Hassan Rouhani
Supporters of Iranian president-elect Ebrahim Raisi celebrate after he won the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 19, 2021. Initial results released Saturday propelled Raisi, a protege of the country's supreme leader, into Tehran’s highest civilian position. The vote appeared to see the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Hard-line judiciary head wins Iran presidency in low turnout

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 19, 2021 02:21 AM EDT

A voter casts her ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 18, 2021. Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election that a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemed likely to win, leading to low turnout fueled by apathy and calls for a boycott. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In Iran's subdued election, many voters appear to stay home

By Isabel Debre Jun. 18, 2021 02:30 PM EDT

Voters register to cast their vote during the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 18, 2021. Iran began voting Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fueling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Apathy greets Iran presidential vote dominated by hard-liner

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 17, 2021 11:58 PM EDT

Supporters of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold signs during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Iran's clerical vetting committee has allowed just seven candidates for the Friday, June 18, ballot, nixing prominent reformists and key allies of President Hassan Rouhani. The presumed front-runner has become Ebrahim Raisi, the country's hard-line judiciary chief who is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
EXPLAINER: Iran vote to determine next president, direction

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 17, 2021 02:59 AM EDT

Supporters of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold signs during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Iran's clerical vetting committee has allowed just seven candidates for the Friday, June 18, ballot, nixing prominent reformists and key allies of President Hassan Rouhani. The presumed front-runner has become Ebrahim Raisi, the country's hard-line judiciary chief who is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iran election race narrows but fears persist of low turnout

By Isabel Debre Jun. 16, 2021 09:25 AM EDT

Supporters of Abdolnasser Hemmati, a presidential candidate in the June 18, elections, hold signs with his picture, during a street rally in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Hemmati, a prominent contender in Iran's presidential election appealed Tuesday for better economic and political relations with the West, his most extensive attempt yet to attract reformist voters just days ahead of the poll. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran presidential candidate urges better ties with West

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 15, 2021 06:14 AM EDT

Masoumeh Eftekhari, six months pregnant and strolling through the shop-lined promenades of Tehran’s jam-packed Grand Bazaar, speaks with The Associated Press about the upcoming presidential elections, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 10, 2021. She pointed with astonishment to the skyrocketing prices of baby clothes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Many Iranians fear vote will underscore their powerlessness

By Mohammad Nasiri Jun. 14, 2021 02:07 AM EDT

In this Wednesday, June 9, 2021 photo, a supporter of the presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, currently judiciary chief, hold his posters during a campaign rally at the Takhti Stadium in Ahvaz, Iran. Around 5,000 of people have gathered in a football stadium in southeastern city of Ahvaz to support the Iranian hard-line presidential candidate, Iranian media reported. (Alireza Mohammadi/ISNA via AP)
Iran judiciary chief stages 1st campaign rally despite virus

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 10, 2021 05:38 AM EDT

A vendor prepares tea at the Grand Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Iran's ailing economy is the major concern for those living in the Islamic Republic ahead of the country's presidential election. They face a daily grinding nightmare of high inflation, an ever-weakening national currency and high unemployment exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
As Iran prepares to vote, its battered economy a major worry

By Mehdi Fattahi Jun. 10, 2021 02:08 AM EDT

In this picture made available by Young Journalists Club, YJC, presidential candidates for June 18, elections Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, left, and Saeed Jalili leave at the conclusion of the second TV debates of the candidates in a state-run TV studio, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Iran's seven presidential candidates on Tuesday put all the problems of the Islamic Republic squarely on the shoulders of the one man who wasn't there to defend himself: Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani. (Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/ Young Journalists Club, YJC via AP)
Iran debate puts problems on one man: the outgoing president

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 08, 2021 10:59 AM EDT

FILE— In this Dec. 11, 2006, file photo, top cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, center, speaks during a conference on the Holocaust with Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman, left, from Austria, and Rabbi Ahron Cohen, right, from England, in Tehran, Iran. Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday, June 7, 2021, of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Iran cleric who founded Hezbollah, survived book bomb, dies

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 07, 2021 05:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 29, 2017, file photo, Iranian cleric and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, center, stands among his supporters, during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran. Raisi, a prominent hard-line cleric who now serves as Iran's judiciary chief, registered Saturday, May 15, 2021, to run in Iran's upcoming presidential election. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
Iran's hard-line judiciary chief registers presidential run

By Jon Gambrell May. 15, 2021 12:49 AM EDT

Revolutionary Guard Gen. Saeed Mohammad, who once headed the paramilitary force's Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, shows his identification document while registering his name as a candidate for the June 18 presidential elections at the elections headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Iran opened registration Tuesday for potential candidates in the country's June presidential election, kicking off the race as uncertainty looms over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers and tensions remain high with the West. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Registration opens for hopefuls in Iran's presidential vote

By Nasser Karimi And Jon Gambrell May. 11, 2021 12:01 AM EDT

Hospital workers move two bodies of patients who died from COVID-19, at the yard of the Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 18, 2021. After facing criticism for downplaying the virus last year, authorities have put partial lockdowns and other measures in place to try and slow the coronavirus’ spread, as Iran faces what looks like its worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic yet. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Sanctions-battered Iran, weary of pandemic, faces worst wave

By Nasser Karimi And Aya Batrawy Apr. 22, 2021 07:10 AM EDT

Wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a man rides his bicycle and a woman crosses a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 5, 2021. Iran's capital is once again under a code red status, the highest level of restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the country struggles with a new surge in daily deaths. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran sees highest daily death toll in months as virus surges

Apr. 18, 2021 08:31 AM EDT

People walk through closed Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Iran on Saturday imposed partial lockdown on businesses in major shopping centers as well as intercity travels through personal cars in major cities including capital Tehran as it struggles with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran enforces 10-day lockdown amid fourth wave of pandemic

By Amir Vahdat Apr. 10, 2021 08:34 AM EDT

A vendor waits for customers ahead of the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, meaning "New Day." at Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A New Year in Iran, but the country's crises remain the same

By Amir Vahdat And Isabel Debre Mar. 20, 2021 02:19 AM EDT

Iran warns election delays could slow nuclear deal moves

By Lorne Cook Mar. 15, 2021 06:43 AM EDT
BRUSSELS (AP) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday urged the United States to quickly rejoin the international agreement limiting Iran’s...

FILE - In this Monday March 8, 2021 file photo, Richard Ratcliffe sands with his daughter Gabriella as they hold a photo of his wife and her mother, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, during a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London. The supporters of a British-Iranian woman detained for five years in Iran says she has returned to court on fresh charges. The development casts uncertainty over her future following her release from prison last week. (Ian West/PA via AP, File)
British-Iranian woman back in court after 5 years in prison

By Isabel Debre Mar. 14, 2021 07:48 AM EDT

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Rouhani said the West has no way except reaching an agreement with Tehran for restoring 2015 nuclear deal as the nation marked the anniversary of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday on wheels - cars, motorcycles, bicycles - instead of traditional rallies and marches because of the region's worst outbreak of the coronavirus. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
Wheels only, please: Iran marks 1979 revolution anniversary

By Nasser Karimi Feb. 10, 2021 02:40 AM EST