Ali Khamenei suppressed dissent, kept up confrontation with the US and steered a path between competing political factions in over three-and-a-half decades as Iran's supreme leader.

But his domination of the Islamic republic came to an abrupt and bloody end on the morning of February 28, when he was killed along with several close family members in an Israeli air strike based on US intelligence on the first day of a five-week war.

On Saturday, February 28, Tehran residents were embarking on the working week during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, nervously anticipating celebrations for the Iranian New Year against the background of diplomatic efforts to stave off war with the US and Israel.

That morning, there was also activity around and inside the main government complex in Tehran just off Pasteur Street in the heart of the capital, which housed the residence and offices of then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

By David Hood-Nuño, Maria Tsvetkova, Bianca Flowers and Kristina Cooke

MIAMI, July 1 (Reuters) - Uthy spent seven years in medical school training to become a doctor in Haiti. On the cusp of graduation, she fled the country three years ago to the U.S. with her husband, young child and a dream to return when it was safe.

Uthy, who holds Temporary Protected Status, now lives in fear that she or her family could be detained and deported at any time after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the Trump administration could end TPS for Haitians and Syrians.

DUBAI, July 1 (Reuters) - Iran will deliver an immediate and powerful response to any threat against its people or leadership, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an X post on Wednesday.

"POTUS has committed the U.S. to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them," Araqchi said.

The U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.

By Andrew Mills and Ahmed Elimam

DOHA/DUBAI, July 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Iran held technical talks in Doha on Wednesday as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and secure a lasting ceasefire, a source with direct knowledge of the talks and an Iranian official said.

The next indirect US-Iran talks will come after the late Iranian supreme leader's funeral, mediators said Thursday, as diplomacy inches ahead on ending the Middle East war.

Following the foes' indirect discussions in Doha on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump as well as mediators Qatar and Pakistan offered signs that diplomacy was holding, despite exchanges of fire this week.

An interim deal was agreed to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities, but major questions still need to be tackled in talks, including Iran's nuclear programme.

By Feras Dalatey

July 1 (Reuters) - Syrian authorities announced the names of 70 lawmakers on Wednesday appointed to atransitional parliament by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, paving the way to convene the body next week more than eight months after the process of forming it began.

The 210-member chamber, two-thirds of which was chosen by regional electoral colleges last year, will wield limited power under a presidential ruling system established under Sharaa since he ousted Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

By Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul and Angus McDowall

DUBAI/LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Iran is determined to win international recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz and ability to levy fees on ships entering or leaving the Gulf even if it has to do so by force, two senior Iranian sources said.

By Victoria Waldersee and Corina Pons

July 1 (Reuters) - Spain's reparations law granting descendants of Spaniards the right to citizenship has sparked a heated political debate, with right-wing opposition figures accusing the government of trying to sway next year’s elections with new voters.

At least 544,722 people have so far been granted citizenship under the law passed in 2022, with 306,000 registering on the electoral roll, according to government data. Around 650,000 applications remain unprocessed.

By Jonathan Spicer

ANKARA, July 1 (Reuters) - Five years ago, the West risked a full-blown diplomatic crisis with NATO ally Turkey when 10 ambassadors called for the release of a man they saw as a political prisoner, prompting an angry President Tayyip Erdogan to order their expulsion.

After two frantic days in 2021, the sides stepped back from the brink with the U.S., French, German, Canadian and other envoys issuing conciliatory statements and Erdogan saying they would be more careful in the future.

And so they have been.