Europe

An Armenian soldier has been killed in a shoot-out at the border with the Azerbaijan Republic. Authorities in Yerevan say Azeri troops opened fire at the Armenian positions on Monday evening, killing one soldier.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said London must engage with the Taliban to tackle humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. No country has yet recognized the Taliban as the rulers of Afghanistan.

The leaders of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan will meet in Brussels in mid-December to discuss border tensions, the European Union announced on Friday.

A senior Russian diplomat has applauded a change for the better in the hostile approach of certain Persian Gulf states toward the Iran nuclear deal. The top official has stated they seem to have backtracked on their endorsement of the US withdrawal from the agreement and are instead calling for its revival.

Armenia and the Azerbaijan Republic have accused each other of breaching the Wednesday ceasefire to end hostilities that erupted along their borders.

Federal agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have claimed hackers linked to the Iranian government are behind an ongoing campaign targeting critical infrastructure, including hospitals in the US. Iran stresses the country is itself a victim of cyberattacks by the US and Israel.

The Wall Street Journal has quoted European diplomats as saying that Iran has resumed production of advanced nuclear-program parts at Karaj site near the capital Tehran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has expressed concern over new border clashes between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Presidents of the Unites States and China, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, met virtually on Tuesday and discussed a range of issues including Iran. Beijing and Washington are at odds on several topics, including Tehran nuclear programme and the 2015 nuclear deal.

The situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where a shootout was earlier reported, is relatively calm, Yerevan has announced.

The United States military has covered up two back-to-back airstrikes against purported Daesh targets that killed up to 64 women and children in Syria in 2019, a New York Times report revealed.

Moscow shares stance with Tehran on the possibility of reaching a good agreement in a short time during the upcoming nuclear talks, a Russian top diplomat says. The negotiations are scheduled to start in the Austrian capital later this month.

Former foreign secretaries from both Labour and the Tories urged the government in London to repay a £400m debt to Iran that could end the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Tehran has repeatedly stressed the case of the British-Iranian woman is not linked to Britain’s debt to Iran.

Russia’s president says NATO drills near the country’s border are a dangerous challenge because the bloc is using its strategic air forces. The alliance has boosted its activities across the Mediterranean, with multiple aircraft approaching the Russian border, and vessels performing manoeuvres in the Black Sea.

Moscow says it will insist on the resumption of full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, as well as lifting of anti-Tehran sanctions during the Vienna talks slated for November’s end.

European diplomats say it is unlikely the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors to issue a resolution against Iran. Iranian officials have announced nuclear negotiations are slated to resume in late November, and stressed Tehran is prepared to reach a good agreement.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs has arrived in the British capital, London, as part of his European tour to sit down with high-ranking UK officials.

Armenia’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned what it calls blatant violation by the Azerbaijan Republic’s military of a ceasefire agreement signed between Yerevan and Baku last year.

Yerevan has accused Baku of seeking to discredit the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.

A high-ranking Iranian judiciary official has called on the Europeans to put an end to the double standards and destructive policies in dealing with terrorism and human rights.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan says the situation in South Caucasus is still unstable due to Azerbaijani authorities’ quote non-constructive measures.

The United States believes it is still possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran Nuclear Deal.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says the “powerless” president of the United States is not ready to give any assurances that Washington will abide by the nuclear deal, JCPOA, after returning to the agreement.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed hope to visit Iran ‘soon’ for ‘high-level talks’ with the Iranian officials.

US president Joe Biden has "reaffirmed" Washington's defense partnership with Ankara, and Turkey's "importance as a NATO ally", but also voiced "US concerns over Ankara's possession of the Russian S-400 missile system".