Sune Engel Rasmussen

How Iran Is Building a Religious Mythology Around Its New Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died a martyr. That fate will benefit his son.

Trump might not want Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader of Iran, but the US and Israeli war has helped elevate him, and bolstered his legitimacy.

My latest about how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died a martyr, and how that will benefit his son.

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Iran has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late ayatollah and a close associate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as the next supreme leader.

Seems unwise, perhaps, to announce a successor while bombings are still ongoing. Israel has said it will target a new supreme leader.

Khamenei’s Death Leaves Iran at Historic Turning Point—Without a Clear Successor The Islamic Republic the late ayatollah led for nearly four decades is in a fight for its survival.

Khamenei leaves behind a system with no obvious successor, largely by design, and an Islamic Republic in a fight for survival.

Any new supreme leader will have less personal authority than Khamenei and serve a more ceremonial role.

My latest:

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Dies The leader of post-revolutionary Iran expanded the country’s global ambitions while facing domestic anger over a failing economy.

Many of us who have followed Iran for years, and lived there, have imagined and debated Khamenei's death for years. Yet I feel unprepared for what comes next.

My obituary of the man who more than any other one individual shaped the modern Middle East:

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

The Greenlandic Bricklayer Behind Trump’s Plan to Send a Hospital Ship Jørgen Boassen says he was the one who inspired the governor of Louisiana to propose the idea to President Trump.

Greenlanders are perplexed by Trump’s plan to send a hospital ship to the island.

The seed of the idea, I discovered came from one of their own.

Meet Jørgen Boassen, a Greenlandic bricklayer who during Mardi Gras inspired Gov Jeff Landry to propose the idea to Trump

www.wsj.com/world/the-gr...

U.S. Elite Troops Hardened by War on Terror Retrain for Arctic Combat A Wall Street Journal reporter trained for 10 days with a team of Green Berets during a grueling winter warfare training.

I embedded with a team of U.S. Special Forces, veterans the global war on terror, as they retrained for Arctic warfare. The U.S. military is experts on all kinds of warfare, but not in the Arctic.

"People don’t understand how absolutely absurd it is to operate up there"

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Billionaires’ Low Taxes Are Becoming a Problem for the Economy Tax avoidance by the superwealthy is an economic issue as well as a political one.

The top 0.1% richest households' share of America's new wealth is now more than 14%

Politics aside, the risk is that the U.S. economy becomes increasingly dependent on a narrow group of very rich, whose spending is tied to the performance of the stock market.

www.wsj.com/finance/bill...

How U.S. Special Forces Are Training in an Arctic Warfare Bootcamp WSJ’s Sune Engel Rasmussen is the first civilian to take part in this grueling training with a unit of American Green Berets.

I lived and trained for 10 days with a group of U.S. Special Forces as they learned how to operate in extreme cold, to prep for potential war with Russia in the Arctic.

I took the ice plunge so you don't have to.

www.wsj.com/world/europe... #sweden #russia #arctic #usarmy

Iran’s Protest Crackdown Looks Deadlier by the Day Rights groups’ estimates grow to 10,000 or more dead as new details trickle out.

Even at the lower end of estimates, Iran's crackdown on protesters would rank as one of the most violent deployments of state power against protesters, exceeding the toll at China's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

And 10,000 is just an unfathomable number.

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Trump Has Options in Iran. None Are Likely to Help Protesters Much. A U.S. aircraft carrier is heading to the region. If Trump decides to intervene over Tehran’s crackdown, there could be unpredictable consequences.

A US aircraft carrier is steaming its way to the Persian Gulf, possibly to help attack Iran.

But a strike, no matter the type, will have unpredictable consequences for Iranian protesters, and may not help them at all. My latest:

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

‘You Feel Betrayed.’ In Denmark, Public Stunned by Trump’s Designs on Greenland. Of all the U.S.’s allies in Europe, Denmark was among those that fought closest alongside Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan

In Iraq, Martin Tamm Andersen sat beside a dying Danish soldier who had stepped on an IED fighting America's war.

Now Trump threatens to take Greenland and Vance calls Denmark a bad ally.

"You feel betrayed. It’s extremely uncomfortable."

My story from Copenhagen

www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Is Running Out of Road With his room for maneuver shrinking fast, he faces a climbdown on deeply held beliefs to bring relief to his country.

IRAN: Ayatollah Khomeini once described the humiliating 1988 cease-fire with Iraq as drinking from a “poisoned chalice.”

Ali Khamenei now faces a similar situation. To save his rule he must give up lifelong ideological positions and strike a bitter compromise.

My story: www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Welcome to Greenland, an Economy Reliant on Subsidies and Shrimp Greenlanders get heavily subsidized by Denmark, and any future mining boom will be costly.

Excellent story by my colleague Max Colchester about the kind of economy Trump would inherit in #Greenland: sluggish, subsidized and accustomed to Scandinavian welfare

www.wsj.com/economy/welc...

China’s Push to Master the Arctic Opens an Alarming Shortcut to U.S. National-security officials say Chinese submarines and icebreakers pose a new military threat from the High North.

When Chinese research submarines this summer traveled thousands of feet beneath the #Arctic ice, it sent a chilling message to the US and its allies.

If #Russia's dominance in the high north wasn't enough, #China is becoming more aggressive as well. Our story:

www.wsj.com/world/china-...

Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire As the risk of conflict grows in the Arctic, Western militaries and startups are working to tackle the unique challenges of fighting there.

