Al-Arabia – Russia’s demand for written guarantees from the United States that sanctions on Moscow would not damage its cooperation with Iran is “not constructive” for talks between Tehran and global powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Saturday. “Russians had put this demand on table since two days ago. There is an …

RFL/RE – The visiting head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has warned in Tehran of outstanding issues as time runs out to revive a 2015 nuclear deal crippled by a U.S. pullout and Iran’s retreat from compliance, with both sides warning it will take months to clear the obstacles. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi emerged from …

Iranwire – The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a flood of information issued by those on all sides of the war, by neutral observers, and parties that have a stake in it (or think they do). No longer is war coverage the domain of a trusted few TV and newspaper correspondents. The digital age gives new opportunities to document …

Iranwire – A cluster of Iranian Friday Imams have used today’s sermons to hammer home the earlier comments of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking in the heart of the Iranian capital, Ali Akbari, Tehran’s acting Friday Imam, repeated Khamenei’s description of the US as a “mafia regime”, proclaiming: “American adventurism is behind the recent events …

VOA –The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief arrived Friday in Tehran amid hopes of reviving a 2015 accord between Iran and world powers, with Britain saying a deal was “close.” The visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi, who was set to meet Iranian officials Saturday, is seen as critical to clinching agreement over a return to the nuclear …

Al-Monitor – Vienna talks in final days (really) The buzz is that the talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, could be concluded as soon as this weekend in Vienna. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Thursday, March 3, “There has been significant progress and we are close to a possible deal, but …

Al-Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the future of the Kingdom and its economy, as well as foreign policy stances involving Iran, Israel and the US in a wide-ranging interview with The Atlantic published on Thursday. Here is the full transcript: The Atlantic I’ve been coming back here since 2019. Every time it’s a little more …

RFL/RE – Internet outages have been reported across Tehran after a fire at a telecommunications building. Iran’s Communications Ministry said the incident at a data center caused only a minor disruption to service in the capital, but the state ISNA news agency noted a widespread outage that affected access to mobile and fixed Internet services, including two of the main …

Iranwire – The Center for Human Rights in Iran and Netherlands-based NGO Lawyers for Lawyers have issued a joint call for the immediate release of Iranian human rights attorney Mohammad Najafi. In early January 2018, Najafi was practising law in Arak, Markazi province when a 23-year-old man, Vahid Heydari, died in custody after being arrested for taking part in a street …

Iranwire – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has issued what appeared to be a veiled ultimatum to the US on talks to revive the JCPOA in Vienna. In a tweet on March 3, Ali Shamkhani warned that if a satisfactory agreement was not reached “in the near future”, the American contingent would live to regret it. “The strategy of active resistance defeated Trump’s …