Iran

(Reuters) --- Iran has informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it has decided to extend a monitoring deal with the agency for a month, Tehran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that the deal had been extended to June 24, avoiding a collapse that could have thrown wider negotiations on reviving Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers into crisis.

TEHRAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were injured in an explosion that took place in Iran's central Isfahan province on Sunday, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The incident took place in Shahinshahr at Nargostar Sepahan Chemical Industries early morning on Sunday, Abbas Abedi, spokesman for the Isfahan Emergency Center, was quoted as saying.

Ambulances of the Red Crescent Society have been dispatched to the area, he said, adding that the injured have been sent to a nearby hospital.

TEHRAN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday rejected a recent rule of a Canadian court on the Ukrainian plane which crashed near Tehran in January 2020.

"Everyone knows that the Canadian court has no authority to rule about this plane crash ... which took place outside of Canada," spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at the ministry's website.

(Reuters) --- Iran has hand picked hundreds of trusted fighters from among the cadres of its most powerful militia allies in Iraq, forming smaller, elite and fiercely loyal factions in a shift away from relying on large groups with which it once exerted influence.

The new covert groups were trained last year in drone warfare, surveillance and online propaganda and answer directly to officers in Iran's Quds Force, the arm of its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) that controls its allied militia abroad.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced yesterday that the Western nations have agreed to lift the main sanctions imposed on his country, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Speaking at the inauguration of projects for the Ministry of Oil, Rouhani said: "They are in Vienna negotiating and agreeing to lift all sanctions imposed on oil, petrochemicals, shipping, insurance and the central bank."

TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that the "main agreement" to revive the 2015 nuclear deal has already been reached in the Vienna talks, and Iran's counterparts have agreed on the need to lift "all main sanctions."

"The other parties ... agree that they will lift all major sanctions, including sanctions on oil, petrochemicals, shipping, insurance, and the banking sector," Rouhani said as quoted by official news agency IRNA.

18 May 2021; MEMO: Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, has categorically denied media reports claiming his country has asked Saudi Arabia to help it sell its oil and circumvent US sanctions.

TEHRAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized on Monday the United State for selling advanced weapons to Israel amid the intense bombardment on the Gaza Strip.

Zarif, on his Twitter account, said the United States sold Israel "precision" missiles to "kill more children with more precision."

The foreign minister was referring to an earlier report by the Washington Post claiming the Biden administration greenlighted the sale of precision-guided weapons to Israel, worth 735 million U.S. dollars.

(Reuters) --- As the United States searches for a path back to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, it is tiptoeing through a minefield laid by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The mines are Iran-related sanctions Trump imposed on more than 700 entities and people, according to a Reuters tally of U.S. Treasury actions, after he abandoned the nuclear deal and restored all the sanctions it had removed.

TEHRAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Constitutional Council, which supervises elections in the country, on Sunday started the process of vetting the large number of registered presidential hopefuls, of whom a few number would qualify, with heavyweights already in the spotlight.

As scheduled, the vetting body will release the names of qualified candidates by May 27. The nominees will have 20 days to campaign before the Election Day on June 18.

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