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US could pass more sanctions on Russia: Bloomberg

By
IFP Media Wire
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The legislation has been authored by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – a longtime advocate of hardline policies against Moscow.

The US imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia under former President Joe Biden following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Trump has since signaled a willingness to restore bilateral contacts and possibly even lift the sanctions as part of a negotiated peace.

The Trump administration has said, however, that it would not pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict indefinitely if no progress is made.

According to Bloomberg, US officials have privately told their European counterparts that Trump may allow Graham’s bill to proceed if “Russia doesn’t budge,” and could deliver the warning to President Vladimir Putin during a scheduled call on Monday.

Graham, a prominent Russia hawk, has in the past called for Putin’s assassination, backed extensive military aid to Kiev, and stated that Russians dying in the Ukraine conflict is “the best money we’ve ever spent.” He has also praised Ukraine for fighting what he described as a proxy war on behalf of the US.

In April, he proposed a sanctions package that he said would be “devastating” for the Russian economy, including 500% tariffs on goods from countries that continue trading with Moscow. He claimed that the proposal has majority support in the Senate.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also confirmed the possibility of additional sanctions on Moscow in an interview with CBS on Sunday, saying he conveyed this to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the day before, urging an immediate ceasefire.

Russia has rejected calls for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, saying that while it is open to the idea, it is concerned that Ukraine would exploit the pause to rearm and continue its mobilization efforts. Moscow has instead insisted on negotiating a long-term resolution of the conflict that addresses the root causes.

The EU has also approved its 17th package of sanctions on Russia, attempting to use it as a means of pressuring the country into making concessions to Ukraine.

The Kremlin has described the West’s “language of ultimatums” as unacceptable. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that this rhetoric could result in “unsuccessful negotiations,” leading to a “more terrible stage of the war with new weapons and participants.”

Security chief: Iran, Pakistan not to let regional peace be disrupted

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Ali Akbar Ahmadian

Ahmadian underlined that neither of the two countries will allow regional peace to be disrupted by enemies.

He noted that cooperation between Iran and Pakistan will be beneficial to regional security and will serve the interests of both sides as well.

Ahmadian added that Iran and Pakistan will continue their cooperation.

He also congratulated Malek on his appointment as Pakistan’s new national security advisor.

The Pakistani official for his part appreciated Iran’s positive role in the region. Malek declared Pakistan’s readiness to expand security and social ties with Iran.

Tehran raps Washington’s flip-flop, scorns US negotiator’s push for zero enrichment

By
IFP Media Wire
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Esmail Baghaei

Speaking to reporters at a weekly press conference on Monday, Esmaeil Baqaei hit back at US special envoy Steve Witkoff for claiming that any deal between the US and Iran must include an agreement not to enrich uranium.

“The issue of enrichment as part of the natural cycle of Iran’s nuclear industry is by no means negotiable,” he underscored.

“Enrichment is not a fantasy. Enrichment is a technology and requirement for making sure that Iran’s nuclear industry will go on uninterruptedly,” Baqaei stated, stressing that Iran will never forgo its legitimate right to enrichment.

Likening the change in the US’ policies to a game of snakes and ladders, the spokesman said whenever Iran conceives that good understanding has been shaped in the talks, the US negotiators change their stances after returning home.

Such a flip-flop raises doubts about the US’ seriousness in the talks with Iran, he added.

Deploring the fresh sanctions imposed by the US against Iran, the spokesman said a difficult part of talks with the Americans is that they do not remain committed to anything.

Every new package of sanctions against Iran amounts to crimes against humanity and proves that the US feels hostility toward Iranians. “One should not trust their (US’) claim of being serious in diplomacy.”

Reiterating Iran’s seriousness in the talks, Baqaei said the country’s nuclear program is totally peaceful and Tehran has nothing to hide, which is why it has opted for a diplomatic approach.

“While the continuation of the (US) sanctions is not going to have any influence on Iran’s determination, it only raises questions about the US’ seriousness,” he concluded.

Iran and the US have held four rounds of talks since April 12, mediated by Oman, with the purpose of reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions on Tehran.

Reverse brain drain expected in Iran’s medical sector, says health ministry official

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Surgery

In a statement on Monday, Hosseini announced reforms in faculty recruitment and improved working conditions aimed at retaining and attracting academic talent.

“The recruitment process for faculty members at medical universities has been revised,” he said, adding that existing pressures on faculty across medical schools have been reduced. New incentives are also being planned for both basic sciences and clinical professors.

To prevent the outflow of academic talent, the ministry is working to enhance the professional environment in medical universities.

“We’ve encouraged university presidents and educational deputies to hold regular meetings with faculty to foster motivation,” Hosseini noted.

The deputy minister expressed optimism about early signs of change, revealing that some expatriate professors have shown interest in returning. “Although the numbers are still small, we are confident that migration trends will reverse in the coming years,” he said.

