Ruhollah Khomeini

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly warned the nation's political class to rally behind him, calling the country's domestic troubles a test of their fealty to the Islamic Republic. But in comments reported today, the relatively...

A brouhaha kicked up by journalists over comments by opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi may be put to rest after the cleric-politician today issued an unambiguous denunciation of the disputed June 12 elections and subsequent crackdown. "The more we go...

For the second day in a row, an Iranian opposition leader has publicly questioned a pillar of the Islamic Republic, a sign of increasing boldness on the part of Iran's so-called Green movement. Mehdi Karroubi called for an abolition of......

The 22nd day of the Persian calendar month of Bahman, the date 31 years ago when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic, is traditionally a time for official patriotic fervor and the unveiling of national achievements. But on......

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran on Thursday to participate in a state-organized rally commemorating the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. The picture above shows large crowds waving Iranian flags and carrying twin...

This picture by Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo was named World Press Photo's 2009 Photo of the Year on Friday in Amsterdam. It shows women in Tehran, Iran, shouting from a rooftop in protest on June 24, 2009. Agence France-Presse photographer......

Over the last few days, Babylon & Beyond has chronicled the political journey of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric and erstwhile supporter of the nation's opposition movement who appeared to be shifting his political...

Mohammad Khatami, the soft-spoken former Iranian president who has come under criticism for not being brave enough in his rhetoric and actions, on Monday issued a polite but firmly worded rebuke of the current hard-line establishment. Khatami's...

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, the Roman Catholic Church does not hold that the pope is infallible in everything he says. Pope Benedict XVI underscored that doctrinal fine point Sunday when he said he was "deeply sorry" about the controversy concerning his...

THIS TIME AROUND, when the Bush administration presented "intelligence" from unidentified sources about a dangerous foe in the Middle East, the American media was noticeably more skeptical. Eager to redeem themselves for the generally obsequious reporting...

AN EMBATTLED president, a Congress distracted by a sex scandal, looming midterm elections — and yet overwhelming agreement, with scant debate or publicity, on fateful legislation that set the nation on a path to war. It happened eight autumns ago,...

Jimmy Carter still spends much of his time injecting himself into the nastiest spats on the planet. But most Sundays, the 83-year-old former president manages to be back here in the tiny city where he was raised. He does not like to skip Sunday school....