Crypto News: Iran’s big decision

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Iran’s new supreme leader faces a momentous decision over whether to accept an interim peace deal with the US.

Mojtaba Khamenei came to power in March after his long-standing predecessor and father, Ali, was killed in US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the Iran war. Injured in that attack, which also killed his wife and son, Khamenei hasn’t been seen in public since.

Yet Iran’s government has been keen to show the 56-year-old is the one with the final say over major state matters.

US President Donald Trump is under pressure from Iran hawks not to agree to a deal that would likely extend the countries’ ceasefire by one or two months, with Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters on the progress of a deal with Iran.

Watch now — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters on the progress of a deal with Iran.

While there’s been progress toward an agreement in recent days, Trump said yesterday he won’t rush it.

Khamenei, similarly, will be weighing whether to keep the strait closed for longer, thus squeezing the US and its allies economically by ensuring energy prices stay high, or accepting an accord that may unfreeze billions of dollars of Iranian assets.

If both leaders decide to take a deal, their negotiators will then begin wider — and highly complicated — talks about curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has plenty of incentives to end a war that has battered its military and a blockade that is causing severe economic pain by forcing oil-production cuts and pushing up inflation.

At the same time, Tehran retains plenty of firepower and has shown it can still hit neighboring Arab states and ships around the Hormuz strait.

Given the level of mistrust toward the US within Iran, it’s possible Khamenei holds out for terms Trump won’t accept and pushes the sides into a new round of hostilities. — Paul Wallace

Supporters under a portrait of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during a memorial. Photographer: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images Europe — A portrait of Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran.

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GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - MAY 24: Health workers conduct temperature screenings and health checks on travelers at the Kanyaruchinya checkpoint on May 24, 2026 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Health officials have implemented additional health checks at the Kanyaruchinya checkpoint at the city's northern border, amid efforts to contain the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak, centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri and North Kivu provinces. (Photo by Daniel Buuma/Getty Images) Photographer: Daniel Buuma/Getty Images Europe — A health worker conducts a temperature screening in Goma, eastern Congo, yesterday.

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Turkish police entered the main opposition CHP party’s headquarters in Ankara using pepper spray, acting to seize control of the building after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the party’s court-appointed chairman, sought government support to oust rival Özgür Özel. After officers delivered an eviction notice, Özel tore up the document and vowed that “we are leaving to come back again.”

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Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest demanding the resignation of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, in La Paz, on May 18, 2026. Bolivians have taken to the streets for the past two weeks, blocking roads into La Paz and disrupting deliveries of food, medicine and other goods to the seat of government, while demanding higher wages, economic relief and the resignation of centre-right President Rodrigo Paz amid a severe economic crisis. (Photo by AIZAR RALDES / AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: AIZAR RALDES/AFP — A protest in La Paz on May 18.

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Chart of the Day

Chinese investors are rushing to find alternative ways to buy and sell overseas equities after Beijing launched its most forceful crackdown on illicit cross-border stock trading to stem capital outflows. An estimated $1 trillion of so-called hot money flowed out of the country last year — the biggest annual outflow since data began in 2006.

And Finally

Spain is gripped by the arrest and release on bail of Jonathan Andic, co-owner and vice chairman of the Mango fashion chain. The 45-year-old was questioned over the events surrounding the death of his father, Isak Andic, who fell in 2024 during a hike with his son in the Catalan mountains. Jonathan Andic has denied wrongdoing, but the arrest has renewed attention on the succession saga at one of the country’s best-known retailers.

Jonathan Andic arrives at a court near Barcelona, following his arrest on May 19, 2026. Photographer: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images — Jonathan Andic arrives at a court near Barcelona on May 19.

Thanks to everyone who answered Friday’s quiz question, and congratulations to Marc Weinberg, who was first to name Greenland as the geopolitical flashpoint whose US envoy told local media that he was there “to make friends.”