TÉHÉRAN — Pendant 37 ans, Ali Khamenei a tenu entre ses mains un pays de 90 millions d'habitant·es. Il contrôlait son armée, façonnait ses tribunaux, sanctionnait ses forces de sécurité et fixait les conditions dans lesquelles les Iranien·nes pouvaient s'exprimer, se réunir, croire et manifester leur désaccord. Le samedi 1er mars 2026, au lendemain de la diffusion par la télévision d'État iranienne d'images de frappes de missiles sur des installations militaires à Téhéran et dans ses (…)

TEHRAN — For 37 years, Ali Khamenei held a country of 90 million people in his hands. He controlled its military, shaped its courts, sanctioned its security forces, and set the terms under which Iranians could speak, assemble, believe, and dissent. On Saturday, March 1, 2026, the morning after Iranian state television broadcast images of missile strikes on military installations in and around Tehran, international outlets reported his death. Iranian state authorities disputed the claim. The (…)

The U.S.-Israeli assassination of the supreme leader opens the door to a range of possibilities. A democratic transition seems the least likely of all. Members of the Iranian Jewish community in Israel burn a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in support of the Iranian people in the city of Holon, central Israel, January 14, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) Throughout February, the United States and Iran held several rounds of negotiations aimed at (…)