Khamenei Calls for Overhaul of Iran’s Cultural System 

A woman walks after the morality police shut down in a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks after the morality police shut down in a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Khamenei Calls for Overhaul of Iran’s Cultural System 

A woman walks after the morality police shut down in a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A woman walks after the morality police shut down in a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday called for "revolutionary reconstruction of the country's cultural system", state media reported, as nationwide protests kept up pressure on the authorities. 

"It is necessary to revolutionize the country's cultural structure... the supreme council should observe the weaknesses of culture in different fields of the country," Khamenei said during his meeting with a state cultural council. 

Iran has been rocked by unrest since the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in police custody after her arrest for “inappropriate Islamic attire”. 

The demonstrations have posed one of the strongest challenges to the republic since the 1979 revolution. 



Zelenskiy Says Ukraine's Membership of NATO is 'Achievable'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
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Zelenskiy Says Ukraine's Membership of NATO is 'Achievable'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

Ukraine's membership of NATO is "achievable", but Kyiv will have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech on Sunday.
Ukraine has repeatedly urged NATO to invite Kyiv to become a member. The Western military alliance has said Ukraine will join its ranks one day but has not set a date or issued an invitation.
Moscow has cited the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as one of the principal justifications for its 2022 invasion. Kyiv says membership in the Western alliance's mutual defense pact, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, would be crucial to any peace plan to ensure that Russia does not attack again.
"We all understand that Ukraine's invitation to NATO and membership in the alliance can only be a political decision," Zelenskiy told diplomats at a gathering in Kyiv. "Alliance for Ukraine is achievable, but it is achievable only if we fight for this decision at all the necessary levels."
Zelenskiy said allies needed to know what Ukraine can bring to NATO and how its membership in the alliance would stabilize global relations, Reuters reported.
Last week, Zelenskiy urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends and said Ukraine would ultimately need more protection through membership of the alliance.