Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A South Korean diplomatic delegation arrived in Iran on Sunday to negotiate the release of a vessel and its crew seized by Iranian forces amid an escalating financial dispute between the countries, Iranian state-run media reported.

10 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran will expel United Nations nuclear watchdog inspectors unless US sanctions are lifted by a Feb. 21 deadline set by the hardline-dominated parliament, a lawmaker said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

Parliament passed a law in November that obliges the government to halt inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency and step up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal if sanctions are not eased.

10 Jan 2021; MEMO: Foreign companies will not be allowed to test COVID-19 vaccines on the Iranian people, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, a day after Iran's Supreme Leader banned vaccine imports from the United States and Britain, Reuters reports.

09 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran's elite revolutionary guard corps on Friday unveiled an underground anti-ship missile base along the shores of the Persian Gulf to the country's south amid heightened tensions in the region, Anadolu Agency reports.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief General Hossein Salami, said at the inauguration ceremony that the objective of the missile base in Hormozgan province was to "protect country's territorial integrity and sovereignty."

TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian lawmaker warned on Saturday that Iran will expel the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors if the U.S. anti-Iran sanctions are not lifted by Feb. 21, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"If the sanctions against Iran, particularly in the fields of finance, banking and oil, are not lifted by Feb. 21, we will definitely expel the IAEA inspectors from the country," Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, a member of the presidium of Iran's parliament, was quoted as saying.

07 Jan 2021; MEMO: Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday warned President Hassan Rouhani of what he called a "new destructive war" planned in the Middle East and the Gulf.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran is monitoring the "undeclared" moves made by the United States in Iraq and the region and will not hesitate to defend itself against any aggression, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday.

Khatibzadeh told reporters that Tehran had warned countries in the region against getting involved in "American games".

Seoul, Jan 5 (AP-PTI) Armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran, the vessel's owner said Tuesday, the latest maritime seizure by Tehran amid heightened tensions with the West over its nuclear program.

The military raid on Monday on the MT Hankuk Chemi was at odds with Iranian explanations that they stopped the vessel for polluting the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, Jan 4, IRNA – Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh criticized on Monday the recent remarks of the Arab League chief who has accused Tehran and Ankara of seeking to establish their own empires; and said Iran basically thinks that the Arab League does not exist anymore.

Tehran, Jan 4, IRNA – Government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Monday that Iran has started the pre-processing stage of gas injection a couple of hours ago in Fordow nuclear site, noting that the first UF6 enriched uranium will be produced in a few hours.

Speaking to IRNA, Rabiei said that Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has issued the order to implement the law of strategic measure passed by Majlis to remove the sanctions in the past few days.