. @POTUS says Ali Khamenei, #Iran’s Supreme Leader, is dead

At least 201 people have been killed in Iran following airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel, a spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent Society told the Isna news agency. Twenty-four of the country's 31 provinces have been targeted, and more than 740 people have been injured, he said.

Exclusive: three members of the #IRGC killed in an attack on security team of former president Mahmoud Ahmedinajad in north-eastern #Tehran www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

The job I would not want right now: that of Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating between Iran and the US. A reminder that western countries often rely on their Middle Eastern partners to do the really hard job of to-ing and fro-ing in the hardest circumstances.

The video version of our story on Soheil Almasi, shot dead during protests last month in #Iran. Before he died, Soheil told his father: "Dad, if you're going to be a lion, it's better you be killed than to be a mouse and hide in a hole." www.tiktok.com/@thenational...

17 year old Soheil Almasi was one of 1000s of protestors shot dead in #Iran last month. #Iranians will not benefit from nuclear talks, but their desire to protest their government has not been stamped out, his uncle told me from the UK. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

#Iranian students have begun protesting in the largest numbers since a bloody crackdown on demonstrations last month. "We know that the continuation of this government means that these crimes will be repeated again & again," 1 told me. #Iran www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

#Egypt & #Turkey are rapidly building up an alliance that has moved the balance of power in the Middle East, with military and arms manufacturing ties central to their new alignment. With Hamza Hendawi in Cairo www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

As world attention shifts to #US strikes & nuclear talks, #Iranians are defiantly renewing mourning of their dead killed last month. "I don’t have it in me to carry on without Ayda,” 1 woman wailed. #Iran www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

FMA joins other journalism and #pressfreedom organizations in calling for the release of award-winning Turkish journalist @alicanuludag.bsky.social and an end to judicial harassment of journalists reporting on matters of public interest. #GazetecilikSuçDeğildir turkiye.ipi.media/turkey-media...

‎رمضان كريم للجميع ‎رمضان مبارک Ramazan ayımız mübarek olsun, Allah kabul etsin ! 🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Former #PKK militants should re-integrate into society, but could still face legal action in #Turkey, a key report by Turkish lawmakers said www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

#Syria has banned the entry of foreign lorries into the country, causing hold-ups at borders and disgruntlement among traders in #Jordan and #Turkey. Our piece, with Khaled Yacoub Oweiss & @NadaOHomsi www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Turkey sent a deep-sea drilling vessel to Somalia on Sunday for what its energy minister said was its first offshore exploration mission abroad, as Ankara cements its ties with in the East African nation. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

And our video graphics-led explainer on the “Trump route”, aiming to connect #Armenia and #Azerbaijan as part of a peace process to end more than 30 years of conflict in the South Caucasus vt.tiktok.com/ZSmMu1y4x/

My long read from the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, on the U.S.-backed, immodestly named “Trump Route for International Peace & Prosperity”, which is part of a tentative peace to end 30+ years of war in the South Caucasus www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

"There isn't a strategy or a plan of what to do, even, you know, where to put them, which prisons, how many in each," @renadmansour.bsky.social said. "There are a lot of questions that they're scrambling to find answers to." www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

US forces have ⁠left Al Tanf ⁠military base on Syria’s border and withdrawn to Jordan, a security official confirmed to The National on Thursday. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

I have cancelled my Washington Post subscription. I will be putting the money instead towards a fund set up by some of the paper’s former correspondents to support foreign staff (producers, translators, drivers etc) who worked with the paper. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Sometimes when you think the world is not listening, it is very heartening to see how many people are reading and sharing this article about the sheer weight of despair many Iranians are feeling now. Thank you www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

“Everyone is unhappy…. Truly, many people lost hope for the future, especially the younger generation.” How Iranians are feeling after the bloodiest crackdown on protests in the country’s modern history. vt.tiktok.com/ZSaWRKjsY/

Absolutely mad decision making by @washingtonpost.com leadership to gut their international reporting teams (as well as sports & other desks). An absolute travesty at a time when more than ever, the world needs the kind of clear-eyed reporting at which Post correspondents are some of the very best.

US-#Iran talks latest: Now taking place in Muscat, #Oman. Iran wants talks limited to nuclear. Steve Witkoff & Abbas Araghchi to lead on each side. Iranian media reporting the talks as "indirect" & "with the previous format" [as talks last year] www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/02...

