Iran

04 May 2021; MEMO: Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday that the Islamic Republic is ready to hold talks with Saudi Arabia "at any level and in any form".

Speaking to reporters during his weekly press briefing, Khatibzadeh added that changing the Saudi rhetoric and discourse towards Iran will help reduce tensions, but will only lead to practical results when coupled with a change in behaviour.

02 May 2021; MEMO: British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be released "after the payment of a military debt" owed by Britain to Tehran, Iran's state TV said on Sunday, citing an Iranian official, Reuters reports.

02 May 2021; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Sunday apologized for his leaked comments that stirred controversy in Iran, Anadolu Agency reported.

Writing on his Instagram account, Zarif asked forgiveness from the family of former Iranian general Qassim Soleimani, who was killed in January 2020 in a US drone attack.

"I hope that the great people of Iran, all General [Soleimani]'s lovers and especially the great family of Soleimani, will forgive me," Zarif wrote.

02 May 2021; MEMO: A top aide of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has resigned amid growing backlash over a recent controversial audio leak of the country's foreign minister, Anadolu Agency reported.

In a statement, Rouhani's office said on Thursday that Hesamuddin Ashena, who headed the Center for Strategic Studies, an influential policy group at the presidential office, had been replaced with government spokesman Ali Rabaie.

01 May 2021; MEMO: Iran's Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said Saturday that Saudi Arabia and Israel are believed to be behind the recent leak of an audio recording for Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Anadolu Agency reports.

Jahangiri said in statements cited by local media that the recording was released in a "sensitive time" amid talks taking place in Vienna over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

02 May 2021; MEMO: Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said on Saturday Tehran expects US sanctions on oil, banks and most individuals and institutions to be lifted based on agreements so far in Vienna talks, Iranian media reported, while Washington again played down the prospect of an imminent breakthrough, Reuters reported.

TEHRAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A big fire broke out on Sunday morning in an industrial alcohol production plant near the central Iranian city of Qom, injuring six, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The fire was reported around 06:00 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) in the industrial park of Shokuhiyeh, located 20 km from Qom, according to a local fire department spokesperson.

More than 100 firefighters were immediately deployed to extinguish the fire, preventing it from reaching the tanks of alcohol and other flammable items, the spokesman added.

30 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran has welcomed a "change of tone" from Saudi Arabia, as both countries seem to be open to taking steps to calm tensions and improve cooperation

In a statement yesterday by the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said that "by adopting constructive stances…the two countries…can enter a new chapter of interaction and cooperation to reach peace, stability and regional development, by overcoming differences."

TEHRAN, Apr 28 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said, the process of talks aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is “on the right track,” yet there are still important challenges to address, Iranian media reported.

Araqchi, head of the Iranian delegation, made the remarks after he and negotiators from Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany met within the framework of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in the Austrian capital Vienna yesterday.

TEHRAN, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The presence of U.S. and other foreign military forces in the Middle East is a source of insecurity, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Wednesday, state TV reported.

"The presence of these foreign military forces, led by the United States, has eroded economic opportunities in the region and beyond," Qalibaf said in a virtual seminar organized by Iran's Supreme National Defense University.