https://www.scmp.com/rss/525456/feed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is the third and incumbent supreme leader of Iran. The son of Ali Khamenei, he rose to Iran's highest post after his father was killed in air strikes by the US and Israel on February 28, 2026. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press The role of Israel’s hijacking of Iran’s street cameras in the killing of the country’s supreme leader underscores how surveillance systems are increasingly being targeted by adversaries in wartime. Hundreds of millions of cameras have been installed above shops, in homes and on street corners across the world, many connected to the internet and poorly secured. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have enabled militaries and intelligence agencies to sift through vast amounts of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347633/iran-built-camera-network-control-dissent-israel-made-it-targeting-tool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347633/iran-built-camera-network-control-dissent-israel-made-it-targeting-tool?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:34:02 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Japan’s top government spokesperson said on Monday that one of two Japanese nationals detained in Iran has safely returned home in good health. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara’s confirmation came one day after Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the person’s release. Motegi, speaking on a Fuji Television talk show on Sunday, said the person had been detained since last year and was released on Wednesday. He said the person took a flight from Azerbaijan. Kihara, at a regular press... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3347582/japanese-national-back-home-after-iran-detention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3347582/japanese-national-back-home-after-iran-detention?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:09:56 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A 19-year-old star wrestler and two other young men were hanged in Iran this week, raising alarm among rights groups that a wave of executions may be under way as authorities facing relentless attacks from the US and Israel seek to squelch public dissent. The three men are the first to be executed from among the tens of thousands who were arrested during a January crackdown on nationwide protests. Rights groups say more than 100 others could face death sentences. The wrestler, Saleh Mohammadi,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347426/iran-hangs-3-young-men-rights-groups-raise-alarm-multiple-executions-could-follow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347426/iran-hangs-3-young-men-rights-groups-raise-alarm-multiple-executions-could-follow?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 09:40:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards, has emerged as the highest-profile political figure in the Islamic Republic after the killing of its leaders. A pillar of the Iranian establishment for some three decades and one of the Islamic republic’s most prominent non-clerical figures, Ghalibaf, 64, now appears to be playing a key role spearheading the war effort. Whereas the son and successor of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347261/irans-parliament-speaker-emerges-key-figure-war-after-assassinations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347261/irans-parliament-speaker-emerges-key-figure-war-after-assassinations?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 05:24:41 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran. “On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict,” Pope Leo said. “Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace that the people are waiting for.” Pope Leo did not cite the United States... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346681/cease-fire-pope-leo-demands-end-middle-east-war-urging-those-responsible-talk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346681/cease-fire-pope-leo-demands-end-middle-east-war-urging-those-responsible-talk?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:36:40 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Fatima Nazha slept on the street for two days after she and her family fled their home in Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli mass evacuation order. All of the schools the government turned into shelters were full, and the family could not afford a hotel or a flat, so she and her husband eventually moved into a tent in the country’s biggest stadium while their children and grandchildren found shelter near the southern coastal city of Sidon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346678/over-800000-lebanese-1-7-population-displaced-war-10-days?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346678/over-800000-lebanese-1-7-population-displaced-war-10-days?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:54:23 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with death, in a statement published on Sunday by Iran’s Fars and IRNA news agencies. Netanyahu would be pursued and killed, the IRGC statement said. The announcement followed mutual overnight attacks in the war between Iran, Israel and the United States. The current round of hostilities began when Israel and the US launched a large-scale offensive against Iran on February 28. Tehran... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346667/irans-revolutionary-guards-issue-death-threat-israels-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346667/irans-revolutionary-guards-issue-death-threat-israels-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 11:36:25 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg News of black rain falling on Tehran felt all too familiar to Nejat Rahmanian as he scrolled through alerts on social media feeds and tried to contact relatives on March 8. Israeli drone strikes hit giant oil depots and refineries on the outskirts of the Iranian capital a few hours earlier, setting fuel on fire and releasing columns of black smoke, which mixed with rain clouds that poured toxic chemicals onto the city later in the day. The descriptions reminded the Iranian researcher of a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346662/black-rain-iran-wars-toxic-pollution-will-spread-and-last-decades?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346662/black-rain-iran-wars-toxic-pollution-will-spread-and-last-decades?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 10:25:31 +0000 Xinmei Shen,Teresa Elena Frontado Xinmei Shen,Teresa Elena Frontado The Trump administration has sought to minimise the impact of the Strait of Hormuz’s effective closure while offering few details on how it might restore oil flows through the strategic waterway. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News aired on Friday, urging oil tankers to “show some guts.” Trump said Washington was still considering escorting ships through the strait but did not indicate whether a decision had been made. “We would do it... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346558/us-says-irans-new-supreme-leader-likely-wounded-dismisses-strait-hormuz-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346558/us-says-irans-new-supreme-leader-likely-wounded-dismisses-strait-hormuz-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 15:23:09 +0000 Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz, attack US bases and avenge the blood of its martyrs in his first statement since succeeding his father. US President Donald Trump responded with an insult and threat soon after. “The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” Mojtaba Khamenei said about the strategic waterway, which carries about a fifth of global oil shipments. Khamenei urged Iran’s Gulf neighbours to close US military bases in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346408/irans-mojtaba-khamenei-tells-gulf-nations-close-us-bases-war-rages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346408/irans-mojtaba-khamenei-tells-gulf-nations-close-us-bases-war-rages?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 14:05:21 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday. “I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel. He did not elaborate. State television had called... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346205/irans-new-supreme-leader-safe-despite-war-injury-reports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346205/irans-new-supreme-leader-safe-despite-war-injury-reports?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:47:43 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Iran has named a son of its late supreme leader as his successor. US President Donald Trump already had expressed disdain for Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him “unacceptable”. The Islamic Republic’s war strategy now has a new commander, and the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has pledged allegiance. Oil prices shot above US$100 a barrel. Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Bahrain accused Iran of hitting one of the desalination plants that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345933/where-things-stand-after-another-weekend-war-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345933/where-things-stand-after-another-weekend-war-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:39:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was chosen ⁠by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge. The clerical body named the 56-year-old mid-ranking cleric, who has survived the US-Israeli air war on Iran, as successor more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported. A member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video on Sunday... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345910/who-mojtaba-khamenei-son-and-successor-irans-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345910/who-mojtaba-khamenei-son-and-successor-irans-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 22:19:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above US$100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a front runner in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei’s successor. “By a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345907/tehran-indicates-khameneis-son-will-be-named-supreme-leader-israel-expands-iran-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345907/tehran-indicates-khameneis-son-will-be-named-supreme-leader-israel-expands-iran-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:39:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The death of Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after almost 37 years in power raises paramount questions about the country’s future. The contours of a complex succession process began to take shape the morning after Khamenei’s assassination. Here is what to know: A temporary leadership council assumes duties As outlined in its constitution, Iran on Sunday formed a council to assume leadership duties and govern the country. The council is made up of Iran’s sitting president, the head... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345004/khamenei-dead-who-will-be-irans-next-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345004/khamenei-dead-who-will-be-irans-next-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 03:29:32 +0000