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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)
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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.

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Indian Military Says Pakistani Troops Fired at Positions along Border in Disputed Kashmir Overnight

Indian security force personnel stand guard on the banks of Dal Lake, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam, in Srinagar April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Indian security force personnel stand guard on the banks of Dal Lake, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam, in Srinagar April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Indian Military Says Pakistani Troops Fired at Positions along Border in Disputed Kashmir Overnight

Indian security force personnel stand guard on the banks of Dal Lake, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam, in Srinagar April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Indian security force personnel stand guard on the banks of Dal Lake, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam, in Srinagar April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Pakistani soldiers fired at Indian posts all along the highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir for a second consecutive night, the Indian military said Saturday, as tensions continued to escalate between nuclear-armed rivals following a deadly attack on tourists.
The Indian army said in a statement on Saturday that soldiers from multiple Pakistani army posts overnight opened fire at Indian troops “all across the Line of Control” in Kashmir. “Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” the statement said, calling the firing “unprovoked.”
There were no casualties reported, the statement added.
On Friday, the Indian army said Pakistani soldiers had fired at an Indian post in Gurez sector with small arms late the previous night.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, and the incidents could not be independently verified. In the past, each side has accused the other of starting border skirmishes in the Himalayan region.
An uneasy calm prevailed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday. Markets and bazaars were open and there was no sign of evacuations from villages located near the Line of Control.
Attack caused spiking tensions
India has described the massacre in which gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, as a “terror attack” and accused Pakistan of backing it.
Pakistan denied any connection to the attack near the resort town of Pahalgam in India-controlled Kashmir, and the attack was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.
Tuesday’s attack in Kashmir was the restive region's worst assault targeting civilians in years. In the days since, tensions have risen dangerously between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
On Wednesday, India suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty that has withstood two wars between the countries and closed their only functional land border crossing. A day later, India revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals with effect from Sunday.
Pakistan responded angrily that it had nothing to do with the attack, and canceled visas issued to Indian nationals, closed its airspace to all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India. Nationals from both sides began heading back to their home countries through the Wagah border near Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Friday.
Islamabad also warned that any Indian attempt to stop or divert the flow of water would be considered an “act of war.” The suspension of the water treaty could lead to water shortages at a time when parts of Pakistan are already struggling with drought and declining rainfall.
“Pakistan is fully prepared to confront any Indian aggression,” the country's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a televised statement Friday.
New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.
Iran offers to mediate while Trump declines to engage
With tensions high between the two countries, Iran offered mediation, while US President Donald Trump said he expected them to work out their differences.
“Tehran stands ready to use its good offices in Islamabad and New Delhi to forge greater understanding at this difficult time,” Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday
“India and Pakistan are brotherly neighbors of Iran, enjoying relations rooted in centuries-old cultural and civilizational ties. Like other neighbors, we consider them our foremost priority,” Araghchi wrote in a social media post.
Trump on Friday said “there’s great tension between Pakistan and India, but there always has been.”
Trump, who spoke on board Air Force One, did not answer when asked by reporters whether he would contact leaders of the two countries, but said “they’ll get it figured out one way or the other.”
The US has long called for calm between India and Pakistan, and mediated between the two rivals during a major border skirmish in 1999.
US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard expressed solidarity with India.
“We are with you and support you as you hunt down those responsible for this heinous attack,” Gabbard said in a post on social media platform X.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said senior diplomats from Saudi Arabia and Iran had spoken with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to discuss the ongoing regional situation.
India has already briefed the envoys of all G-20 countries and Gulf nations, apprising them of the incident and steps taken by New Delhi.