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No negotiation process underway with US: Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
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Esmail Baghaei

Esmail Baqaei, the spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic apparatus, on Wednesday responded to US President Donald Trump’s renewed claims about negotiations with Iran.

During a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington on Tuesday, Trump repeated his previous claims, saying that Iran is “desperately seeking a deal.”

Baqaei, referring to Washington’s record of repeated breaches and excessive demands, said that—as the foreign minister has repeatedly stressed—talks with a party that does not believe in the reciprocity of negotiations, boasts of its military aggression against Iran and the killing of Iranian children, and is clearly seeking to impose its own dictates, are not justifiable.

In response to another question about a message sent by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—and whether it was linked to the crown prince’s visit to Washington—Baqaei said the message, delivered by the new head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, was purely bilateral in nature.

It expressed Iran’s appreciation to Saudi Arabia for the services provided to Iranian pilgrims during last year’s Hajj and highlighted the importance of continued cooperation and coordination to ensure the successful organization of this year’s pilgrimage.

Iran’s deputy FM dismisses holding secret talks with IAEA

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Iran nuclear program

Speaking in a televised interview on Tuesday night, Kazem Qaribabadi said that Iran maintains an official channel of communication with the Agency and therefore has no need for clandestine talks.

Responding to a question about alleged secret discussions between Iran and the IAEA in Egypt, he strongly denied the reports.

Elsewhere in the interview, Qaribabadi warned that the recent anti-Iran initiative pursued by the three European countries and the United States at the IAEA Board of Governors could jeopardize the “Cairo understanding.”

His comment referred to the recent arrangement reached between Iran and the Agency in the Egyptian capital, under which bilateral cooperation was to continue within a defined framework.

Reports indicate that the UK, France and Germany, together with the United States, have drafted a resolution against Iran for adoption at the Agency’s upcoming meeting in Vienna.

Iran has previously stated that if such a resolution is passed, it will fundamentally reconsider its cooperation under the Cairo understanding as well as its approach toward the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran’s interior minister says security situation improved compared to last year

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iranian Border Guard

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Wednesday’s cabinet session, Momeni said that border security is adequate and that, across all indicators, the country’s security has generally improved.

He addressed the issue of foreign nationals in Iran, noting that 1.5 million have left the country so far, while approximately six million remain.

Momeni added, “We are not hostile to migrants, but resources and capacities cannot accommodate more”.

At least 13 killed in Israeli attack on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The drone strike hit a car on Tuesday in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, the ministry said, adding that “ambulances are still transporting more wounded to nearby hospitals.”

Israel claimed it struck members of the Palestinian armed group Hamas who were operating in a training compound in the refugee camp.

“When we say we will not tolerate any threat on our northern border, this means all terrorist groups operating in the region,” the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement, adding, “We will continue to act forcefully against Hamas’s attempts to establish a foothold in Lebanon and eliminate its elements that threaten our security.”

Hamas denied Israel’s claim, calling it a “fabrication” and stressing the group doesn’t have training facilities in Lebanon’s refugee camps.

“The Zionist bombardment was a barbaric aggression against our innocent Palestinian people as well as Lebanon’s sovereignty,” it stressed in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon said Israeli strikes on cars elsewhere in the country’s south killed two people.

Israel has killed several officials from Palestinian factions, including Hamas, in Lebanon since it launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 69,483 Palestinians and wounded 170,706. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

A day after Israel launched its war on Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets towards Israel, which responded with shelling and air strikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in a conflict that Israel escalated into a full-blown war in late September 2024.

Israel’s war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians. In Israel, 127 people were killed, including 80 soldiers.

The war halted in late November 2024 with a United States-brokered ceasefire, but since then, Israel has carried out dozens of air attacks on Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its capabilities.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has reported more than 270 people killed and about 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire.

 

Son of former Tehran Friday prayer leader linked to alleged financial scam dies

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

According to a statement on Kazem Seddiqi’s official channel, Mohammad-Mehdi had been suffering from a severe liver condition in recent years and died at dawn on Wednesday.

