Iran-US Relations

Tehran has received the “necessary guarantees” that its assets blocked abroad due to the US sanctions will be unblocked under an agreement mediated by regional friends, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told reporters on Monday.

Governor of the US State of Florida and the Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has voiced strong criticism against President Joe Biden’s handling of Tehran, accusing him of succumbing to "Iran’s tactics of blackmail and extortion".

The administration of US President Joe Biden is in active negotiations with Iran to bring home five jailed Americans released on house arrest in anticipation of a reported prisoner exchange and the release of $6 billion in Iran’s oil revenue.

Iran’s vice president for political affairs has said in a tweet that the US prisoners will remain in Iran until the full transfer of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry says the process of releasing billions of dollars from the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which were illegally seized in South Korea by the United States for several years, has begun.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has stated Tehran views the issue of prisoner exchange with Washington as a humanitarian move, stressing that Tehran has no pre-conditions in this regard.

The US Navy has deployed more than 3,000 sailors and Marine forces to West Asia under the pretext of protecting ships and vessels crossing the main waterways.

The United States is weighing an unprecedented step to deploy troops to commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf after Iran’s seizure of tankers in the area. Tehran says Iranian naval forces have so far seized 35 ships for violating maritime laws in the waters off the Persian Gulf.

Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani stressed that Tehran will never enter negotiations with Washington on the basis of trust. He also reiterated Iran’s readiness to proceed with the talks on the removal of sanctions in accordance with its national interests.

The editor-in-chief of the Tehran-based Jomhuri Eslami  newspaper said former American Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, had negotiations with Iranian officials, and that efforts were made to stall the talks.

A cargo of Iranian oil remains stranded off the United States coast because no one buys it despite the fact that Washington has authorized its unloading to ensure that buyers would not face penalties because “it is from a sanctioned country”, according to a report.

Iranian naval forces have received a new missile that is named after allied Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, whom an Iranian commander says the country hopes to avenge using the same missile.

The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Cords (IRGC) says the country will act in kind if the United States empties the cargo of an Iranian tanker that it has illegally seized to use or sell.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani blamed the US government for the prolongation of the process of prisoner swap between the two countries.

A former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency and foreign minister, Ali-Akbar Salehi, has proposed that Iran and the United States hold a wide political dialog to resolve bilateral issues.

The United States is sending marines and additional warships to Middle Eastern waters amid rising tensions with Iran, the military announced Thursday.

Iran’s national television shows footage of Navy aircraft conducting surveillance patrols over extra-regional warships sailing in the Persian Gulf.

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has warned against unloading the Iranian oil from a seized tanker by the US.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani has shrugged off the US’ decision to dispatch a new fleet of fighter jets and a navy destroyer to the Persian Gulf. He stressed that Iran is projecting power in the region and beyond without feeling any threat.

Iran’s military chief highlights the country’s fruitful efforts in consolidating its military might, saying the US and the Israeli regime have, thanks to that strength, concluded that they cannot beat the Islamic Republic militarily, especially in ground warfare.

The US military will send a Navy destroyer along with F-16 and F-35 fighter jets to the Persian Gulf region after “a number of recent alarming events in the Strait of Hormuz” caused by Iran, said a Pentagon spokesperson. Tehran says Iranian naval forces have so far seized 35 ships for violating maritime laws in the waters off the Persian Gulf.

Washington is now focused on talks with Tehran on the return of detained US citizens in Iran, adding work on a new nuclear deal is not high on the agenda, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday.

A group of former Iranian diplomats have warned the government of President Ebrahim Raisi against sticking to what they describe as a “one-sided” look-to-the-East policy and anti-West approach, saying an unbalanced foreign policy agenda will harm the interests of the country.

Iran’s Vice President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan has hailed the French supreme court’s decision to reject a US request to confiscate $247 million in Iranian assets. He has said it marked an important achievement for Tehran.

A senior US defence official has confirmed that Washington is deploying additional fighter jets around the strategic Strait of Hormuz "to protect ships from Iranian seizures". The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iranian naval forces have so far seized 35 ships for violating maritime laws in the waters off the Persian Gulf.