Close allies: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the man who was expected to succeed him, President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopted crash on May 19 2024.
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News
How far the violent exchanges between Israel and Iran will escalate may well hinge on how strong the two sides’ leader need to appear to their own people.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘We will make our own decisions’ on responding to Iran’s attack.
EPA-EFE/Abir Sultan
Iran has reached a stage in its weapons programme where it would be difficult for a single strike to do significant damage.
On International Women’s Day, March 8 2022, demonstrations against the Iranian government’s treatment of women took place in cities across the world.
EPA-EFE/Isabel Infantes
Iranian women have often used images of actions such as singing and dancing unveiled to show what freedom means to them and to protest the Islamic Republic’s gender oppression.