Friday , 29 March 2024

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Iran, UN Chief Voice Opposition To Plans For Referendum On Kurdish Independence

RFL/RE – Pressure increased against plans by Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq to hold an independence referendum, with the United Nations chief and Iranian leaders adding their voices to opponents of the vote. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on September 17 warned that the planned September 25 referendum “would detract from the need to defeat” the Islamic State (IS) militant group …

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Iran’s nuclear deal faces tough scrutiny at United Nations talks

Al-Arabia – The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers faces a stern test at the United Nations this week as Europeans try to persuade a skeptical Trump administration to keep it, while Israel lobbies to turn up the pressure on its regional rival. U.S. President Donald Trump, who must make a decision by mid-October that could undermine the agreement, …

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Russia, Turkey, Iran Agree On Borders Of Syrian ‘De-Escalation Zones’

RFL/RE  — Negotiators from the three countries sponsoring Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, say they have reached an agreement to set up de-escalation zones in Syria for six months. The negotiators from Russia, Turkey, and Iran said in a joint statement on September 15 that the zones would include, either fully or partly, Eastern Ghouta in the northern Damascus countryside, …

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Sixth Round Of Syria Peace Talks Begins In Astana

RFL/RE  — A sixth round of Syria peace talks has begun in Astana, a two-day gathering sponsored by Russia, Iran, and Turkey with negotiations that are separate from United Nations-sponsored talks in Geneva. Russian media reports said the Russian delegation met early in the day with the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffa de Mistura. The Russian delegation was also …

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Iranian Foreign Minister Meets Russian Leadership Ahead Of Astana Talks

RFL/RE – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is visiting Russia’s Black Sea resort town of Sochi, where he is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Zarif’s talks with the Russian leadership would focus on the conflict in Syria as well as “the Middle East in general, issues related to Iran’s nuclear …

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UN Nuclear Chief Says Iran Complying With Deal, Concerned About North Korea

RFL/RE – The head of the United Nations agency that monitors Iran’s compliance with an international nuclear deal says Tehran is honoring the agreement with six world powers. Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said at the start of an IAEA board meeting in Vienna on September 11 that the terms Iran accepted “are being implemented.” …

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Report: British Suspect Iran Or Russia May Have Helped North Korea Nuclear Program

RFL/RE – Britain’s Telegraph newspaper is reporting that U.K. officials fear that Iran or Russia may have helped North Korea’s “sudden advancement” in the development of nuclear weapons. The paper on September 10 said the British Foreign Office is investigating whether “current and former nuclear states” helped Pyongyang develop nuclear weapons capable of being mounted on missiles. “Iran is top of the list …

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Is a Saudi-Iran Thaw Possible?

VOA – Saudi Arabia and Iran are rethinking their rivalry and a highly tentative, as well as a deniable, courtship is underway, say analysts. But it is fraught pitfalls and last week in London Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister dismissed talk of a possible thaw as “laughable,” saying Iran would have to change its policies dramatically for that to happen. Even so, …

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U.S. Metals Executive Gets Prison Sentence For Illegal Exports To Iran

RFL/RE – The Turkish-born head of a U.S. metals company was sentenced to 57 months in prison on September 7 for conspiring to illegally export missile-grade metallic powder to Iran. Erdal Kuyumcu, 45, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, after pleading guilty in June 2016 to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, court …

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