Social and Political

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 …

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 …

Al-Monitor – Iranians, who have been under pressure from the United States over the country’s nuclear program, are enjoying discussing someone else’s nuclear problems for a change. The recently released HBO miniseries “Chernobyl,” focusing on the catastrophic nuclear accident in 1986, has proved to be wildly popular in Iran. Despite four decades of enmity between Iran and the United States, Iranians …

Summary Nasrin Sotoudeh, an internationally renowned human rights lawyer. Over the years Nasrin Sotoudeh has defended the rights of women, against the death penalty of minors, of political activists, journalists and religious minorities. The European parliament awarded her the Sakharov human rights prize in 2012. French President, Emmanuel Macron, invited Nasrin Sotoudeh to be part of G7 advisory council on gender equality. at the Elysee Palace in Paris with Macron on February 19, 2019. Nasrin Sotoudeh has been imprisoned numerous times because of defending vulnerable people and groups in the Iranian society, on unfair grounds and without a legal trial. Nasrin Sotoudeh is a national hero and a role model for many Iranian citizens.

Radiofarda – Iraqi President Barham Saleh said Wednesday his country must not be dragged into another conflict in the Middle East, as tensions rise over its neighbor Iran. “We have had four decades of challenge and turmoil. We do not want to be embroiled in another war,” he said at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank in …