Category Archives: Iran

Gulf leaders call on Trump to rein in Israel after Qatar emergency summit

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Arab states say US should use its leverage and influence as they promise to ‘activate joint defence mechanisms’

Gulf leaders meeting at an emergency summit in Qatar have called on the Trump administration to use its leverage to rein in Israel following the unprecedented Israeli attempt last Tuesday to assassinate Hamas negotiators in Doha.

Speaking after the meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the group’s secretary general, Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, said: “We … expect our strategic partners in the United States to use their influence on Israel in order for it to stop this behaviour … they have leverage and influence on Israel, and it’s about time that this leverage and influence be used.”

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UN inspectors can resume work at Iran nuclear sites after breakthrough deal

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Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, says agreement with Tehran is ‘important step in the right direction’

Tehran and the UN nuclear inspectorate have reached an agreement that will allow UN inspectors to return to inspect all of Iran’s nuclear sites, including those bombed by Israel and the US in June.

The breakthrough, confirmed by Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came during a three-hour meeting on Monday between Grossi and the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in Cairo.

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US visa refusal for Palestinian delegation prompts calls to move UN meeting to Geneva

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General assembly session about two-state solution for Palestine and Israel due to start in New York on Tuesday

The US’s refusal to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation to the UN general assembly has led to calls for a one-day conference on a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel to be moved from the UN’s headquarters in New York to its other main site in Geneva.

Donald Trump’s White House has already refused to grant a visa to the Palestinian Authority (PA) president, Mahmoud Abbas, and 80 other Palestinian officials for the general assembly session, which begins on Tuesday.

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Iran will exchange nuclear monitoring for lifted sanctions, says its foreign minister

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Seyyed Abbas Araghchi says European nations should engage constructively and not facilitate ‘America’s excesses’

Iran is ready to form a real and lasting agreement that includes strict monitoring and limits on its domestic uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, its foreign minister, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, has said.

But, writing for the Guardian, he urges the European nations to change course and abandon their plan to snapback a wide array of UN sanctions at the end of the month.

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Iran accuses Europe of stepping aside and letting Trump dictate nuclear deal terms

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Foreign ministry official says US will be dictating what happens once UN-wide sanctions are reimposed

Europe is on the verge of abandoning its role as a mediator between the US and Iran and instead handing the Iran nuclear file over to Donald Trump’s veto, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said in an interview with the Guardian in Tehran.

Esmail Baghaei said that as soon as UN-wide sanctions were reimposed at Europe’s demand in less than 30 days’ time, the US would regain its security council veto over what happens next, including the continuance of sanctions.

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UK, Germany and France say they have triggered UN sanctions on Iran

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Move by trio of European powers gives Tehran 30 days to improve access for inspection of its nuclear sites

The UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites or face deeper worldwide economic isolation.

UK officials said the decision had not been taken lightly and there had been intensive diplomacy to try to avert this step. The officials emphasised there was still room for last-ditch diplomacy before the sanctions “snapback” comes into force in 30 days’ time. The annual high-level UN general assembly in September is likely to involve more intensive diplomacy over the situation with Iran.

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Expelled ambassador says allegations against Iran ‘baseless’ during Sydney airport exit

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Ahmad Sadeghi faced media questioning at the airport before boarding a flight out of Australia

Iran’s former ambassador to Australia – now persona non grata – has denied allegations his government was behind two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia, describing the accusations as “baseless” as he left the country.

Ahmad Sadeghi faced media questioning at Sydney airport before boarding a flight out of Australia.

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Return of UN nuclear inspectors to Iran met with protests by MPs

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Some Iranian officials say readmission breaches law passed after Israel and the US attacked the country in June

The partial return of UN inspectors to Iran for the first time since Israel and the US attacked Iran’s nuclear sites has been met with protests by officials in Tehran, who claim the strict preconditions they set have been breached. Some even described the return as criminal.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, tried to quell the backlash by saying the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not be visiting any of the bombed sites and that discussions about these were still to be had.

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Russia could back delay to ‘snapback’ of nuclear sanctions against Iran

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Moscow willing to support six-month extension of deadline before punishments are reimposed, reports suggest

Russia could back an extended six-month deadline for its ally Iran before European powers reimpose sweeping United Nations sanctions over Tehran’s refusal to allow UN inspectors back into nuclear sites after the Israeli-US assault in June.

France, Britain and Germany – known as the E3 – have long threatened to trigger a “snapback” of sanctions at the UN security council before 18 October, when a largely defunct nuclear deal struck 10 years ago between Tehran and major powers expires.

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Australian Jewish groups applaud expulsion of Iranian diplomats but say community faces renewed fears

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Adass Israel synagogue board member says announcement of Iran’s involvement in December arson attack has caused ‘general fear’ among congregation

Australian Jewish groups have applauded the government’s “entirely appropriate” move to expel the Iranian ambassador in light of Iran’s alleged connections to antisemitic attacks in Australia – but say the “horrendous” news has renewed fears among the already traumatised community.

