Supreme Leader

Millions join funeral procession in capital of Tehran to mourn Khamenei who was kiled in US-Israel airstrikes in FebruaryGood morning, and welcome to the Middle East live blog.Today marks the start of a mass funeral procession for Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Continue reading...

Crowds grew as they moved through Tehran as mourners wore black and carried flags with the slogan ‘we will rise’A millions strong crowd assembled on Monday to take part in the funeral procession of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader.The scale, and depth of the march, however engineered, is an extraordinary turn around for a country that only seven months ago was gripped by street protests that saw thousands killed by government security forces. Many will say that the assembly was a monument to a misconceived war launched on Iran by Donald Trump in February. Continue reading...

Three sons of killed ayatollah were seen beside coffin during ceremonies drawing huge crowds in TehranThree sons of the former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed beside his coffin and those of ⁠four other family members ⁠on Sunday, but Mojtaba, ​the son who has succeeded him as Iran’s supreme leader, did not make an appearance.State TV showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying behind the coffins laid out in the ⁠vast courtyard of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla, a sprawling religious complex. In a show of public devotion to the theocratic state and revolutionary zeal, the country is staging a week of mass funeral processions ⁠for Khamenei, including taking his remains to Shia religious sites in neighbouring Iraq. Continue reading...

Up to 30 million people expected to attend delayed events for Ali Khamenei, killed at start of war with US and IsraelThe funeral of the former Iranian supreme leader has begun as the gates of the sprawling Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran let in thousands of mourners early morning who had been waiting through the night to enter the grounds.Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Ali Khamenei – whose ⁠37-year reign was brought ⁠to an ​end in February by the first airstrike of the war launched by the US and Israel. Continue reading...

Ceremony for Ali Khamenei intended to be epic display of national power. Plus, the expected wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce pays dividend to good causesGood morning. Final preparations are under way for Ali Khamenei’s six-day funeral. The farewell to the former supreme leader is expected to draw millions in Iran. Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack on the country in February, and the funeral is intended to be an epic display of personal mourning, national power, resilience and social cohesion.Iran’s first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, who is the lead funeral organiser, described the ceremony, which begins on Saturday in Tehran and will end with Khamenei’s burial on Thursday in Mashhad, as “the most important event of this century” and the most attended event since the 1979 revolution. The scale of the funeral has been conceived to relay political and religious messages of resistance to the rest of the world. At the request of Iraqi politicians, Khamenei’s body will also be carried through the Iraqi Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf.Will Ali Khamenei’s successor take part? Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, is not expected to make an appearance at his father’s funeral. He was severely injured in the same US-Israeli strike that killed his father and also killed Mojtaba’s wife and his 14-month-old daughter. The extent of Mojtaba’s injuries is unknown and he has so far issued only written statements, including one that distanced himself from the ceasefire negotiations but sanctioned their continuance. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, threatened to kill him this week, saying he was marked for death.Why is Trump so unhappy with Nato? Aside from the failure of countries such as the UK and France to join in with the US-Israeli war on Iran, Trump has long complained that Europe does not spend enough on defence. Under pressure from the US, Nato leaders agreed at a gathering last year to boost defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Continue reading...

• The US Supreme Court ruled that the president has the authority to fire leaders of independent agencies, overturning the 1935 landmark precedent *Humphrey’s Executor v United States*. • The decision stemmed from a legal challenge regarding the White House's March 2025 firing of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rebecca Slaughter. • This ruling significantly expands executive power by removing long-standing legal protections that limited presidential control over independent regulatory bodies.

Case focused on White House’s March 2025 firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca SlaughterUS supreme court decisions – live updatesSign up for the Breaking News US emailThe US supreme court ruled that Donald Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, ending 90 years of court precedent that curbs executive power.The vote in the case of Trump v Slaughter is 6-3, with dissents from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan. Continue reading...