Media Wire

Riyadh is looking to schedule a fifth round of direct talks with Tehran despite a “lack of substantive progress” in previous rounds, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud says.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Minister of military affairs Benny Gantz on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. They have discussed Abraham Accords as well as Iran's nuclear program.

The chances of reviving the Iran nuclear deal are dwindling, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says. Tehran has reiterated that reaching a final agreement solely depends on the Western side’s responsible attitude.

A shell has exploded on the Russian territory, close to the border with Ukraine, local media reported.

OPEC+ will work to integrate Tehran into its oil supply-limiting accord if an agreement is made in the Vienna talks over reviving the Iran nuclear deal, sources close to the group says.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says substantial progress has been made in the Vienna negotiations between Tehran and the world powers aimed at salvaging the Iran nuclear deal.

Oil prices extended losses on Friday, heading for a weekly fall, as the prospect of extra supply from Iran returning to the market outweighed fears of a possible supply disruption arising from a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has announced that "substantial progress" during negotiations in Vienna to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal has been made, deeming an agreement possible within days if Iran "shows seriousness" on the matter. Iran says the ball is in the court of the United States, and that Washington must remove the anti-Tehran sanctions.

Israel has refused to cooperate with a United Nations team investigating the crimes its troops committed during the war on the Gaza Strip last year.

Russia has expelled US deputy ambassador to Moscow, according to the American mission. Washington has emphasized that it would respond to American diplomat’s expulsion.

Japan's oil giant Eneos Holdings Inc says it will consider resuming oil imports from Iran if an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal is reached. The company has yet to start necessary preparations to that end.

The units of the tank army of Russia’s Western Military District (WMD) are returning to the site of permanent deployment after conducting planned exercises, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The Australian government announced it plans to list the whole of the Palestinian movement Hamas to its list of outlawed “terrorist” organisations. Hamas has condemned it as a hostile action.

Nearly 200 House Republicans have warned President Joe Biden any nuclear deal with Iran without Congress' approval "will meet the same fate" as the 2015 agreement by President Barack Obama later abandoned by President Donald Trump.

Negotiations in Vienna to revive the Iran nuclear deal are nearing their conclusion, a spokesman for the US State Department has suggested, raising hopes the landmark agreement may soon be restored.

The White House has dispatched two US officials to Saudi Arabia this week to press Riyadh to pump more oil. The development comes as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine could cause energy prices to rise.

France's foreign minister says a decision on salvaging the Iran nuclear deal was just days away, as negotiations in Vienna have reached a tipping point now.

Ankara welcomes the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. He emphasized that such a move after a long period of time will have positive effects on bilateral ties.

Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the resistance group is making rockets and drones on its own and has the capability to turn rockets into precision missiles.

More than one third of American voters would like to have a binding nuclear agreement with Tehran, twice as many as those who would prefer a nonbinding deal, as in 2015, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll out on Wednesday.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Jerusalem on Wednesday as part of a Congressional delegation. She reiterated the United States' "iron clad" support for Israel's security.

Russia has announced military drills in Crimea have ended and that soldiers are returning to their garrisons. It comes a day after Moscow announced a first troop pullback from Ukraine’s borders.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the body is helping Saudi Arabia and Egypt in developing nuclear power.

Iran has called on the US Congress to make a “political statement” of its commitment to a nuclear deal with Tehran as negotiations in Vienna to revive the landmark agreement reach a critical juncture.

Tehran and Seoul have held working-level consultations to discuss ways to resolve years-long disputes over Iran's funds frozen in South Korea under the U.S. sanctions, South Korea’s foreign ministry announced Wednesday.