Guardian – Britain and other international powers are set for crunch talks to persuade Iran to abandon its efforts to enrich uranium, after Tehran temporarily held back on its threat to breach the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran had threatened to go over the 300kg limit for low-enriched uranium stockpiles on Thursday, but experts at the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said …

PayvanNews – The Persian Gulf is one of the most populous and environmentally-sensitive regions in the world. Consequently, it is no surprise that Gulf states are increasingly dependent on desalination for their drinking water. But that dependence carries severe risks in a region as volatile as the Gulf has been, especially in light of recent tensions between the United States …

AP — Heading into what is likely his most consequential overseas trip of the year, President Donald Trump will be forced to grapple with a flurry of international crises, tense negotiations and a growing global to-do list. Trump goes first to Osaka, Japan, for the annual Group of 20 summit, then on to South Korea for consultations on North Korea’s …

VOA – U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appear to be talking to each other via media headlines rather than any effective diplomatic channels. While Khamenei says Trump is afraid of a military confrontation, the U.S. president in his latest remarks to Fox Business Network on June 26 that a possible confrontation with Iran “would’nt last …

Al-Arabia – Iran is still short of the maximum amount of enriched uranium it is allowed to have under its deal with major powers but it is on course to reach that limit at the weekend, the latest data from UN nuclear inspectors shows, diplomats say. On Wednesday, the UN nuclear watchdog verified that Iran had roughly 200 kg of …

Al-Arabia – French President Emmanuel Macron warned Iran on Thursday not to quit its 2015 nuclear deal or give signals that it intended to do so, and said he would discuss efforts to avoid military escalation with US President Donald Trump. US allies in Europe have been alarmed by an escalation between the United States and Iran in recent weeks, …

RFL/RE – The U.S. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, is holding talks on Iran with French, German, and British top diplomats in Paris on June 27.Talks come amid efforts by European countries to try to save a landmark 2015 nuclear deal struck by world powers with Tehran.European signatories of the accord want to avoid a further escalation in tensions …

VOA – Iran’s wealthy top diplomat, who has spent a third of his life in the United States, could see Washington sanction his assets and further limit his ability to visit the U.S. in the coming days. In a White House press briefing Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said President Donald Trump had instructed him to impose sanctions on …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Five men were hanged at the Iranian city of Karaj’s Rajai-Shahr prison this morning. According to IHR sources, on the early morning of Wednesday, June 26, five prisoners were executed at Rajai-Shahr prison. Most of them were sentenced to death for murder charges. IHR could identify three of the executed prisoners as Ghorban Soleimani, Hanif …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country’s plan to scale back on the commitments it pledged under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a “phased” process that leaves the window to diplomacy open. Yet Araghchi, who was also a senior negotiator in the marathon nuclear talks culminating in the landmark accord in 2015, hit …