Tag Archives: nuclear deal

The United States on Wednesday identified seven companies that it has blacklisted for trade in Iranian petrochemicals – three based in mainland China, three in Hong Kong and one in South Africa – the State Department said in a statement. Separately, the department also named five Iranian nuclear scientists who …

By Seyed Hossein Mousavian   Once the situation is de-escalated, there could be a chance for a breakthrough in relations, especially after upcoming presidential elections Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, containment has been the default Iran policy of every US administration. Presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have pursued an ill-advised …

Iran on Thursday stood by its decision to deny U.N. nuclear inspectors access to sites where they have questions about past activities, arguing that the agency’s case is based on “fabricated” Israeli intelligence. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is policing Iran’s troubled nuclear deal with major powers, sounded an …

Anti-Western hardliners are set to sweep Iran’s parliamentary elections and appear favorites to clinch the presidency next year, but an economic crisis could force them to engage with the United States despite their tightening grip on power. Tehran has ruled out any talks with Washington unless it lifts crippling sanctions …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Wednesday a proposal for a new “Trump deal” aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a “strange” offer and criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called …

Dr. Haytham Mouzahem, head of Beirut Centre for Middle East Studies talks to International Affairs Review on the assasination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by US strikes in Baghdad airport earlier today and the implications for the region.   Do you see this assasination as an escalation between the US and …

U.N. nuclear inspectors are on the ground in Iran and will report back on relevant activities, an International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman said on Wednesday after Iran said it injected uranium gas into centrifuges at its Fordow site. “We are aware of the media reports today related to Fordow. Agency …

Iran said on Monday it would take another step away from the 2015 nuclear deal by developing centrifuges to speed up its uranium enrichment, its nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said. “Today, we are witnessing the launch of the array of 30 IR-6 centrifuges,” Salehi, who heads Iran’s Atomic Energy …

Iran will use every possible way to export its oil, Iranian Oil Ministry’s website SHANA quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying on Sunday, adding that exporting crude was the country’s legitimate right. “We will use every possible way to export our oil and we will not succumb to America’s …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world powers on Thursday not to open a dialogue with Iran, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he may meet his Iranian counterpart to resolve a crisis over Tehran’s nuclear program and sanctions against it. “This is not the time to hold talks with …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that he was “very confident” the United States would be able to build a maritime coalition in the Gulf, despite a lukewarm response from European and Asian allies. Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper were speaking alongside their Australian counterparts …

Germany will not participate in a U.S.-led naval mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, close to Iran, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday. Stressing that Germany wants to avoid a further escalation of tensions in the region, Maas told reporters on a trip to Warsaw that there was …

The United States is set to announce this week it will renew sanctions waivers for five Iran nuclear programs that allow Russia, China and European countries to continue civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. President Donald Trump, in an Oval Office meeting last week, sided …

Iran said on Saturday missile tests were part of its defensive needs and were not directed against any country, after Washington said Tehran had test-fired a medium-range missile. A U.S. defense official said Iran tested what appeared to be a medium-range ballistic missile on Wednesday that traveled about 1,000 km …

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they would release images to disprove U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. Navy has destroyed an Iranian drone in the Gulf, Iranian news agencies reported. “Soon, images captured by the Guards drones from the U.S. warship Boxer will be published to expose …

A compromise deal remains the best way to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has confirmed that Iran earlier this month violated the 2015 accord, and Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday said Tehran would keep removing restraints on …

By Hossein Mousavian*   In May 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was designed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and had been agreed on after 12 years of exhaustive negotiations. The US began to impose new economic and …

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday that there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal and that despite the United States being Britain’s closest ally it disagreed on how to handle the Iran crisis. “Iran is still a good year away from developing a nuclear bomb. …

The United States has granted a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend a U.N. meeting in New York this week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday, saying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had approved the decision. Had Pompeo not approved giving Zarif, Iran’s …

The European Union fully backs Iraq’s efforts to de-escalate growing tensions between the United States and Iran because conflict will have dire consequences for all sides, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday. Speaking at a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim during a visit to …

China regrets Iran’s decision to boost uranium enrichment above a cap set in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, its foreign ministry said on Monday, reiterating that the standoff needed to be resolved diplomatically. At a daily briefing, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also reiterated that China called on all sides involved …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he informed U.S. President Donald Trump in advance of what Israel has described as a spy mission in Tehran last year to capture a secret Iranian nuclear archive. Netanyahu said in April 2018 that Mossad operatives had spirited thousands of hidden …

