Free Republic

Iran and Bolivia will "stick by each other" said hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, in comments sure to provoke concern in Washington. Ahmadinejad's statements came at a joint press conference with leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales in Tehran. He said the two government weren't interested in U.S. concerns about their close ties. "We will stick by each other's side and will be supportive of each other. (I) had extensive talks with Mr. Morales on this," he said. "The geographical distance between the two countries is long but our hearts, thoughts and wills are very close." Ahmadinejad also praised Morales...

As the Islamic government in Iran attempts to circle the wagons against the growing popular unrest, cracks within the top leadership itself have begun to appear. Deep divisions are opening up between President Ahmadinejad and some of his former supporters in the Majles (parliament). On Wednesday, a Majles panel implicated a senior official and Ahmadinejad ally, Saeed Mortazavi, for the murder of three detainees who were arrested during last summer’s protests. Rifts are also developing inside the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), pitting top IRGC generals against the supreme leader. A closed-door meeting last summer between nearly 100 generals and the supreme...

LONDON (Jan. 5) -- Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, likes to portray himself as a simple man of faith, interested only in spiritual -- not material -- wealth. But an exiled Iranian filmmaker says that behind this frugal front, Khamenei luxuriates in an opulent lifestyle supported by an ill-gained fortune of about $30 billion. Celebrated director and Iranian opposition spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf laid out his exhaustive evidence of Khamenei's highlife on his personal Web site (a translated version can be read here), after interviewing ex-Intelligence Ministry officials and former Khamenei household employees who have fled abroad. His sources...

A letter published on the Iranian websites claims that Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a possible escape to Russia.There were rumors floating around yesterday that Ayatollah Khamenei was preparing to flee Iran. Today Planet Iran posted a letter written on the official Islamic Regime letterhead that discusses Khamenei’s possible to escape to Russia. Iran Global website has exposed a document that discloses information on Khamenei and various authorities of the regime’s possible escape to Russia. The document is on the National Security Agency of the Islamic regime’s letterhead addressed from the office of the High Assembly of the Islamic Republic’s National...

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rebuffed President Obama’s latest outreach, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in American foreign policy. Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds the ultimate responsibility for Iranian policy decisions, was responding Saturday to a video message Mr. Obama released Friday in which he reached out to Iran on Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and expressed hopes for an improvement in nearly 30 years of strained relations. In his most direct public assessment of Mr. Obama and prospects for better ties, Ayatollah Khamenei said there could be no change between the countries...

Ali Larijani's resignation is a complete surprise, and very significant. As Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, he has been a key figure in attempts to broker a compromise with the West over Iran's nuclear programme. His departure could be the start of a major shift in policy. It is an open secret in Tehran that Mr Larijani has had big differences with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over how to proceed over the nuclear programme. Like almost everyone in Iran, Mr Larijani supports the programme. He is certainly no "liberal", even in Iranian terms. He stood for president at the last election, a...

Look behind the curtain of virtually every major problem in the Middle East, and you will find Iran: killings in Iraq; arms and money for Hezbollah's assaults on Israel and Hezbollah's attempts to usurp the elected government of Lebanon; support of Syria as the hotelier of the region's major terrorist groups; support and training of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and sleeper networks in countries beyond; promotion of a messianic revolutionary ideology that has deepened the Sunni-Shiite divide; the reckless seizure of 15 British sailors and marines as hostages; and defiance of the U.N. in pursuit of nuclear weapons. Only the...

Three days ago, Iran’s dictator, Supreme Leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei, was rushed to the vast medical facility traditionally known as “Vanak” hospital (it now has an Arabic name that means “the 12th Imam Hospital”), a 1,200-room facility that saves half of its beds for the leadership. Khamenei is known to be suffering from cancer, and taking considerable quantities of an opium-based pain killer. He has lost more than 17 pounds in the past ten months, and was told last spring that he was unlikely to see another New Year (In the Iranian calendar, the New Year begins at the end...

TEHRAN (MNA) –- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said here Friday that those who claim to have a liberal democracy seek to dominate the world with the help of science and technology as well as through their policies and propaganda campaigns. In a meeting with members of the Qom Theological School, the Supreme Leader called the seminary a "unique asset" for the country and stressed that this great asset should be protected through the formulation of a plan for the school's activities over the next 20 years in order to enhance the status of Islam...

TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a message of condolence for the martyrdom of Shiite Muslims in Karbala and Baghdad stressed that the U.S.-led occupation forces are to be held responsible for the massive disaster no matter who caused it. The Supreme Leader sent condolences to the three nations of Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, stressing that the people of Iraq should shun ethnic disputes and demand their inalienable human rights under the banner of religious leaders. Ayatollah Khamenei said the deadly attacks in Iraq and the Pakistani city of Quetta...

The US army came under renewed pressure on Wednesday over its conduct in a battle at the weekend in the central Iraqi town of Samarra, as Iran's senior religious leader accused the American forces of "a savage massacre" in which 54 locals were reportedly killed. The battle, in which US forces attempting to deliver new Iraqi currency to two Samarran banks were ambushed by a small force of insurgents - said by US officials to have been dressed as fighters from Saddam Hussein's fedayeen militia - has led to wildly differing accounts from American military officials and local witnesses. Hospital...

Filed at 7:04 p.m. ET TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Four student leaders who were arrested for organizing protests over a death sentence against a prominent university professor were released Wednesday but still face charges of endangering state security. Saeed Razavi, Abdollah Momeini, Mehdi Aminizadeh and Akbar Atri were ordered to appear Saturday before the hard-line Tehran Revolutionary Court for further questioning, Atri's brother, Morteza, told The Associated Press. In Washington, asked about the arrests in Iran and a ban on demonstrations, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the United States stands the quest by many Iranians ``for freedom, for civil...

TEHRAN -- The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here Monday called on officials to step up efforts to address people's problems, warning that if the three branches of the government fail to do so, he himself would intervene to mobilize the people to act on their own. Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with state authorities, called the three branches of government as the basic tools of the leadership in satisfying the supreme goals of the Islamic Revolution, promoting justice and fighting corruption and discrimination. He cautioned the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative to consider people's...