Top Khamenei Advisor: We Have Divine Permission to Destroy Israel

By: DAVID DAOUD, The Algemeiner— An official close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei asserted that his government has a godly ordained right to annihilate Israel, Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday. The “government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has divine permission to destroy Israel,” said Mojtaba Zolnour, a Khamenei representative in the elite Revolutionary…

Rowhani at the helm

By BRIAN MURPHY, TIMES OF ISRAEL— For a lesson in what Hasan Rowhani’s reformist-backed presidency could mean for Iran, a promise Sunday by the ultra-powerful Revolutionary Guard to cooperate with him is a good guide. Like the rest of Iran’s ruling Islamic establishment, the Guard, which has kept a tight lid on any hints of…

Iran's Mullahs blame Mahmoud

By ILAN BERMAN, WSJ EUROPE— You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. With his nuclear brinksmanship and inflammatory public rhetoric, Iran’s firebrand president is accustomed to hogging the international spotlight. But recent days have seen him making news for a different reason entirely. Ahmadinejad is now fighting for his political life against…