Israel is preparing for its possible military involvement in any escalation in the Gulf confrontation between Iran and the United States, the Israeli foreign minister said on Tuesday. The unraveling of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under U.S. diplomatic pressure, Iran’s downing of a U.S. drone and its alleged role …

Britain, France and Germany will not for the moment trigger a dispute resolution mechanism enshrined in the 2015 Iran nuclear accord that could lead to the reimposition of United Nations sanctions, two European diplomats said. Iran’s announcement on Monday that it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted was confirmed …

U.S. President Donald Trump should realize that Iranians become more united when bullied, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday in remarks broadcast live on state television. Iran announced on Monday it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, drawing a …

OPEC and its allies look set to extend oil supply cuts this week at least until the end of 2019 as Iran joined top producers Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia in endorsing a policy aimed at propping up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy. Iranian Oil Minister …

Iran said Friday’s meeting in Vienna between the remaining signatories of the nuclear deal was the “last chance” to save the accord after the U.S. withdrawal last year and warned Tehran would not accept “artificial” solutions to U.S. sanctions. Iran is threatening to exceed the maximum amount of enriched uranium …

The Gulf region is in a very sensitive situation and is “standing at a crossroads of war and peace”, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday, calling for calm and restraint and talks to resolve the issue. Tensions have risen in the Gulf, especially between Iran and the United States, …

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was “not talking boots on the ground” should military action be necessary against Iran, and said any conflict would not last long. Asked if a war was brewing, Trump told Fox Business Network: “I hope we don’t but we’re in a very …

Iran will speed up enrichment of uranium after a deadline given to European countries to prevent this ends on Thursday, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Wednesday, according to the IRIB news agency. “The deadline of the Atomic Energy Organization for passing the production of enriched uranium …

New sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran are illegal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. Speaking on a regular media call, Peskov declined to say what measures Russia might adopt to counteract the U.S. sanctions. Source: Reuters

Any conflict in the Gulf region may spread uncontrollably, a senior Iranian military commander was cited as saying on Sunday by the semi-official news agency Fars. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he aborted a military strike to retaliate for Iran’s downing of a drone because it could have …

Britain’s Middle East minister Andrew Murrison will visit Iran on Sunday for “frank and constructive” talks, the Foreign Office said, amid escalating tension between Tehran and Washington after the downing of an unmanned U.S. drone. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he aborted a military strike to retaliate for …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called on the international community to support the United States against Iran as tensions between the two countries escalated after the downing of a U.S. drone by Iran. “In the last 24 hours Iran has intensified its aggression against the United States and …

According to the International Institute for Iranian Studies, a Saudi think tank based in Riyadh, the US maximum pressure strategy to lower Iranian oil exports to zero has led Iran “reacting in an aggressive manner and exposing itself further regionally and internationally, with it engaging in a number of belligerent …

Iran said on Wednesday it will start enriching uranium at a higher level in July and won’t give European powers any more time to prevent this move by protecting Tehran from U.S. sanctions. Iran stopped complying in May with some commitments in the 2015 nuclear deal that was agreed with …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was prepared to take military action to stop Tehran from getting a nuclear bomb but left open whether he would back the use of force to protect Gulf oil supplies that Washington fears may be under threat by Iran. Worries about a confrontation between …

The Chinese government’s top diplomat warned on Tuesday that the world should not open a “Pandora’s Box” in the Middle East, as he denounced U.S. pressure on Iran and called on it not to drop out of a landmark nuclear deal. Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United …

The United States has allowed Iraq to import Iranian gas for its power grid for another three months by extending a waiver to sanctions – but insists that Baghdad seek alternative sources. Iraq has had several extensions to the waiver first granted last year after Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran’s …

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was ready to launch talks with Iran whenever it was ready, even as he blamed Tehran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. “We want to get them back to the table,” Trump told Fox News in an …

Iran has no intention of making or using nuclear weapons, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying on Thursday by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Khamenei’s comment, a reiteration of Iran’s stance, comes at a time of increased U.S.-Iranian tension, a year after Washington abandoned an agreement …

Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials said on Wednesday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the country for a two-day visit. Abe, the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic …

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on a visit to Tehran this week, in a bid to ease tension between Washington and Iran that experts called a bold move for a Japanese leader. Tension has escalated a year after Washington …

Iran has followed through on a threat to accelerate its production of enriched uranium, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Monday, departing from his usual guarded language to say he was worried about increasing tension. The assessment comes at a time of sharply increased U.S.-Iranian confrontation in …