Al-Arabia – The US condemned the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s continued attacks on Saudi Arabia, stressing that the militia is a threat to its allies, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a virtual press conference that the Kingdom was able to eliminate about 90 percent of Houthi attacks adding that …

RFL/RE – Diplomats from the three European countries directly involved in the negotiations to breathe new life in a faltering nuclear deal with Iran have stressed the “urgent” nature of talks.The eighth round of negotiations aimed at reviving the agreement, which unraveled after the United States withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran, opened in …

RFL/RE – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will Russia after receiving an invitation from Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, an Iranian government spokesman said on December 28. Putin has invited Raisi to Moscow early next year “in the framework of strategic interaction between Iran and Russia,” Ali Bahadori Jahromi said.. The visit would address “bilateral, regional and national cooperation” and in particular …

Al-Monitor – Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said Israel’s key Dimona nuclear facility will be “a prime target” should a war break out between the two archenemies.  According to Bagheri, to conduct such an attack at the heart of Israel’s Negev Desert, Iran possesses the knowhow and technology to use “multiple routes” and firing options …

VOA — Iran and Russia sounded upbeat about talks on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, with Tehran saying an accord was possible if other parties showed “good faith” and a Russian negotiator reporting “indisputable progress.”Iran and the United States resumed the indirect talks in Vienna on Monday, with Tehran focused on one side of the original bargain …

Al-Arabia – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that world powers should take a more firm position in nuclear talks with Iran. “Of course there can be a good agreement. Of course. We know the parameters. Is that expected to happen now ins the current dynamics? No. Because there needs to be a much firmer position,” Bennett said in …

RFL/RE – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said he is not opposed to a “good” nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, although he expressed skepticism that the talks that resumed this week can result in such an outcome. “At the end of the day, of course there can be a good deal,” Bennett told Israeli Army Radio on …

RFL/RE – French tourist Benjamin Briere, who has been in an Iranian prison since spring last year on spying charges, has begun a hunger strike, his lawyer and sister have said. A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said December 27 that French authorities maintain close contact with Briere, visiting him on December 21 and contacting him again on December 27. The …

VOA — Negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed negotiations Monday on restoring Tehran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal, with Iran insisting that the United States and its allies promise to allow it to export its crude oil. The latest round of talks in Vienna, the eighth, opened 10 days after negotiations were adjourned for the Iranian negotiator to return home …

Al-Monitor – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he plans to visit Iran to forge new cooperation agreements between Tehran and Caracas.  “I am going to Tehran very soon for a visit that President [Ebrahim] Raisi offered me so that we meet in person to hold conversations and sign new agreements … and speed up processes of cooperation,” Maduro told Al Mayadeen during a …