Responding to news the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps will be listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia, Jewish community members said the action was welcome but overdue.

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Israeli airstrikes on Tehran killed inmates in ‘apparent war crime’ – report

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Human Rights Watch also finds that Iran abused survivors of June attack, which killed 80 people

Israeli airstrikes on Tehran’s Evin prison in June killed scores of detainees, visitors and staff in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called an “apparent war crime”. Iranian authorities have since subjected survivors to abuse, enforced disappearances and inhumane detention conditions, the rights group said.

HRW’s investigation, based on satellite imagery, videos and witness accounts, found the 23 June Israeli airstrikes destroyed visitation halls, prison wards, the central kitchen, the medical clinic and administrative offices. No evident military targets were identified in the facility, which held more than 1,500 prisoners at the time, many of whom had been jailed for peaceful activism.

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Iran and Russia stand to lose from US deal with Azerbaijan and Armenia

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Trump-brokered peace treaty predicted to suffocate geopolitical influence of Washington’s rivals in region

Iran expressed concern about foreign interference on Saturday, fearing it had been carved out of a declaration brokered by Donald Trump between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two countries have come closer to ending 35 years of enmity by signing a peace treaty in Washington and agreeing to a US private consortium taking control of a strategic corridor on Iran’s border.

The corridor passing through southern Armenia will link Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan, a longstanding demand of Baku. The US will operate the corridor under Armenian sovereignty on a 99-year land lease, changing the balance of power in the region. Some Iranian commentators claimed the deal amounts to “Iran’s geopolitical suffocation in the region”.

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Son of British woman held in Iran speaks to her for first time in 213 days

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Joe Bennett says Lindsay Foreman sounded in good spirits despite her and husband being charged with espionage

The son of a British woman being held in Iran on espionage charges has said speaking to her on the phone for the first time in 213 days felt like “five birthdays and 10 Christmases at once”.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, were arrested on 3 January in Kerman, southern Iran, while travelling through the country from Armenia to Pakistan on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

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British couple held in Iran moved to separate prisons heightening welfare concerns

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Lindsay and Craig Foreman were detained seven months ago on espionage charges while on global motorbike trip

A British couple detained in Iran for seven months on espionage charges have been moved to separate prisons in and near Tehran, heightening fears for their welfare, their son said on Monday.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52 and who previously split their time between south-east England and Spain, were seized in Kerman, in central Iran, in early January while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

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Starmer says plan to airdrop Gaza aid and evacuate ill children will go ahead

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Leaders of UK, France and Germany call for lifting of aid restrictions and immediate ceasefire after holding talks

Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will be “taking forward” plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children who need medical assistance in an effort to relieve what Downing Street called an appalling situation.

Speaking to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Saturday morning, the prime minister outlined the UK’s intentions to work with Jordan to carry out the plans.

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At least six civilians killed in militant attack on courthouse in south-east Iran

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Jihadist separatist group Jaish al-Adl says it launched mortar, shooting and grenade attack in Sistan-Baluchestan

An attack by the jihadist separatist group Jaish al-Adl on a courthouse in Iran’s south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan has killed at least six civilians, including a mother and child, and wounded 22, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Attackers stormed the building, shooting a number of people inside. They then launched a second attack with mortars and grenade launchers on the courthouse, where a clash began with security forces that lasted three hours, according to the Baluch human rights group Haalvsh.

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Children investigated over Russian and Iranian plots against UK, says police chief

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Teenagers suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts on behalf of states, it is understood

Schoolchildren have been arrested by detectives investigating Russian and Iranian plots against Britain, a police chief has said, as he warned hostile state aggression was rising and youngsters were at risk.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism unit, said children in their “mid teens” had been investigated. It is understood they were suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts for Russia and Iran.

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Europe gives Iran deadline to contain nuclear programme or see sanctions reinstated

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UK, France and Germany say without firm commitment from Iran by 29 August they will reapply embargos that were lifted 10 years ago

The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced.

Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.”

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Europe urged to raise plight of Iran’s political prisoners in any future talks

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Rights activists say Tehran’s crackdown must be on agenda in any talks on future relations between Europe and Iran

Iranian human rights groups are urging MEPs and European governments to escalate the issue of Tehran’s mistreatment of political prisoners, arguing that the crackdown on internal dissent must be on the agenda in any talks about future relations between Europe and Iran.

The Iranian foreign ministry appears to be in no rush to stage further talks with the west without clear US assurances that it will not be attacked again.

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Iran’s threat to UK on a par with Russia’s, security report finds

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Parliamentary committee says UK is priority target for cyber and physical attacks as well as assassinations

Iran’s intimidation, including the fear of physical attack and assassination of Iranian dissidents living in the UK, is comparable in scale to the threat posed by Russia, parliament’s intelligence and security committee has found.

In a report published on Thursday, the committee (ISC) adds that the UK is a priority espionage target for Iranian cyber-attacks, ranking just below the US and Saudi Arabia.

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