Iran

March 27, 2025 4:41 PM

Iran ready for indirect talks with US, Khamenei aide says

Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Thursday Tehran has not closed all doors to resolve its disputes with the United States and is ready for indirect negotiations with Washington. Tehran has so far rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump's warning it to make a deal or face military consequences. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the message deceptive and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said talks are impossible unless Washington changes its "maximum pressure" pol...

March 16, 2025 10:13 AM

Who are Yemen’s Houthis and why are they under attack by the US?

U.S. President Donald Trump has launched the biggest military operation in the Middle East since taking office against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis after they resumed Red Sea shipping attacks. The strikes, which have killed at least 24 people so far, could last for weeks according to one U.S. official and come as Trump ramps up sanctions pressure on Tehran. WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE HOUTHIS? In the late 1990s, the Houthi family in the far north of Yemen set up a religious revival movement fo...

March 12, 2025 4:13 PM

China, Russia, Iran to hold nuclear talks in Beijing on Friday

China will hold a meeting on Friday in Beijing with Russia and Iran on the Iranian "nuclear issue", its foreign ministry said, with both nations sending their deputy foreign ministers. Ties between Iran and Russia have deepened since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, with a strategic cooperation treaty signed in January. Both have good relations with China. China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry, told a regular press...

February 5, 2025 5:34 PM

Iran is willing to give Trump diplomacy ‘another chance’, senior Iranian official says

Iran is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on the country. The official said Tehran disagreed with "any displacement of Gazans, but Iran-U.S. talks are a separate matter", referring to Trump's remarks that the U.S. would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians e...

January 14, 2025 10:17 AM

Iran, European powers to resume nuclear talks: Senior diplomat

Iran and three European powers -- France, Britain and Germany -- have agreed to restart discussions on lifting sanctions and Tehran's nuclear program, a senior Iranian diplomat said. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy Foreign Minister, announced this on social media platform X as a new round of talks began in Geneva between Iran, the three countries, and the European Union. The talks are expected to cover a range of issues, including how the countries relate to each other, as well as problems in ...

January 7, 2025 4:20 PM

France says conditions of citizens held in Iran akin to torture

The situation of three French citizens held in Iran is worsening with some being detained in conditions similar to torture, France's foreign minister said on Tuesday, adding that future ties and any lifting of sanctions would depend on their fate. French officials have toughened their language towards Iran in recent weeks, notably over the advancement of its nuclear programme and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country. President Emmanuel Macron said on ...

December 31, 2024 8:45 PM

Iran rejects involvement in escalating Red Sea tension

Iran's envoy to the United Nations (UN) has rejected the accusations by the United States and Britain about Tehran's role in escalating tensions in the Red Sea, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported Tuesday. Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks on Monday in letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, UN Security Council (UNSC) president for the month of December, while reacting to what he called "baseless and polit...

December 24, 2024 3:44 PM

Israel asks diplomats to seek Houthis’ listing as terrorists

Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen designated as a terrorist organisation. The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what the group describes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israeli forces in Gaza. The attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation...

December 6, 2024 3:42 PM

Turkey, Iran and Russia to meet in Doha on Saturday to discuss Syria, Turkish source says

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, and Russia will meet in Doha on Saturday to discuss a lightning rebel advance in Syria, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Friday. Syrian rebels have made their biggest battlefield gains since the civil war began 13 years ago, striking a devastating blow to President Bashar al-Assad. After years of being locked behind frozen frontlines, the rebels captured the main northern city of Aleppo last week before pushing as far south as the centre of Hama, t...

November 11, 2024 4:07 PM

Will Trump’s return make Iran go nuclear?

Tensions persist in West Asia and the Gulf. Hostilities between Israel and Iran threaten to spill over. The return of Donald Trump as U.S. President has added an element of uncertainty to the prevailing situation in the region. Why? Because it was Trump who pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear deal. But Trump did not stop at that. He imposed sanctions on Iran. And, in January 2020, an Iranian General, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. drone strike inside Iraq. The assassination took...