Iran

28 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ordered an investigation into how an audio recording of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he can be heard saying the army was too influential in diplomacy, was leaked to the media, a government official said yesterday.

(Reuters) --- The parties negotiating a revival of the Iran nuclear deal agreed on Tuesday to speed up efforts to bring the United States and Iran back into compliance, diplomats said.

Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia began a third round of meetings in Vienna on Tuesday to agree steps that would be needed if the 2015 agreement, which was abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018, is to be revived.

24 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran said Saturday it will suspend flights to and from India to prevent the Indian variant of coronavirus from making inroads into the already stricken country, Anadolu Agency reports.

"Today we are facing the danger of a new virus, Indian virus," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in statements during a meeting of the anti-coronavirus taskforce in Tehran.

(Reuters) --- Iran said on Saturday that it would bar travellers from India over a COVID-19 variant to avert its spread in the already stricken country.

Officials, however, did not say if any cases of the variant first identified in India in late March had been detected in Iran, the epicentre of the pandemic in the Middle East.

“The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face,” President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks broadcast on state TV.

TEHRAN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The recent change in the method of 60-percent uranium enrichment in Iran's Natanz nuclear facility is a "technical decision," which the International Atomic Energy Agency was informed of, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's ambassador to the international organizations in Vienna, said on Friday.

"There is no need for odd speculations. Change in the mode of 60-percent enrichment is a technical decision," Gharibabadi tweeted.

 23 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iranian media outlets said yesterday that the missile that fell near the Dimona nuclear reactor was a message to Israel that "its sensitive areas are not fortified".

"The Israeli narrative about the missile that fell near the Dimona reactor contains clear loopholes," they said, adding that the missile could have hit Dimona, "but creating a catastrophe is not required".

TEHRAN, Apr 22 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, yesterday, called for full implementation of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The JCPOA must be implemented well. We want the implementation of the same JCPOA document, neither a word less nor a word more,” Rouhani made the remarks in a cabinet meeting, adding that, Iran doesn’t want “a JCPOA plus.”

Rouhani stressed that, the new round of talks about the nuclear deal should aim to map out three steps.

 22 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran has installed extra advanced centrifuges at its underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz that was hit by a blast last week, a report by the UN atomic watchdog showed yesterday, deepening Iran's breaches of its nuclear deal with major powers, Reuters reported.

TEHRAN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Pakistan on Wednesday opened the third cross-border point to enhance trade exchanges, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The Pishin-Mand border crossing, located on the border of Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan with Pakistan, was opened for trade exchanges, the report said.

Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami and Pakistan's Minister for Defense Production Zubaida Jalal Khan attended the opening ceremony, according to the report.

TEHRAN (Iran), April 20 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived here in Iran’s capital on a three-day official visit on Tuesday at the invitation of Foreign Minister Dr. Javad Zarif.

Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Syed Rasool Moosavi, Pakistan’s ambassador in Tehran Raheem Hayat Qureshi and senior officials received the foreign minister.

During the visit, the Foreign Minister will hold delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Zarif. He will call on President Dr. Hassan Rouhani and Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.