Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Latest on developments related to tensions between the U.S and Iran (all times local):

4 a.m.

Energy experts say recent seizures and attacks aimed at oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz will raise insurance rates for shipping companies and, if unchecked, could reduce tanker traffic in the vital waterway.

Britain’s foreign secretary said Friday that Iranian authorities seized two ships, one flying under the British flag, the other registered in Liberia. The events occurred in a passageway that carries one-fifth of the world’s crude exports.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran is denying a U.S. warship destroyed an Iranian drone in the strategic Strait of Hormuz after it threatened the ship.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted on Friday: “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else.”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is in New York for U.N. meetings, said there’s “no information about losing a drone.”

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians feeling the squeeze from U.S. sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy are increasingly turning to such digital currencies as Bitcoin to make money, prompting alarm in and out of the country.

In Iran, some government officials worry that the energy-hungry process of “mining” Bitcoin is abusing Iran’s system of subsidized electricity; in the United States, some observers have warned that cryptocurrencies could be used to bypass the Trump administration’s sanctions targeting Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 18 (NNN-NNA) – A senior Iranian diplomat, said that, Iran and its allies will not allow Israel and the United States to jeopardise the region’s security and stability.

“Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is making dangerous movements in the region, to gain popularity in his country. These movements and threats are not in the interest of the region,” Hossein Amir-abdollahian, special aide to Iranian President, Ali Larijani, said, during his meeting with House Speaker, Nabih Berri.

18 July 2019; DW: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has blasted US travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats, describing them as "basically inhuman." He also accused Washington of "economic terrorism," targeting ordinary Iranian people.

Iran's top foreign policy official on Wednesday condemned tight travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats and their families living in Washington, claiming the curbs amounted to mistreatment.

17 July 2019; DW: The family of a jailed British-Iranian woman says she has been taken to the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Tehran. The case has fueled tensions between Iran and the UK amid attempts to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, was transferred from Evin prison to the psychiatric ward at Imam Khomeini hospital, where she is being held by the Revolutionary Guard, her father said Wednesday.

16 July 2019; AFP: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned Monday that the United States is "playing with fire," echoing remarks by President Donald Trump as the two sides are locked in a standoff over Tehran's nuclear program.

The United States quit an international deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program last year, hitting Tehran with crippling sanctions.

16 July 2019; DW: Foreign ministers have met in Brussels hoping to reduce tensions between the US and Iran. Britain has suggested there is a "small window" to keep the nuclear deal alive with the EU echoing those sentiments.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt voiced optimism on Monday that the diplomatic impasse over the Iran nuclear deal could be resolved.

15 July 2019; MEMO: Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani said his country’s foreign debt has fallen by 25 per cent to $9.5 billion down from $12.4 billion reported more than two years earlier.

Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Rouhani during a public event in the northeastern city of Shirvan, sayint that the 25 per cent drop in foreign debt “indicates that, despite US pressure, we did not ask for outside help, we depended on ourselves, reduced expenses and paid back part of the debt”.

15 July 2019; DW: Germany, France and Britain have called for "responsible" action to reduce tensions between Tehran and the United States. Iran has breached the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal by raising limits on uranium enrichment.

Three key European powers on Sunday called for ways to stop the escalation of tensions and to resume dialogue over Iran's nuclear program.