Hosseini emphasized that with ongoing policy changes and a shifting academic atmosphere, Iran is on track to retain and even regain its top medical scholars. “I am quite hopeful we’ll soon see a return of elites and professors to the country,” he concluded.

President Pezeshkian says Iran keen to cooperate with Afghanistan to settle disputes

By
IFP Media Wire
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Pezeshkian met with Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday on the sidelines of the Tehran Dialogue Forum 2025 which brings together senior officials and diplomats from 53 countries as well as the United Nations. The forum is held in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday and Monday.

The Iranian president said that his country considers a duty assisting the people of Afghanistan based on religious principles, adding that Iran is ready to develop cooperation with Afghanistan in different fields.

“Based on our basic and strategic principles, we deem as unfounded any disputes among Islamic countries, and we consider the strengthening of brotherhood and cohesion as a reasonable substitute to any division in the Islamic Ummah,” said Pezeshkian.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, on his part, called Iran a well-intentioned and good neighbor of Afghanistan, saying that his country is seeking to a be a good and trustable neighbor for Iran as well.

He also said that Iran and Afghanistan share deep-rooted religious, cultural and language commonalities, and have common views on international and regional issues including Palestine.

After 47 years, Afghanistan has managed to establish a central government, where the era of occupation has come to an end and all ethnic groups are living in an environment of co-existence and brotherhood, said Muttaqi.

“Adopting a balanced policy, we are seeking a broader and constructive interaction with regional countries, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he noted.

The volume of trade between Iran and Afghanistan now stands at $3 billion, he further said, expressing hope that Afghanistan, with the help of Iran, can turn into a safe place for regional trade and transit now that the cultivation of narcotics has come to zero in Afghanistan and the Daesh terrorist group has completely been driven out from the country.

Muttaqi also expressed gratitude towards Iran for hosting millions of refugees from Afghanistan, and said that his country is making efforts to gradually return those refugees to their homeland.

He also said that Afghanistan intends to turn the borders into common opportunities, and promote trade with Iran to high levels through expanding economic cooperation.

Attacks on healthcare in conflict zones in 2024 reach ‘new levels of horror’: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

The total is 15% higher than in 2023 and includes air, missile and drone strikes on hospitals and clinics, as well as the looting and takeover of facilities and arrest and detention of health workers.

More than a third of the attacks took place in Gaza and the West Bank, but there were also hundreds recorded in Ukraine, Lebanon, Myanmar and Sudan.

Leonard Rubenstein, the chair of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), which authored the report, warned that the rise comes at the same time as “attempts by perpetrators to limit legal protections for healthcare and civilians in war”.

He cited sanctions imposed on international criminal court (ICC) staff by US president Donald Trump for having charged Israelis with war crimes, and a 2023 law passed by Russia’s Duma that criminalised cooperation with the ICC.

Rubenstein said: “On average, in 2024, healthcare came under attack 10 times a day across the world’s war zones. Each of these assaults brings terror, trauma, and in too many cases, injury, destruction and death.

“Attacks on healthcare undermine the ability to care for people when it is needed most, in war.”

There were 3,623 recorded incidents in 2024, including 1,111 where health facilities were damaged or destroyed, 927 where health workers were killed, 473 where health workers were arrested and 140 where health workers were kidnapped. Most of the incidents – 81% – were attributed to state actors.

More than 55% of health worker arrests in 2024 were made by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The SHCC points to reports of physical and sexual abuse inside detention facilities. Nearly half of the deaths were reported from Lebanon, and most were emergency medical responders killed during the IDF’s Operation Northern Arrows.

Explosive weapons are used in an increasing proportion of attacks against healthcare, the report warned, up from 36% of incidents in 2023 to 48% last year. Much of the rise was accounted for by the increased use of drones.

The figures in the report are probably an undercount, it said, due to the difficulty of collecting accurate information during conflict.

Christina Wille, director of Insecurity Insight, who led the report’s data collection, said: “There has been a complete erosion in the respect for international humanitarian law and the responsibility to protect healthcare in conflict.”

She called for a “decisive response”, adding: “Justice must be pursued and accountability enforced.”

The report calls on UN member states to “collectively reject efforts to reinterpret international humanitarian law that undermine their purpose of protecting healthcare in armed conflict” and “end impunity by encouraging investigations, data sharing, prosecutions through the ICC and empowering monitoring bodies”.

It also calls for support for declarations and treaties that would strengthen protections for civilians in armed conflicts, and a review of military doctrines and protocols to put greater emphasis on safety for healthcare.

Israel says to allow limited quantity of food into Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

Israel “will permit the entry of a basic quantity of food for the population to prevent the emergence of a hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

It added that a famine “could jeopardize the continuation of Operation Gideon’s Chariot,” referring to a new phase of Israel’s ground offensive in northern and southern Gaza.

