Radiofarda – Iran may be ready to start de-escalating tensions with the West without insisting on the United States returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, according to a new report. President Hassan Rouhani has sent a message to French President Emmanuelle Macron suggesting an alternative to Macron’s “freeze for freeze” plan to tackle tensions between Tehran and Washington. Deputy Foreign …

Radiofarda – The owner of the U.K.-flagged ship held by Iran says it has made first contact with the crew of 23 since its seizure five days ago in the Strait of Hormuz. Stena Bulk says in a statement Wednesday it had direct communication with the crew of the Stena Impero on Tuesday evening. The ship’s master said “that everyone …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has congratulated Boris Johnson for his victory in the race to replace Theresa May as UK prime minister. Ina tweet on July 23 Zarif attacked May’s government for “seizure of Iranian oil at behest of US” calling it a “piracy”. Then he went on to congratulate Johnson, calling him “my former counterpart”. …

Radiofarda – An Iranian civic and labor activist jailed since January has begun a hunger strike to protest her treatment and that of his family at the hands of security organs. Sepideh Qolian (Gholian) who was supporting last year’s labor strikes in the oil-rich Khuzestan province was arrested twice; once in November 2018 and again in January on vague security-related …

Radiofarda – The U.S. military says that when it destroyed an Iranian drone last week over the Strait of Hormuz, it also took aim at a second drone. Iran denies it lost any drones. U.S. Central Command says that one Iranian drone crashed into the sea after the USS Boxer took what Central Command called “defensive action” against it last …

Radiofarda – France, Italy and Denmark gave initial support for a British plan for a European-led naval mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, proposed after Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker, three senior EU diplomats said on Tuesday. By Robin Emmott The cautious backing at a meeting of EU envoys in Brussels contrasts sharply with the …

Radiofarda -Last week, Iran raised the stakes in its intensifying standoff with the West still further when it seized a British oil tanker and briefly detained another British vessel in the Persian Gulf. To hear regime officials tell it, the seizure was fully justified – a simple enforcement of the country’s sovereign rights under international law. But there’s ample reason …

Al-Arabia – The seizure of the British-flagged tanker by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was “powerful, precise and professional,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday. The world should be thankful that the IRGC is preserving the security of the Strait of Hormuz, he added. Rouhani said that Iran has been and remains the protector of Bab al-Mandeb Strait …

Al-Arabia – The French Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Iran has to take the necessary steps to deescalate tensions, adding that talks with the Iranian deputy foreign minister served as a reminder to Tehran to return to the nuclear deal. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran will secure the Strait of Hormuz and not allow any …

Al-Arabia – Britain has sent a mediator to Iran to discuss the freeing of a British-flagged tanker seized by the Islamic Republic last week, the head of the Supreme Leader’s office said on Wednesday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news site. Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani provided no details about the British mediator’s trip but made an ironic reference to Britain’s involvement during …