Ali Khamenei News

The U.S. military is deploying a large amphibious assault ship with thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, as Iran's new supreme leader hailed Iran's "unity" and "resistance".Reuters had reported that Washington, desperate to reopen the Gulf oil bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz, shut by Iran since the U.S. and Israel attacked almost three weeks ago, was considering deployments up to and including landings.Oil…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to escalate the war with Iran if it blocked oil shipments from the Middle East, even as he predicted a quick end to the conflict.Trump's warning came at the end of a day that saw global financial markets seesawing on concerns that Iran's security establishment was rallying behind new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and was not prepared to back down any time soon.Trump said the United States had inflicted serious damage on Iran's air force and navy and predicted the conflict would end well before the initial four-week time frame he had laid out…

Governments scrambled to limit the impact on economies and consumers from the widening Iran war, which fuelled a record surge in oil prices on Monday after key producers cut output and Tehran signalled that hardliners would remain in charge.In a sign of mounting governmental concern over supply disruptions, the Group of Seven finance ministers will discuss the possibility of a joint release of emergency oil reserves in a meeting on Monday, a French government source said.In South Korea…

Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, said on Friday it has temporarily suspended two services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt global supply chains.The Danish group said in a statement it would halt its FM1 service connecting the Far East to the Middle East and its ME11 service linking the Middle East to Europe"This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our personnel and vessels while minimizing operational disruption across our wider network," Maersk said in an advisory to custome

The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday, with no end in sight as Israel attacked Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah and Tehran kept up its missile and drone attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. military bases.U.S. President Donald Trump said the operation could continue for some weeks and that it was unclear who was in charge in Iran, following the targeted killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the U.S.-Israel campaign over the weekend.The attack on Iran has pitched the Gulf into war…

Oil surged 9% on Monday after retaliatory Iranian attacks disrupted shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz following the weekend's bombing by Israel and the United States that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.A sustained jump in prices would threaten a global economic recovery, spur inflation and could push up U.S. retail gasoline prices, a risky result for President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections this November.The price surge on the restart of trading after the weekend…

Britain sanctioned an Iranian oil magnate and four companies on Thursday, saying they are part of a network that supports Tehran's overseas activities, including "destabilisation" in Ukraine and Israel.The sanctions include an asset freeze and travel ban on Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, and an asset freeze on companies in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors, the Foreign Office said."Iran's reliance on revenues from trading networks and connected organisations enables it to carry out its destabilising activities…

The U.S. Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Wednesday on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels, in a sign 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 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The U.S. Treasury said it was the most significant Iran-related sanctions action since 2018…

Iran and Israel accused each other of endangering commercial activity in sea lanes around the Gulf and the Red Sea at the UN's shipping agency on Wednesday, as their military conflict escalated.Iran's delegation told a session of the International Maritime Organization's security committee that Israel had in recent days extended its "unlawful attacks" to include petrochemical and gas infrastructure in Asalouyeh along Iran's Gulf coast."These actions directly endanger international maritime security and the global energy supply chain…

Commercial ships are sailing close to Oman and are being advised by maritime agencies to avoid Iran's waters around the Strait of Hormuz, with the risk of the conflict between Israel and Iran escalating, shipping sources said on Wednesday.Iran has in the past threatened to close the critical Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Any closure of the strait could restrict trade and affect global oil prices.In the latest measure, ships sailing towards Hormuz…

Iran and Israel accused each other of endangering commercial activity in sea lanes around the Gulf and the Red Sea at the UN's shipping agency on Wednesday, as their military conflict escalated.Iran's delegation told a session of the International Maritime Organization's security committee that Israel had in recent days extended its "unlawful attacks" to include petrochemical and gas infrastructure in Asalouyeh along Iran's Gulf coast."These actions directly endanger international maritime security and the global energy supply chain…

Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, expanding its confrontation with Iran's allies in the region two days after killing the Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an escalating conflict in Lebanon.The airstrikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah were in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel in recent days, Israel said, amid fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and Israel's main ally the United States.The Houthi-run…

