule throughout the 1970s. Some radical Iranian thinkers made a concerted effort to fuse Marxist-Leninist thought with Islamism. There was much that the two ideologies shared: binary thinking; an appeal to the downtrodden's desire for social justice; visceral anti-Americanism; and enemies such as imperialism, capitalism and Zionism. Ali Shariati, a key thinker, translated from French to Farsi the most celebrated text of Frantz Fanon, one of the foremost intellectuals of the anti-colonial movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Shariati turned Fanon's Les damnés de la terre into the mostazafin, 'the exploited' or 'miserable', a text which is still commonly used by the Iranian regime today. The Shah's security services crushed both leftist extremists and the Islamo-Marxists with relative ease. One reason was that support for these dissidents was largely restricted to the educated middle classes. When leftist militants tried to recruit in the miserable, conservative, overcrowded southern suburbs of Tehran where many rural immigrants now lived, they got nowhere. Repression, and the left's failures, aided the radical clerics led by Khomeini in their efforts to first co-opt and then crush the diverse coalition that resisted the Shah through street protests in 1978 and 1979. Anderson does an excellent job of narrating the extraordinary events of the revolution itself, drawing deft pictures of the protagonists, including the Shah's last hapless prime minister, the slightly absurd Francophile Shaphour Bakhtiar. He also interviewed the 86-ear-old former empress – who tried to the last to mitigate the consequences of her husband's increasingly wayward decisions – at her modest home in exile in the US. Anderson has dug deep into archives and published sources that cover the wilful blindness, inconsistency, hubris and ignorance that characterised US policy towards Iran in the years before 1979 and during the revolution itself. He has tracked down and interviewed many who were there, such as the mercurial and well-informed Michael Metrinko, a junior diplomat posted to Iran at the time, and other important players back in Washington. Anyone interested in the woeful roles of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon will find much here, and the missteps of Jimmy Carter are described both fairly and accurately. Some of this is familiar, but Anderson's diligent research and reporting brings much that is fresh too. Inevitably, however, the emphasis on the US perspective and on US actors leaves less space for the multiple Iranian ones, which is a loss. King of Kings winds up pretty much with the beginning of the hostage crisis of November 1979. This is a wise decision, and allows a satisfactory conclusion. Anderson does allow himself a rapid survey of the following years, which in fact saw a 'second revolution' as seismic as the first. Modern Iran is as much a product of the domestic conflict that succeeded the revolution and the bloody eight-year Iran-Iraq war as of earlier events. The period saw the radical clerics led by Khomeini cement their hold on power through the merciless destruction of all internal opposition, the building of a solid institutional structure for the new regime and the expansion of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This eventually led to the succession in 1989 of a new Supreme Leader, a relatively young, middle-ranking scholar who was committed to the revolutionary project, called Ali Khamenei. He remains in power today.
