Tag Archives: nuclear deal

China, which is increasingly flexing its muscles around the world, is one of the biggest threats to Britain and its allies, and a “miscalculation” by Beijing could lead to war, the head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency said Tuesday. MI6 chief Richard Moore said that China, Russia, Iran and …

A senior Emirati official said on Tuesday the United Arab Emirates would soon send a delegation to Iran as part of efforts to improve ties with rival Tehran. “I hope that it is the sooner the better and all our friends are aware of it,” Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to …

A top delegation from the United Arab Emirates will visit Tehran soon as the Gulf state works to de-escalate tensions with Iran, senior Iranian and Gulf officials told Reuters on Wednesday. A Gulf official said a high-level delegation is expected to visit Teheran soon but they declined to confirm whether …

The United Arab Emirates is taking steps to de-escalate tensions with Iran as part of a policy choice towards diplomacy and away from confrontation, a UAE senior official said on Monday. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said the Gulf state remains deeply concerned about Iran’s behaviour in …

A top Iranian commander said on Thursday that if Israel starts a war, Iran will be the one to end it. “Any mistake by Israel in dealing with Tehran will accelerate its destruction,” IRGC Commander of Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh was reported as saying by semi-official media Tasnim. Israel …

The U.S. Air Force said it flew a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime chokepoints in the Mideast with allies including Israel amid ongoing tensions with Iran as its nuclear deal with world powers remains in tatters. The B-1B Lancer bomber flew Saturday over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow …

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has blamed his country’s row with Lebanon on Hizbullah and Iran’s “dominance” over Lebanese politics. “There is no crisis with Lebanon but a crisis in Lebanon because of Iranian dominance,” he told Al-Arabiya television, adding: “Hizbullah’s dominance of the political system in Lebanon …

Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday that US officials tried to discuss restarting nuclear talks last month, but he insisted Washington must first release $10 billion of Tehran’s frozen funds as a sign of good will. Iran has rejected direct talks with the United States, and indirect talks on reviving …

The United States has reached out to China diplomatically about reducing its purchases of Iranian crude oil, U.S. and European officials said on Tuesday, as Washington seeks to persuade Tehran to resume talks about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Purchases of Iranian oil by Chinese companies are believed to have …

The prime minister of Kuwait has called on Iran to take serious steps to build trust and start a serious dialogue in the Gulf region based on respect for the sovereignty of neighboring nations and non-interference. He said nations in the region must seek to protect maritime commerce and the …

Venezuela has agreed to a key contract to swap its heavy oil for Iranian condensate that it can use to improve the quality of its tar-like crude, with the first cargoes due this week, five people close to the deal said. As the South American country seeks to boost its …

Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday accused Iran of launching a deadly drone strike on an oil tanker last month from its territory and reiterated that Israel would act alone if needed to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.Benny Gantz spoke as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was visiting Washington to …

Israel said on Friday it had appointed its president’s brother, former general Michael Herzog, as its next ambassador to the United States, highlighting his experience on Iran and its nuclear programme. Tehran is currently negotiating with Washington and other world powers on reviving a 2015 deal that curbed the Islamic …

Britain’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday and discussed Iran in addition to bilateral ties and climate change, the British foreign office said. Raab’s visit comes as global powers work to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that Saudi Arabia had …

 A cargo of 1.033 million barrels of Iranian crude oil landed on US shores in March, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed, the second shipment of Iranian oil to be imported into the United States since 1991. The cargo was registered in EIA data released late last …

Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts in Vienna to save Tehran’s atomic accord with world powers. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s comments, aired by state TV, further underscored the narrowing …

Iran confirmed publicly for the first time on Monday that it is in talks with its regional arch rival Saudi Arabia, saying it would do what it could to resolve issues between them. “De-escalation of tensions between the two Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf region is in the interest …

A chemical factory near the central city of Qom caught fire Sunday, Iranian media reported, a blaze that injured at least two firefighters. Videos showed heavy black smoke rising from Movaledan chemical factory in the vicinity of Qom, one of Iran’s prominent religious cities. The cause of the blaze was …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and its ambassador to Washington on Thursday, and the Israeli officials expressed “deep concern” about Iran’s nuclear activities, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting in Washington followed talks this week between U.S. …

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has taken a more conciliatory public stance towards Iran, trying to balance long-held animosity with economic considerations and bridge differences with Washington over how to tackle Tehran’s regional behaviour. Tensions between Riyadh and Tehran have festered over the Yemen war, where an Iran-aligned group has increased …

Al Arabiya TV is being accused by the Iranian news agency IRNA of distorting the “truth” behind the Iranian missile ideology, the Saudi-owned network said Saturday. The network said the IRNA had accused Al Arabiya of focusing its news reports on “the regional threats posed by Iranian missiles.” IRNA said …