Drones, robots, sophisticated surveillance and navigation tech. All of it is now a tenet of modern warfare. But in the Arctic, where the risk of the next global conflict is growing, most hi tech equipment doesn’t work. My story:

www.wsj.com/world/where-...

The Hunt for Assad’s Brutal Enforcer Jamil Hassan left behind a legacy of deaths and torture when he escaped the Syrian revolution last year. Now his former victims are trying to bring him to justice.

“I will keep killing to keep Bashar Assad in power... I will kill half the country if I have to.”

My colleagues @jmalsin.bsky.social and Summer Said on the notorious architect of the Assad regimes campaign to kill and collectively punish the Syrian people

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Exclusive | Machado Made It Out of Venezuela by Boat a Day Before Nobel Ceremony The opposition leader didn’t reach Oslo in time to collect Peace Prize but said she would be traveling to Norway.

Our exclusive: María Corina Machado traveled by boat yesterday to the island nation of Curacao. She is now on her way to Oslo where her daughter has just received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf

www.wsj.com/world/americ...

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Targets Even Closest Wartime Allies The door is now shut to some 265,000 Afghans waiting to come, many of whom worked with the U.S. or have loved ones who did.

“All these folks that fought our wars should have been granted veteran status. We gotta make sure they get the same benefits as our veterans”

Advocates say the US should allow in more, not fewer, Afghans, and provide mental health counseling. My story:

www.wsj.com/politics/nat... #afghanistan

Stronger Than Fentanyl: A Drug You’ve Never Heard of Is Killing Hundreds Every Year Ultrapotent synthetics, mostly from China, are easy to smuggle and mix into heroin, recreational drugs and gray-market pharmaceuticals.

@suneengel.bsky.social also wrote about a terrifying story (that lives rent free in my head) about this recently --

China Pushes to Silence Victims of African Mining Disaster Toxic waste from a Chinese mine in Zambia washed through homes and fields. Compensation offers are tied to nondisclosure.

Such an important story by my colleague Nicholas Bariyo. Locals accuse Chinese officials of deception, while Zambian President Hichilema is accused of kowtowing to Sino Metals while negotiating relief from a $6 billion debt to China.

www.wsj.com/world/asia/c...

British Airways pulls Louis Theroux podcast sponsorship after Bob Vylan interview Airline says singer’s defiant interview breached its policy on politically sensitive or controversial subjects

British Airways pulls sponsorship of Louis Theroux podcast bc of interview with Bob Vylan. Louis is a journalist and documentarian. Every media outlet on the planet tried to get an intv with Bob Vylan. Makes you wonder if the ppl at BA even know Louis' work

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

'We're just a bakery': Does Gail's rely on low-paid migrant workers to further its expansionist vision? The economics and migration behind the Gail’s expansion. Words by Sasha Patel and Ben Jacob. Illustration by Kruttika Susarla.

www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/at-gails-w...

The snail farmer of London, his mafia friends, and a £20m vendetta against the taxman Terry Ball runs elaborate mollusc-based tax avoidance schemes that are costing London councils millions of pounds. Yet when London Centric tracks him down, an even stranger story emerges.

The stories in question:

www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...

UK media is thriving on Substack. Received two absolute bangers of stories in my inbox this morning, from @londoncentric.media and @vittles.bsky.social.

I will keenly defend (some) legacy media outlets, but I also love the niche deep dives that smaller, independent outlets are able to do.

Can Shotguns, Spy Planes and Lasers Protect Europe From the Next Drone Incursion? A spate of suspected Russian drone appearances across Europe has forced countries to look for novel ways to protect their airspace.

European countries are scrambling to bolster their defenses before the next wave of Russian drones: Stockpiling shotguns, installing radars and teaching civilians how to knock out out drones. Our story:

www.wsj.com/world/europe... #denmark #nato #poland #ukraine

Inside the West’s Race to Defend the Arctic Sailors scanned for icebergs on a nine-day journey to the U.S.’s northernmost military installation this summer—part of an effort to erode Russia’s vast advantage in the region.

I spent 3 weeks on a cargo ship in the Arctic, from Canada to Greenland. Our only company was blizzards, killer whales, thick fog and icebergs. Here is my story about how the West is lagging seriously behind Russia in the Arctic, and why it's so difficult to catch up

www.wsj.com/world/inside...

If President Trump was angry with Venezuela before....

#nobelpeaceprize #nobel

📷 Les photos de notre @julietterobert.bsky.social dans ce reportage de @suneengel.bsky.social pour le @wsj.com, sur les militaires de l'OTAN qui s'entraînent à combattre dans l'Arctique suédois par temps chaud. www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Denmark Says New Drone Flights Over Military Base, Airports Are ‘Hybrid Attack’ The country’s Defense Minister said there was currently no evidence linking the drone activity to Russia, and the unmanned aerial vehicles didn’t pose a military threat to Denmark.

More drones over Denmark, over multiple airports, including a military airbase home to most of the country's F16 and F35 fighters jets. Govt says it doesn't have the tools to protect against drones and that it needs help, including from Ukraine

www.wsj.com/world/europe... #russia

Drone Incursions Force Airport Closures in Copenhagen, Oslo The airports closed for several hours after the drone sightings, the latest in a string of disruptions to European airspace.

Danish police say a "capable operator" sent drones over Copenhagen airport last night, but can't at this stage confirm allegations by Zelensky that it was Russia

www.wsj.com/world/europe... #ukraine #nato