Month: February 2026

By Christopher Lamb, CNN (CNN) — “Conclave” the movie provides a gripping, if fictional, behind-the-scenes look inside the secretive election of a new pope. But last year’s real-life conclave was just as dramatic, with plenty of plot twists, political battles among cardinals and a surprise outcome. A new book lifts a lid on how, in

By Laura Sharman, Abbas Al Lawati, CNN (CNN) — Passengers rushed to evacuate one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday after a reported Iranian strike, as Tehran targeted travel hubs in US-friendly Gulf states typically regarded as safe, luxury destinations. Dramatic footage shows people fleeing a smoke-filled passageway strewn with furniture and debris at

By Abbas Al Lawati, CNN (CNN) — Iran’s clerical regime now faces the prospect of trying to find a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his killing in joint US-Israeli strikes. The veteran leader, who ruled with an iron fist for nearly four decades, does not have an officially declared heir. Instead, an

By Abbas Al Lawati, Laura Smith-Spark, CNN (CNN) — Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who ruled Iran with an iron fist as its supreme leader for nearly four decades, facing off against the US and Israel while crushing dissent and advancing a controversial nuclear program at home, has been killed, a seismic development that plunges his

By Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Thomas Bordeaux, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase, Isaac Yee, Teele Rebane, Avery Schmitz, Farida Elsebai, CNN (CNN) — After the United States and Israel launched a regime change operation against Iran on Saturday morning, footage emerging on social media and geolocated by CNN offered a window into its impacts. The attacks have hit

By Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, Abbas Al Lawati, CNN (CNN) — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s hardline supreme leader who ruled the country for almost four decades, was killed in Saturday’s joint US-Israeli strikes, Iranian state media confirmed Sunday, prompting celebration among Iranians who opposed his rule and fury from pro-regime loyalists. An Iranian TV broadcaster