New on #Iran-US talks: a regional diplomatic source tells me: "The Iranians want to change the agenda, participants & the venue of the meeting. So basically this is altogether a different meeting they are talking about now. They want to show this is a new round of previous nuclear talks in Oman."

“We feel like we want to scream, but something is blocking our throats." Amid grieving for loved ones, fear over the prospect of renewed conflict, & struggling with sky-high inflation, many #Iranians feel hopeless & angry. My latest @thenationalnews.com www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

What makes me procrastinate? The fear I won't do the story justice. The fear I won't accurately represent what has happened. The more painful the events, the harder it is. The fear I won't write in a way that makes people read. Sometimes you just have to start writing.

#Iran-#US talks set for Friday in Istanbul with partipation of ministers from Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, sources tell me and Hamza Hendawi in Cairo www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

A regional source just confirmed to me: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff & Jared Kushner expected to join talks with Iranian Foreign Minister @araghchi in #Istanbul on Friday. FMs of Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE also expected to attend.

Join us tomorrow for this conversation, as countries around the region try to avert another US-#Iran conflict, and as Iranians deal with the aftermath of the bloodiest crackdown on protests in their country’s modern history us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

And the video dispatch ( the first stand-up ive done on a yet-to-be-laid railway line) www.tiktok.com/@thenational...

#Azerbaijan has said it will not allow its airspace or territory to be used to attack neighbouring #Iran. My dispatch from the border between the two countries. www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/01...

#Iran is ready for negotiations but also for war, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in Istanbul today www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi in İstanbul. “Just as we are ready for negotiations, we are ready for war. And we are even more ready than we were in June.” [When Israel and US bombed Iran]. New hostilities “ could spread to the region.”

If I squint and concentrate I can read Azerbaijani (loving this mix of Turkish and Farsi 😍)

Account from a resident of #Isfahan, #Iran whose friend was killed in protests on Jan 8. Below shared with permission "It was around 10.30-11pm. There was shooting towards the people. We got separated from the others. Then I saw that he [my friend] took a hit. 1/

From a journalist from #Iran whom I managed to connect with (the internet is still largely out). Sharing with permission. “I don't know anyone who doesn't know a person that has been killed. I can't describe the hell we experienced.” 1/2

Turkish officials welcomed a decree from Ahmed Al-Sharaa last week that declared Kurdish a national language in Syria, and formalised other rights, but it remains unclear whether Turkey will enact similar laws for Kurds at home. @lcmporter.bsky.social www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

How is Turkey responding to the sea change in its southern neighbour ? My attempt to explain What the SDF's retreat in Syria means for Turkey www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

مردم ‫#ایران‬ چی میخواند ؟ چیزهای پیچیده نیستن: ثبات اقتصادی، آزادی‌ای انتخاب، آزادی‌ای سفر. حسرت زندگی معمولی. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

What do Iranians want? A decent life. The ability to choose what they wear, say, how they travel, & spend their money. Economic security. I asked them more: www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

No one actually knows if Trump will end up striking #Iran or not. I asked #Iranians in the Turkish border city of Van what they think www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Ok, doing this. Anjar, Lebanon, 2016. T his was the year my life changed: I quit my desk job in London and moved to the Middle East to be a foreign correspondent. It was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. And I can’t believe it was a decade ago ! #2016throwback #2016

I spoke with a relative of a 17 year old boy who was shot dead in the protests. One of so many stories of pain. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Iranians are coming & going across the border with #Turkey. There has been no mass exodus, but some bring with them painful stories from #IranProtests & criticisms of the gov. My dispatch www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Convo with an Iranian man in Van, SE Turkey. "Sorry but compared to England, Germany etc our country is much richer - its history, its learning & culture. Our food is much better. No country is as good as #Iran. We have a problem with our system of gov, not with our country."

Turkish Foreign Minister on #Iran: "We are against a military operation against Iran. Iran is subject to sanctions because of regional and global policies. Iran’s population is sophisticated and when you deprive them of certain things, problems are arising."

“We are all fine [in my family] but everyone’s mental health is damaged seriously." one man in Tehran whom I was able to reach today told me. "It’s a never-ending nightmare." www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/01...

People killed protesting aren't numbers - they have names and stories. They had lives. Here are some of those killed in recent days in Iran www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Robina Aminian was a 23yr old design student who loved fashion & clothes. She was shot in the head and killed during a protest in Tehran on Jan 8. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

Iranians have been protesting for nearly two weeks now. What started as shut downs to show popular anger at an economy in free fall has turned into widespread unrest with political demands. Some attempts to explain what is going on here. www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...