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Sunday on the first visit by a senior representative of the Biden administration, whose stance on Iran has worried Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Austin was due to meet Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz during the two-day visit, …

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Iran on Friday for a visit that Iranian state media said would see the signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, which are both under U.S sanctions. The accord, final details of which are yet to be announced, is expected …

Senior U.S. and Israel officials focused on concerns about Iran during the first virtual meeting of a bilateral strategic group on Thursday, the White House said, an issue on which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has differences with the new Biden administration. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, …

Britain, France and Germany have scrapped a U.S.-backed plan for the U.N. nuclear watchdog to criticise Iran for reducing cooperation with its inspectors, in a bid to avoid escalation and make room for diplomacy, diplomats said on Thursday. Tehran and Washington have emerged from U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to …

Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his “initial assessment” was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship, a vehicle-carrier named MV Helios Ray, suffered an explosion between Thursday and Friday morning. A U.S. defence official in Washington …

The Iranian regime is using the Houthi militia as a pressure card against the international community and the US administration to extract concessions on the 2015 nuclear agreement, Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani said on Thursday. Al-Eryani claimed that Iran is pressuring the Houthis for a military escalation in …

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country’s detention of American citizens, calling the matter a “complete and utter outrage”. Iran has arrested dozens of dual nationals, including several Americans, in recent years, mostly on espionage …

John Bolton, former US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, said on Wednesday that while a return to the Iran nuclear deal appears to be a priority for the Biden administration, he doubts the sincerity of Tehran’s promises not to pursue the development of nuclear weapons. In an interview with …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday “the path to diplomacy is open right now” with Iran over its 2015 nuclear deal but would not address whether the Biden administration has had any direct engagement with Iranian officials. “The path to diplomacy is open right now. Iran is …

Israel held out the possibility on Tuesday that it would not engage with US President Joe Biden on strategy regarding the Iranian nuclear program, urging tougher sanctions and a “credible military threat” against its arch-enemy. The remarks by Israel’s envoy to Washington came at a touchy juncture for Prime Minister …

Russia has urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. “We understand the logic of their actions and the reasons prompting Iran. Despite this it is necessary to show restraint and a …

Qatar is working to de-escalate tension in the region by advocating for a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, state media quoted its foreign minister as saying. “The State of Qatar is working on de-escalation through a political and diplomatic process to return to the nuclear agreement,” Foreign Minister …

The United States is weighing a wide array of ideas on how to revive the Iranian nuclear deal, including an option where both sides would take small steps short of full compliance to buy time, said three sources familiar with the matter. Such a modest approach could slow the deterioration …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Iran and other issues on Friday in a virtual meeting with his British, French and German counterparts as the group weighs how to revive the Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. State Department said beside Iran, other issues including the coronavirus pandemic, Myanmar, Russia, …

UN inspectors have unearthed fresh evidence that Iran had undertaken work on nuclear weapons without declaring such activities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. “Samples taken from two sites during inspections in the fall by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contained traces of radioactive material,” the report …

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday welcomed the renewed U.S. willingness to engage with Iran, offered himself as an honest broker and said Saudi Arabia and Israel must ultimately be involved somehow. “We do need to finalize, indeed, a new negotiation with Iran,” Macron told the Washington-based Atlantic Council think …

The United States on Wednesday said it was “disappointed” by the UN’s top court ruling that it can take up Iran’s bid to overturn US nuclear sanctions reimposed by Donald Trump. “I would say that we have great respect for the International Court of Justice,” State Department spokesman Ned Price …

Judges at the highest U.N. court for disputes between states on Wednesday ruled that they can hear a case filed by Iran against the United States seeking to have sanctions against Tehran lifted. A majority of a panel of 16 judges found that the International Court of Justice, also known …

Iran has deepened a key breach of its 2015 nuclear deal, enriching uranium with a larger number of advanced centrifuge machines in an underground plant as it faces off with the new U.S. administration on salvaging the accord. Tehran has recently accelerated its breaches of the deal, raising pressure on …

Turkey hopes the United States will return to the nuclear deal with Iran under US President Joe Biden’s administration, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Istanbul, Cavusoglu said Turkey would also like to see sanctions imposed on …

Tehran will not accept US demands that it reverse an acceleration of its nuclear program before Washington lifts sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday. The demand “is not practical and will not happen”, he said at a joint news conference in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut …

Israel’s top general said on Tuesday that its military was refreshing its operational plans against Iran and that any U.S. return to a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be “wrong.” The remarks are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to tread cautiously in any diplomatic engagement with …

Iran may cooperate with the United States on oil and security in the Gulf, but not on Israel, the Iranian foreign minister said in remarks published on Saturday. Ties between Tehran and Washington worsened under the administration of former President Donald Trump, who in 2018 withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear …