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European nations to shelve censure motion after agreement to hold technical meetingsA potential roadblock to talks between Iran and the US on the future of the nuclear deal has been cleared after the UN nuclear inspectorate said it had won Iran’s agreement to return to Tehran to hold focused talks on doubts over the veracity of the country’s previous declarations about its nuclear sites.Rafael...

New impasse as Tehran accuses Washington of not doing enough to lift sanctions against itThe Iranian foreign ministry has announced it is not willing to attend EU-brokered talks with the US over the future of the Iran nuclear deal because Washington has not done enough to lift sanctions against Tehran.The Biden administration, committed to returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, had said it was...

US seeking resolution to express ‘deepening concern’ over Tehran’s cooperation with UN nuclear agencyIran has threatened to pull out of a deal struck with UN weapons inspectors last weekend if western countries go ahead with plans to censure it over its failure to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency.Western leaders are planning to table a motion at the IAEA next week condemning...

Operation, which was approved by Joe Biden, comes after a series of attacks against US targets in IraqThe United States has carried out airstrikes in Syria targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups.The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and...

In letter to Tehran, human rights advocate outlines six-month investigation into disasterMany high level Iranian officials should be charged for the shooting down of a Ukrainian commercial airliner in January 2020, a UN human rights expert has said, describing the killing of the 176 people aboard as a “profound and serious indictment” of the country’s civil and military authorities.Agnès Callamard, the UN special rapporteur...

Agreement paves way for diplomatic talks between Tehran and the US over sanctionsThe UN’s nuclear inspectorate has struck a three-month deal with Iran giving it sufficient continued access to verify nuclear activity in the country, opening the space for wider political and diplomatic talks between Tehran and the US.Iran will go ahead with its threat to withdraw this week from the additional protocol, the...

With elections looming in both states, and hardliners out to ensure the collapse of the 2015 deal, time is running short for the US president to save itFor sworn enemies, Iran and Israel have much in common. Both are regional powers, projecting their interests beyond their borders. Both are beholden, in different ways, to shifting US policy. Both have secretive nuclear programmes. And both...

Tehran yet to answer European invitation seeking reinstatement of 2015 agreement torn up by Donald TrumpThe US has agreed to take part in multilateral talks with Iran hosted by the EU, with the aim of negotiating a return by both countries to the 2015 nuclear deal that is close to falling apart in the wake of the Trump administration.The state department spokesman, Ned Price,...

Analysis: Fiery rhetoric of Trump era is gone, but flare-up in northern Iraq is a microcosm of tension to comeJoe Biden faces his first real test with Iran. A barrage of 15 rockets in northern Iraq that struck a US base, killing a military contractor and wounding a soldier, were likely aimed as much at testing the new president’s mettle as they were at...

Eight others injured in blast that is expected to bring first serious test of Joe Biden’s Iran policyA rocket attack on a US airbase in the Kurdish region of Iraq has killed one civilian contractor and injured eight other people in the first serious test of Joe Biden’s Iran policy.A volley of approximately 14 rockets was launched at the base near the main city...

At least 60 injured in explosions at Islam Qala crossing that consumed 500 natural gas and fuel trucksA fuel tanker exploded on Saturday at the Islam Qala crossing in Afghanistan’s western Herat province on the Iranian border, injuring at least 60 people and causing a massive fire that consumed more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel, according to Afghan officials and Iranian...

Women say Kameel Ahmady, who recently told of his escape from Iran, harassed and sexually assaulted themA number of women have accused a prominent British-Iranian anthropologist who recently fled Iran of being a sexual predator who should not be allowed to continue working with women or with the vulnerable groups that are a focus of his research.Kameel Ahmady, known for work on child marriage,...

Hossein Dehghan criticises continuing sanctions by US and says Tehran’s approach to nuclear issue will change The only declared candidate in Iran’s presidential elections this June has accused Joe Biden of continuing Donald Trump’s international policies, and warned that Tehran is preparing retaliatory measures to force the US to change its diplomatic trajectory.In an interview with the Guardian, Hossein Dehghan, a military adviser to...

President has said he will seek to revive the nuclear deal, but insists that Iran must first reverse its nuclear stepsJoe Biden has said the United States will not lift its economic sanctions on Iran in order to get Tehran back to the negotiating table to discuss how to revive the Iran nuclear deal.Asked if the United States will lift sanctions first to get...

Exclusive: Kameel Ahmady smuggled himself out through mountainous border after being sentenced to nine yearsA British Iranian dual national sentenced to nine years and three months in jail in Iran for co-operating with “a hostile state power” has smuggled himself out of Iran, escaping over the country’s treacherous mountainous border, and is now living in London.In an interview with the Guardian, Kameel Ahmady explained...

Existing quiet cooperation has been under way for months, say authors of Guardian comment articleAn opportunity for a new beginning between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been presented by Joe Biden’s presidency, two leading Saudi and Iranians close to their respective diplomatic leaderships are proposing in an article in the Guardian today.The article is co-written by Abdulaziz Sager, the Saudi Arabian chairman and founder...

Obama-era diplomat Robert Malley will face task of repairing ties that worsened under Trump after withdrawal from nuclear pactThe Biden administration is expected name Robert Malley, a former top adviser in the Obama administration, as special envoy for Iran, according to multiple sources.Malley was a key member of former Barack Obama’s team that negotiated the nuclear accord with Iran and world powers, an agreement...

New US secretary of state says Tehran would first need to fully comply with 2015 nuclear dealIran has responded with anger and disappointment to the new US secretary of state saying American sanctions against Tehran will not be lifted until it comes back into verifiable “full compliance” with its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.Antony Blinken said Iranian compliance would take some time, indicating...