(Reuters) -Iran on Saturday named a man it wants arrested in connection with a recent explosion and power outage at its main Natanz nuclear plant, as talks got underway in Vienna to try to save Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. “Reza Karimi, the perpetrator of this sabotage… has been identified” by Iran’s intelligence […]
(Reuters) – The speaker of Iran’s parliament said on Friday that Tehran had successfully enriched 60% uranium. “I am proud to announce that at 00:40 … Iranian scientists were able to produce 60% enriched uranium,” Mohammad Qalibaf said on Twitter. (dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
North Korea could resume nuclear tests this year as a way to force President Joe Biden’s administration to enter into dialogue, US intelligence experts said in a report released Tuesday. “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may take a number of aggressive and potentially destabilizing actions to reshape the regional security environment and drive wedges […]
The United States offered “very serious” ideas to Iran on how to revive a nuclear deal during talks in Vienna but is waiting for Iran to show the same “seriousness,” a US official said Friday. “The United States team put forward a very serious idea and demonstrated a seriousness of purpose on coming back into […]
Israel briefly came to a standstill on Thursday with the morning bustle halted for two minutes at 10:00 am (0700 GMT) as sirens blared to honour the victims of the Holocaust. In an annual ritual, pedestrians froze in place and drivers stopped and stood in silence beside their vehicles, honouring the six million Jews killed […]
(Reinstates dropped word ‘than’ in first para) DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran has made 55 kg of uranium enriched to up to 20% – the point at which it is highly enriched – indicating quicker production than the 10 kg a month rate required by an Iranian law that created the process in January, Iranian authorities said […]
US and Iranian officials said initial indirect talks in Vienna on Tuesday aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal were “constructive”, with negotiations set to continue this week as US President Joe Biden looks for ways to revive the agreement. “We do see this as a constructive and certainly welcome step,” US State Department spokesman […]
(Reuters) – Iran’s government wants the United States to lift all sanctions on its country and rejects any “step-by-step” easing of the restrictions, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported on Saturday. The two countries said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from next week as part of broader negotiations to revive the […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 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, and his […]
The Biden administration hasn’t wasted time in making a significant shift in US policy toward the Middle East. Over the past week, the US has launched reprisal strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and released damning intelligence overtly linking the crown prince of Saudi Arabia to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Both decisions represent […]
By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on Monday for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, an accusation rejected by Tehran. The vehicle-carrier MV Helios Ray was hit between Thursday night and Friday morning by a blast above the water line that […]
President Joe Biden held a long-delayed first phone call Thursday with Saudi King Salman ahead of an imminent US intelligence report expected to link the Arab kingdom’s powerful crown prince to the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Biden kept the king waiting in his long list of calls to US allies after being sworn […]
On Thursday, following a military strike on an Iranian military target in Syria, CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins broke down the implications of the action — and its possible implications on diplomacy with Iran. “We’re told this came from the top down, the decision to target these sites specifically. That means it came from President Biden […]
Iran will vote in June for a successor to President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate-reformist government, but politics in the country is dominated by the nuclear issue and no frontrunner has emerged. Several conservative heavyweights are thought to be considering running in the key June 18 race, with the winner to help set the direction […]
US President Joe Biden’s administration said Wednesday that its “patience is not unlimited” with Iran as it renewed an offer for talks on its nuclear program. The United States on February 18 offered to meet with Iran under the auspices of the European Union in a bid to revive a nuclear deal trashed by former […]
Iran must refrain from any provocation as Washington steps up efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, the head of US forces in the Middle East told AFP. “I would think this would be a good time for everybody to behave soberly and cautiously, and see what happens,” General Kenneth McKenzie said in […]
In his first big appearance on the global stage, US President Joe Biden on Friday called on fellow world leaders to come together to prove that “democracies can still deliver” as he underscored his administration’s determination to quickly turn the page on Donald Trump’s “America First” approach. In an online speech to the Munich Security […]
The Biden administration says it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. The State Department said Thursday the U.S. would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants in the original agreement. Such an invitation has not yet […]
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid any tensions to rest Wednesday by finally holding their first phone call since the change of administration in Washington. Netanyahu was one of the last foreign leaders to get a call from Biden, who took office on January 20, despite Israel’s special relationship with […]
Top diplomats from European powers and the United States will hold talks on Thursday to see how to revive the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear drive, days ahead of a deadline set by Tehran that could hinder the efforts by limiting inspections. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will host his German and British counterparts […]
Iran’s millions-strong legion of gamers revel in online worlds, but they have to fight daily real-life obstacles imposed by US sanctions in their quest to level up and keep playing. “It’s a problem between governments and a pain for the consumer,” said 24-year-old gamer and game journalist Amir Golkhani. “We have no political demands. We […]
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Tuesday agreed to dismiss a case against Turkish state lender Halkbank filed by victims of attacks by groups linked to Iran, on the condition that the sides reach an agreement to carry on with the case in Turkey. Halkbank has been at the centre of a major dispute […]
By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel held out the possibility on Tuesday it would not engage with U.S. President Joe Biden on strategy regarding the Iranian nuclear programme if he returns to a 2015 deal with Tehran. The remarks by Israel’s envoy to Washington came at a touchy juncture for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waiting for the phone to ring. But President Joe Biden is taking his time. Biden is making clear he is in no rush to court the Israeli leader, a marked shift from his predecessor Donald Trump that some observers see as an early signal that the United States will […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that the United States should lift all sanctions if Washington wants Tehran to reverse its nuclear steps. “Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, not the United States and the three European countries … If they want Iran to […]
The new US government has named Rob Malley, an architect of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, as its special envoy to Tehran, but policy hawks say he’s too soft on the Islamic republic. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is “building a dedicated team” to address Washington’s relations with Iran, to be led by Malley, […]
Brazil’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been ranked the world’s worst, while New Zealand topped the class, according to research published by a leading Australian think tank on Thursday. Sydney’s Lowy Institute assessed almost 100 countries on six criteria, including confirmed cases, deaths and testing metrics. “Collectively, these indicators point to how well or […]
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spent the weeks after the first of the year trying to rewrite history on Twitter about what he accomplished in the office. If it was up to Pompeo, he would be to thank for establishing peace in the Middle East, saving Israel, bringing the troops home and proclaim he […]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Tuesday that arch-enemy Iran has become a new “home base” for Al-Qaeda worse than Afghanistan, an assertion questioned by experts. In a speech a week before leaving office, Pompeo confirmed a New York Times report that Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command was killed last year in Tehran, although he did not […]
President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that Washington was demanding Iranian transactions for novel coronavirus vaccines pass through US banks, and expressed fear the money could be seized. US President Donald Trump has imposed wave after wave of sanctions on the Islamic republic since 2018, when he unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Iran has […]