Iran said on Wednesday the United States had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran's oil and shipping but Washington said "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" in talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.The remarks by outgoing President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi echoed previous assertions by officials in Rouhani's pragmatist camp that Washington is ready to make major concessions at the nuclear talks in Vienna that began in April.The indirect talks adjourned on Sunday for consultations in capitals…

This article will focus on “comprehensive sanctions,” which prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country, with a particular focus on three countries currently targeted by comprehensive sanctions: Iran, Syria and North Korea. Similar jurisdictions which are subject to varying levels of comprehensive sanctions, including Cuba, the Crimea region (Russia/Ukraine) and Venezuela (which may be thought of as subject to “quasi-comprehensive” sanctions) will be dealt with an article later in this series.IranHistory of Iran sanctions: The first U.S.

Iran could send two to three cargoes a month in regular gasoline sales to ally Venezuela, sources say, helping offload domestic oversupply but risking retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump who has sanctions on both nations.Iran has since April sent five tankers totalling about 1.5 million barrels to the leftist government of fuel-starved Venezuela, though the shipments have done little to alleviate hours-long lines at gas stations.The Trump administration, which is seeking both to block Iran's energy trade and bring down Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has threatened reprisals and warned ports, shipping companies and insurers against facilitating the tankers.But Tehran plans to keep up the shipments…

If Iran's oil exports are cut to zero, international waterways will not have the same security as before, its president said on Wednesday, cautioning Washington against upping pressure on Tehran in an angry confrontation between the longtime foes.The comment by President Hassan Rouhani coincided with a remark by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Tehran might act "unpredictably" in response to "unpredictable" U.S. policies under President Donald Trump."World powers know that in the case that oil is completely sanctioned and Iran's oil exports are brought down to zero…

U.S. officials say they are unsure whether an oil tanker towed into Iranian waters was seized by Iran or rescued after facing mechanical faults as Tehran asserts, creating a mystery at sea at a time of high tension in the Gulf.The MT Riah disappeared from ship tracking maps when its transponder was switched off in the Strait of Hormuz on July 14. Its last position was off the coast of the Iranian island of Qeshm in the strait.Iran says it towed a vessel into its waters from the strait after the ship issued a distress call. Although Tehran did not name the vessel, the Riah is the only ship whose recorded movements appear likely to match that description.A U.S.

Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent but saying he was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues.News of the message, delivered through Oman overnight, came shortly after the New York Times said Trump had approved military strikes against Iran on Friday over the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but called them off at the last minute."In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues," one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of…

Iran's navy on Saturday launched a domestically made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth properties, as tensions rise with arch-enemy, the United States.In a ceremony carried live on state television, the Sahand destroyer -- which can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply -- joined Iran's regular navy at a base in Bandar Abbas on the Gulf.The Sahand has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities, state television reported.U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders on Sunday the United States had created the "myth" of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week. Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, has supported the talks but continues to express deep mistrust of the United States. "They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself, with its unrestrained, destabilising interventions," Khamenei said in a televised address to a hall of several hundred military commanders. "The other side is methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily ...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for curbs on the state's involvement in business and an end to Tehran's international isolation on Sunday to help rescue an economy hurt by sanctions, corruption and mismanagement. His appeal in a speech to 1,500 economists appeared to be critical of hardliners who oppose his efforts to deliver Iran from years of erratic economic management by the previous administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Our economy will not prosper as long as it is monopolised (by the government). The economy must be rid of monopoly and see competition," he said. "It must be freed of insider speculation, be transparent, all people must be aware of the statistics.

Two years after Iran pledged to open up its oil industry in anticipation of the lifting of sanctions, foreign companies say they still have little information about Iranian oil fields and contract terms, hindering investment decisions. Bosses from oil majors including BP, Total, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell and LUKOIL have all travelled to Tehran this year, since the EU sanctions ended in January. Their teams spent weeks meeting local officials ahead of investment tenders due to start next month. But several senior executives and members of their negotiating teams told Reuters they still had not been given sufficient information about the geology of Iranian fields or contract terms.