The decision was based on “a recommendation from the Israeli military and due to operational needs to enable expanded intensive fighting to defeat Hamas.”

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, citing an unnamed Israeli official, reported the measure is temporary and expected to last roughly one week, pending the full establishment of aid distribution centers — mostly in southern Gaza and reportedly supervised by the Israeli military and run by American contractors.

Israel and the US are promoting two aid distribution plans, amid Israeli acknowledgment that their actual goal is to depopulate northern Gaza by turning the southern city of Rafah into the primary hub for humanitarian relief and drawing aid seekers there.

Earlier Sunday, Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper cited unnamed official sources saying that Netanyahu had informed members of the security cabinet of his decision to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The report added several ministers, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, opposed the move and demanded a vote on the decision — a request that Netanyahu reportedly rejected.

The forthcoming move contradicts Netanyahu’s previous statements, where he claimed that the release of US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander by Hamas last Monday as part of an agreement with the US was unconditional. However, Hamas announced the release was part of broader “understandings” that included aid delivery, as they had previously announced.

On Thursday, Hamas warned that failure to implement the agreements with the US regarding aid entry and a ceasefire will negatively impact “any efforts to complete negotiations on the prisoner exchange process.”

In a statement, the group emphasized its commitment to alleviating the suffering of Palestinians by ending the Israeli aggression and opening border crossings for humanitarian aid. The group added the positive step of releasing Alexander was a reflection of this.

“We expect, based on the understandings reached with the American side, and with the knowledge of the mediators, that humanitarian aid will begin entering the Gaza Strip immediately, a call will be made for a permanent ceasefire, and comprehensive negotiations will be held on all issues to achieve security and stability in the region, which is what we look forward to achieving,” the statement read.

Indirect negotiations are currently underway in the Qatari capital Doha between Hamas and Israel, aiming to end the genocide and finalize a prisoner exchange agreement.

Gaza continues to face severe famine conditions, driven by a deliberate starvation policy enforced by Israel through months-long border closures and restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Israel has kept all crossings into Gaza closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid since March 2, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights and international reports.

Nearly 2.4 million people in the enclave live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.

The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Ancient human skeletons dating back 4,000 years unearthed in northern Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

According to Mehran Fallah, head of Babol’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, the find coincides with activities held in honor of International Museum Day and Iran’s National Heritage Week.

Professor Hassan Fazeli Nashli, head of the archaeological team and a faculty member at the University of Tehran, said the excavation revealed multiple historical layers at the site, including remnants from the Iron and Bronze Ages. Artifacts such as clay ovens, rooms, and plant remains were found at depths of up to three meters.

Fazeli highlighted the damage caused to the site’s upper layers by unauthorized digging and looting. He also announced plans for a wider excavation this fall and the construction of a museum in Khorshroodpey.

Among notable discoveries is what may be the oldest necklace found in Iran, crafted from fox and badger teeth, unearthed alongside a child’s remains.

Deal with US within reach if Washington shifts away from bullying approach: Iran’s president

By
IFP Media Wire
-

During a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, on the sidelines of the Tehran Dialogue Forum 2025 on Sunday, President Pezeshkian emphasized that the Islamic Republic will never yield to pressure.

The Iranian president also expressed hope that agreements between Tehran and Doha will be implemented swiftly, benefiting both nations.

He further noted that the execution of joint projects and the enhancement of bilateral cooperation would undoubtedly lead to positive developments in the region.

The Qatari official, in turn, conveyed warm greetings from Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to President Pezeshkian, expressing optimism that the president’s wise approach would foster security and stability in the region.

The prime minister affirmed Qatar’s longstanding support for Iran’s rights, rooted in their shared religious bonds. He also highlighted that, based on past experiences, pressure and coercion have proven ineffective in dealing with Iran, while dialogue and mutual understanding have been successful. The Foreign Minister wished for Iran’s success in the political arena.

Iran on the verge of falling into ‘demographic black hole’

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

In an interview with ISNA news agency, Dr. Mehrzad Naseri, Deputy for Health Affairs at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, emphasized the urgency of leveraging Iran’s current “demographic window,” a period marked by a high proportion of the population aged 15 to 65, to prevent long-term population decline.

Speaking during National Population Week, Naseri stressed that if this window closes without significant policy intervention, Iran could face a “demographic black hole” that would be difficult to reverse. The number of births in the past year fell by 7%, totaling fewer than 980,000.

He called for short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to reverse declining fertility, citing lifestyle changes, delayed marriages, economic pressures, and increased rates of cesarean deliveries as contributing factors.

Naseri underscored the vital role of media and public cooperation in ensuring a youthful future for Iran, warning that continued inaction may lead to irreversible aging of the population.

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