36 h. ago Xi reiterates support for Iran nuclear programme amid Western pressure

Chinese President Xi Jinping doubled down on his support for Iran to “safeguard its national sovereignty” and vowed to promote a widely accepted solution to the Iranian nuclear issue as Tehran faces mounting Western pressures over its nuclear programme. “China attaches importance to Iran’s repeated affirmation that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, respects Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Xi told his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, according to state-owned...

Events

4 d. ago Iran arrests 8 over suspected links to Israel’s attack, Mossad spy agency

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday they had arrested eight people suspected of trying to transmit the coordinates of sensitive sites and details about senior military figures to Israel’s Mossad, Iranian state media reported. They are accused of having provided the information to the Mossad spy agency during Israel’s air war on Iran in June, when it attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and killed top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since...

Events

6 d. ago European nations trigger Iran sanctions ‘snapback’, as nuclear tensions rise

Britain, France and Germany on Thursday launched a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, a step likely to stoke tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran. A senior Iranian official quickly accused the three European powers of harming diplomacy and vowed that Tehran would not bow to pressure over the move by the E3 to launch the so-called “snapback mechanism”. The three powers feared they would otherwise lose the prerogative...

Events

6 d. ago ‘Snapback’ sanctions on Iran loom as IAEA chief’s concerns remain

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned on Wednesday that the agency was not yet satisfied with Iran’s cooperation with international inspectors, just as European leaders appeared poised to reimpose sanctions on Tehran after a series of last-minute meetings failed to reach a diplomatic resolution on its nuclear programme. Despite Iran allowing inspectors back in for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, regaining access to crucial nuclear facilities was still “a work in...

Politics

7 d. ago UN inspectors back in Iran amid nuclear programme talks, no inspection deal yet

UN nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel’s attacks on its nuclear sites, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told lawmakers Tehran had still not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the UN’s IAEA watchdog, the parliament news agency ICANA reported. But he said the inspectors would supervise the changing of fuel at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power...

Events

8 d. ago Iran nuclear deal risks collapse over European demand for talks, inspection

The 2015 deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme is on the verge of collapse after its three European signatories last week threatened to reinstate United Nations sanctions if Tehran did not heed Western demands. With Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejecting pressure from his British, French and German counterparts on Friday to resume negotiations with a disinterested United States and allow UN inspectors back into nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US in...

Events

9 d. ago China urges ‘dialogue’ to resolve Iran nuclear issue as new sanctions loom

Beijing has urged that the Iran nuclear issue be resolved through political and diplomatic means as Tehran faces new economic sanctions. Chinese foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu and Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi spoke by phone on Sunday, during which Ma was described as having voiced China’s hope that all parties concerned would “remain committed to resolving the issue through political and diplomatic means and actively create conditions for an early resumption of dialogue and...

Events