Khamenei Officially Endorses Pezeshkian as Iran's President

A handout picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei office shows, Khamenei (C), as he delivers the official endorsement letter to president elect Masoud Pezeshikan during the new president endorsement ceremony on July 28, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei office shows, Khamenei (C), as he delivers the official endorsement letter to president elect Masoud Pezeshikan during the new president endorsement ceremony on July 28, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
TT

Khamenei Officially Endorses Pezeshkian as Iran's President

A handout picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei office shows, Khamenei (C), as he delivers the official endorsement letter to president elect Masoud Pezeshikan during the new president endorsement ceremony on July 28, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei office shows, Khamenei (C), as he delivers the official endorsement letter to president elect Masoud Pezeshikan during the new president endorsement ceremony on July 28, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Masoud Pezeshkian as the country's president on Sunday, after he won the elections this month.

Pezeshkian is a relative moderate who will be sworn in on Tuesday.

In a ceremony broadcast live on state television, Khamenei gave his approval for Pezeshkian, and in a speech afterwards, the supreme leader reiterated Iran's longstanding anti-Israel stance.

"The Zionist regime (Israel) is not a state, it is a criminal gang, a bank of killers, and a terrorist band," Khamenei said in his speech, while praising Hamas for its resistance against Israel in Gaza.

Pezeshkian's victory lifted hopes of a thaw in Iran's antagonistic relations with the West that might create openings for defusing its nuclear dispute with world powers.

But as the ultimate authority in Iran, Khamenei has the final say in all state matters like the country's foreign and nuclear policy as well as Pezeshkian's upcoming selections for key cabinet posts, such as the foreign, oil and intelligence ministers.



Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
TT

Cyprus Says US Decree on Security Affirms Island's Stabilizing Role in Region

Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images
Nicosia, Cyprus | Photo: Getty Images

Cyprus on Thursday hailed a US memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict.
US President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a memorandum that makes the island eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training.
Cyprus has over the years played a key role in evacuating people out of conflict zones and established a maritime corridor for aid to war-ravaged Gaza last year.
"This (memorandum) is a clear recognition of the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the potential to further contribute to peace and the management of humanitarian challenges," the Cypriot presidency said in a statement.
Cyprus was close to Russia for decades, but there has been a marked shift in allegiances in recent years, Reuters said.
For many in Cyprus, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has drawn parallels to Türkiye’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and Cyprus, an EU member state, has followed its peers in adopting sanctions on Moscow. It is now getting FBI expertise in countering illicit finance.
Access to the US programs would enable greater interoperability to respond to regional humanitarian crises, counter malign influence, and combat terrorism and transnational organized crime, the US embassy in Nicosia said.
Deepening US-Cyprus relations are closely followed by Türkiye, which in September criticized the signing of a roadmap to boost defense co-operation between the United States and Cyprus.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion following a brief Greek-inspired coup in 1974, following years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots which triggered the collapse of a power-sharing administration in 1963.