Born in 1977 in Qom, he studied in the Qom seminary and later served as an administrative deputy at the Imam Khomeini Seminary.

Seddiqi’s name had previously circulated widely in Iranian media during the controversy over the high-value “Ozgol Garden,” in northern Tehran, after documents were published alleging the unlawful transfer of the property to him, his father, and his brother.

Reports at the time stated that he held a 25 percent share of the property.
Following public scrutiny, Kazem Seddiqi said he had been unaware of the transfer and claimed his signature had been forged, later returning the property to the seminary under his supervision.

Media outlets, including Tasnim News, also reported that Mohammad-Mehdi Seddiqi had faced financial accusations and had been detained for a period, though he was at home at the time of his death.

A cleric close to the family wrote that Mohammad-Mehdi had recently expressed severe distress over the controversies.

Caspian Sea water levels drop one meter in five years, Iran warns of escalating environmental crisis

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Caspian Sea

Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, Deputy for Marine and Wetland Affairs, issued the warning during an environmental panel at a meeting of governors from Caspian littoral provinces.

Calling the Caspian the world’s largest lake and a shared heritage of the five coastal states, he said the sea supports millions of people and contains more than 2,800 plant and animal species.

Lahijanzadeh noted that the continued decline in water levels over the past decade has already resulted in drying wetlands, habitat loss, declining fish stocks, coastal dust storms, reduced port operations, and damage to tourism.

He attributed the crisis to climate-related factors and reduced river inflows, cautioning that the trajectory could lead to irreversible consequences if unaddressed.

Lahijanzadeh also highlighted overfishing, degradation of river habitats, diminishing sturgeon populations, and the spread of invasive species.

He presented Iran’s proposal for joint action, including a regional rescue plan, a 25-year scientific monitoring program, coordinated water-resource management, strengthened protection of aquatic species, implementation of the Moscow Protocol on pollution control, and creation of a shared environmental fund.

He urged the five Caspian states to adopt genuine cooperation, saying today’s decisions will shape the future of coastal communities.

9/11 families criticize MbS White House office comments

By
IFP Media Wire
-

“The crown prince knows nothing of the pain of the 9/11 families,” Terry Strada, national chair of the 9/11 Families United, said in a statement to The Hill.

“He is actively working to impede our efforts to ensure extensive evidence of Saudi government support for al-Qaeda and the terrorist hijackers are brought to light, harboring a former agent that produced a casing video of the U.S. Capitol building, and trying to rewrite history with investments.”

“We aren’t buying it, our allies in Congress aren’t buying it, and neither are the American people,” Strada added.

Strada was reacting to specific remarks made by Bin Salman.

Bin Salman during a press appearance with Trump said he felt “pain about the families of 9/11 in America” after an ABC News reporter said the victims of families were “furious” about his Oval Office visit.

The crown prince said that “we have to focus on reality” and claimed opponents of his kingdom were interfering with Saudi and American relations.

During the meeting, Bin Salman stated that U.S. and Saudi intelligence found that Osama bin Laden hire Saudi citizens to cause a riff between the two countries. Saudi Arabia has sought to get civil case from the families against the country’s government ended.

Trump and the crown prince met to discuss a weapons agreement, including the U.S. selling the Saudi’s F-35s, mineral deals and other technology-based agreements. The president is next scheduled to attend the U.S.-Saudi Business Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday.

The meeting was also criticized for the crown prince’s alleged role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. A critic of the Kingdom, Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. A U.S. intelligence report found that the crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi.

Trump defended Bin Salman in 2018 and again on Tuesday, when he claimed the crown prince “knew nothing about” Khashoggi’s murder.

“You’re mentioning somebody who was extremely controversial,” Trump told one reporter on Tuesday, referring to Khashoggi.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. And you can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump stressed.

Bin Salman said that his Kingdom had taken steps to investigate Khashoggi’s killing, and charged five people with the murder and commuted death sentences to decades in prison.

Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, wrote in a post on the social media platform X that there “is no justification to murder my husband.”

“While Jamal was a good transparent and brave man many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press,” she posted, adding, “The Crown Prince said he was sorry so he should meet me, apologize and compensate me for the murder of my husband.”

 

Iran’s envoy cautions US-drafted resolution on Gaza must not be used to shield Israel

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Gaza War

Iravani delivered the remarks on Tuesday during a session of the UN’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee).

He cautioned that while many Security Council members had supported the measure in hopes of halting Israeli bloodshed, its mechanisms risked sidestepping the UN’s authority and diluting the core rights of the Palestinian people.

The resolution, passed on Monday, endorses establishment of an “International Stabilization Force (ISF)” in Gaza under a 20-point plan devised by Donald Trump. The US president says the plan is aimed at ending the Israeli regime’s war of genocide on the coastal sliver that began in October 2023.

Iravani emphasized that the resolution’s implementation must not infringe on Palestinian rights, particularly the right to self-determination, statehood, and territorial integrity.

“Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian territory,” he said, insisting it must be governed by a Palestinian transitional body and remain protected from annexation or forced displacement.

The ambassador stressed that ending the war, while essential, was not sufficient. Justice and accountability, he said, remained central obligations of the international community.

“The masterminds and perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza must be prosecuted,” he declared, adding, “The decades-long culture of impunity surrounding the Israeli regime must finally end.”

Citing UN-verified data, Iravani noted that nearly 70,000 civilians, mostly women and children, had been killed as a result of Tel Aviv’s unrestrained military assault.

The ambassador lamented that Tel Aviv had openly defied the International Court of Justice, while carrying out a campaign of starvation, siege, and systematic destruction in Gaza.

The envoy described the regime’s “weaponization of starvation” in Gaza, through blockade, aid obstruction, and destruction of civilian infrastructure, as not only a war crime, but a direct assault on Palestinians’ inalienable rights.

The official cautioned that the regime’s rejection of the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion – ordering an end to its unlawful occupation, evacuation of its illegal settlers, and unimpeded humanitarian access – showed it was intent on dismantling global legal norms.

 

 

Advisor to Iranian Leader outlines conditions for renewed talks with US, rejects limits on Iran’s missile, nuclear programs

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Speaking in an interview with CNN, Kamal Kharrazi stressed that Washington must take the first step to demonstrate readiness to engage on terms set by Tehran.

Kharrazi reiterated that Iran will not halt uranium enrichment, describing it as essential for nuclear fuel production and medical needs, though he said the level of enrichment could be subject to negotiation.

He added that Iran’s nuclear program is indigenous and cannot be dismantled by force.

He also stated that the Leader’s fatwa (religious decree) prohibiting nuclear weapons is “unchangeable.”

On missiles, Kharrazi ruled out any negotiations, calling Iran’s ballistic program non-negotiable and vital for national defense.

On the US-Israeli strikes earlier this year on Iranian nuclear facilities, including Natanz and Fordow, he said the extent of damage is still under assessment.

Addressing US President Donald Trump, Kharrazi said a “positive approach” would be met with reciprocity, but warned that any use of force against Iran “will not work.”

EU says its ability to pressure China over Ukraine is limited

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Speaking at a Bloomberg event, Kallas explained that, due to deep economic ties with the European Union, Beijing could “cause damage” to the bloc’s countries in response to sanctions.

“China is acting very smartly by increasing its geopolitical influence,” she said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that China seeks an end to the Ukrainian crisis and will play a constructive role in promoting its political settlement.

As the Chinese diplomat noted, China maintains a consistent position on the Ukraine issue, “based on the essence of the matter itself, adhering to the principles of fairness and objectivity.”

Russia and China have intensified cooperation since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February of 2022, with Beijing becoming the main buyer of Russian oil after the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow. The two nations now describe their relations as a strategic partnership “without limits.”

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