Tag Archives: sanctions

The Saudi-led military coalition battling Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Sunday it conducted air strikes on Houthi military targets in Sanaa and other regions after the group launched armed drones towards Saudi Arabia. The coalition, which said it had destroyed 10 armed drones, said in a statement on Saudi …

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 …

Britain, France and Germany are pressing ahead with a U.S.-backed plan for a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s board criticising Iran for curbing cooperation with the agency, despite Russian and Iranian warnings of serious consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting …

Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty is a red line, Saudi columnists said on Sunday, ramping up rhetoric in defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Prince Mohammed, de facto ruler of the U.S.-allied Gulf powerhouse, has denied any …

President Joe Biden on Saturday said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday, following a U.S. intelligence report that found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration has faced some criticism, notably an editorial in the Washington …

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 …

In the week since Washington offered to talk with Tehran about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran has curbed U.N. monitoring, threatened to boost uranium enrichment and its suspected proxies have twice rocketed Iraqi bases with U.S. soldiers. In return, the United States and three allies, Britain, France and Germany, …

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief described his weekend deal with Iran on continued monitoring of its nuclear activities for up to three months as one where data is gathered but his agency is only able to access it afterwards. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran announced on Sunday that …

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday Iran might enrich uranium up to 60% purity if the country needed it and would never yield to U.S. pressure over its nuclear programme, state television reported. Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers, which it has been breaching since the United …

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 …

joint cThe U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday it had struck a deal with Iran to cushion the blow of steps Tehran plans to take this week that include ending snap inspections, with both sides agreeing to keep “necessary” monitoring for up to three months. The announcement by International Atomic …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday he saw a window of opportunity for Iran and the United States on sanctions after recent statements, adding he wanted U.S. sanctions on Tehran to be lifted, the Turkish presidency said. Tehran said on Sunday the United States …

Iran is studying a European Union proposal for an informal meeting between current members of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal and the United States, but has yet to respond to it, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday. Iran and the United States have been at odds over who …

The United States on Thursday told the United Nations Security Council it was rescinding a Trump administration assertion that all U.N. sanctions had been reimposed on Iran in September. Acting U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills informed the 15-member body in a letter seen by Reuters. The Trump administration quit the 2015 …

U.S. President Joe Biden made a long-awaited first phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after a delay that had seen Washington deny it was snubbing Israel’s leader. There had been speculation that the Democratic president was signaling displeasure over Netanyahu’s close ties with former President Donald …

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 …

A U.S. judge found no proof that federal prosecutors in Manhattan knowingly withheld key evidence from lawyers for a banker charged with Iran sanctions violations, even as she excoriated the government for mishandling the case. In an order on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan urged the Department …

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 …

Iran has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it will dramatically scale back cooperation with it in a week, a report by the agency to its member states showed on Tuesday, ratcheting up protests against U.S. sanctions still choking its economy. Iran has accelerated its breaches of its 2015 nuclear deal …

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 …

Iran said on Monday it will block snap inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog from next week if other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal do not fulfil their obligations, a challenge to U.S. President Joe Biden’s hope of reviving the accord. “If others do not fulfil their obligations by …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he will revoke terrorist designations of Yemen’s Houthi movement effective Feb. 16, even as he warned that members of the group could be hit with more sanctions. The Trump administration imposed the specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) and foreign terrorist organization …

Turkey will not turn back from its acquisition of Russian S-400 defense systems despite U.S. sanctions, it said on Thursday, but added it would seek to resolve issues with its NATO ally through dialogue. In December, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara for acquiring the S-400s on grounds they threaten its …

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 …

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 …

Iran will be weeks away from building a nuclear bomb if it stays on its current path, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Monday. In his first TV interview since his appointment was confirmed last month, Blinken said Tehran was months away from being able to produce enough …

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a way on Monday to overcome the U.S.-Iranian impasse over who goes first in returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying a top EU official could “synchronize” or “choreograph” the moves. Zarif’s stance was a shift from his position, expressed in a …

Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday rejected any new negotiations or changes to the participants of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, after French President Emmanuel Macron said any new talks should include Saudi Arabia. “The nuclear accord is a multilateral international agreement ratified by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which …

The new U.S. Iran envoy spoke with British, French and German officials on Thursday as the United States explores how to revive the 2015 nuclear deal former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. “It was to take stock of the dossier and …

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 …

President Joe Biden has named Robert Malley as special U.S. envoy for Iran, a senior official said on Thursday, giving the veteran diplomat a leading role in one of most daunting and politically divisive foreign policy challenges facing the new administration. Malley was a key member of former President Barack …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday stuck to his stance that Tehran must resume complying with the Iran nuclear deal before Washington, which abandoned the pact under former President Donald Trump, would do so. Making his first public comments on Iran as the chief U.S. diplomat, Blinken reiterated …

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 …

The United States on Monday approved all transactions involving Yemen’s Houthi movement for the next month as Washington reviews a Trump administration designation of the Iran-aligned group as a foreign terrorist organization. The move appeared designed to allay fears of companies and banks involved in commercial trade to Yemen, which …

Indonesia said its coast guard seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters on Sunday. Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, have been escorted to Batam island in Riau Island …

Twenty-two aid groups working in Yemen called on Sunday for the new U.S. administration to revoke the designation of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, saying it puts millions of lives and the peace process at risk. The U.S. State Department has initiated a review of the …