Pro-Reform Iranian Religious Leader Dies Aged 83

Yousef Saanei
Yousef Saanei
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Pro-Reform Iranian Religious Leader Dies Aged 83

Yousef Saanei
Yousef Saanei

Iran´s state-run IRNA news agency on Saturday reported that a pro-reform religious leader, who sided with an opposition presidential candidate during the turmoil following the controversial 2009 elections, has died. He was 83.

Ayatollah Yousef Saanei died in a hospital in the holy city of Qom after being hospitalized for two days with a broken hip and wrist, IRNA said.

In 2009, Saanei had supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and criticized hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who beat Mousavi in that year's disputed elections. Mousavi's electoral defeat led to the widespread Green Movement protests, which were put down by Iranian security forces.

That year, some opposition websites quoted Saanei as saying, "Ahmadinejad is not the president and cooperation with him is haram (forbidden by Islamic law)."

Many religious hard-liners in Iran isolated Saanei because of the positions he staked out after the 2009 elections. The Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom stripped him of his authority to issue religious edicts, and his website was blocked a year later.

Saanei also supported Iran's current Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate within the country's political system, during his successful 2013 presidential run. Many members of Rouhani's Cabinet visited Saanei after taking office.



Russia Urges US, UK to Restrain Ukraine after Attacks on Bombers

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Russia Urges US, UK to Restrain Ukraine after Attacks on Bombers

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 28, 2025. Mauro Pimentel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Moscow said on Wednesday that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia and accused the West of being involved in them, Reuters reported.

Russia also urged the United States and Britain to restrain Kyiv after the attacks, which Ukrainian officials have lauded as showing Kyiv can still fight back after more than three years of war.

British and US officials have said they had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's attacks on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at military bases over the weekend.

Ukraine also tried to blow up a rail and road link with Crimea on Tuesday, and Russia says Kyiv blew up a highway bridge over a passenger train late on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said the risk of escalation from the war "going way up" after the attacks on the nuclear-capable bombers. A week earlier, Trump rebuked Russian President Vladimir Putin over a fierce aerial attack on Ukraine.

"We urge London and Washington to react in such a way as to stop further escalation," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees relations with the US and arms control, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

"All options are on the table," Ryabkov said, when asked what Russia's response to Ukraine's attacks would be. "This is a question for our military."

Russia and the US together hold about 88% of all nuclear weapons.

Asked whether Russia thought the West was involved in the recent attacks, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the West supplied weapons, gave target coordinates, refused to condemn such attacks and actively incited them.

"These are several areas that prove the fact of the involvement, both direct and indirect, and the guilt of the West for the terrorist attacks that are taking place against civilians and civilian infrastructure facilities by the Kyiv regime," Zakharova said.

Kyiv has not commented on the bridge attacks. Each side has accused the other of carrying out acts of terrorism during the conflict and each blames the other for a lack of progress at peace talks.

Trump was not informed in advance of Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. A British government official said the government was not informed ahead of time.