Iran

06 Apr 2021; MEMO: The Iranian authorities have arrested an Israeli spy and several other people with contacts with foreign intelligence services in the eastern province of Azerbaijan, Iranian Fars NewsAgency reported.

The agency quoted an Intelligence Ministry official as saying that "an Israeli spy has been arrested in Iran's Eastern Azerbaijan province … also other spies who were in contact with several countries' intelligence services have been arrested as well."

06 Apr 2021; MEMO: An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Reuters reported Al Arabiya TV as saying on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources.

It cited the sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards but provided no evidence to support the assertion.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

07 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran's outgoing military prosecutor, Gholamabbas Torki, said Tuesday that 10 officials have been indicted over the 2020 military shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane that killed all 176 passengers on board.

"The indictment of the case of the Ukrainian plane was also issued and a serious and accurate investigation was carried out and indictments were issued for 10 people who were at fault," Torki told reporters as he handed over his duties to his successor Nasser Seraj.

06 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran has called for Saudi Arabia to engage in direct talks to solve ongoing issues between the two countries without the involvement of a third party, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said yesterday.

According to Iran's FarsNews Agency, Khatibzadeh said: "I regret that Riyadh has not yet developed the courage to have dialogue outside the domain of the trans-regional powers. Riyadh still looks to other capitals outside the region."

TEHRAN, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The first consignment of vaccines allocated to Iran under the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program has arrived in the country's capital, the country's Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.

The shipment, including over 700,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, was shipped to Iran on Sunday night, Tasnim news agency reported, quoting Kianoush Jahanpour, the administration's spokesperson.

Iran's quota under the COVAX program amounts to 16.8 million doses, Jahanpour said.

03 Apr 2021; MEMO: Iran rejects the US proposal to gradually lift sanctions imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump, said the country's Foreign Ministry today, Anadolu Agency reports.

04 Apr 2021; MEMO: Paris urged Tehran on Saturday to be "constructive" and "refrain from any further violations" of commitments undermining upcoming discussions in Vienna regarding its stalled nuclear deal, Anadolu Agency reported.

Iran in return said France should lift illegal sanctions as the US and Iran gear up to resume talks.

The discussion between France and Iran took place during a telephone call between foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Javad Zarif.

TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran will not hold any direct or indirect talks with representatives of the United States in the meeting of the 2015 nuclear agreement participants scheduled for Tuesday in Vienna, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said Sunday.

"We will negotiate with the Joint Commission and the P4+1 countries, and will communicate them our request and condition for a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview quoted by official news agency IRNA.

(Reuters) - Iran’s government wants the United States to lift all sanctions on its country and rejects any “step-by-step” easing of the restrictions, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported on Saturday.

The two countries said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from next week as part of broader negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers. The U.S. State Department said the focus would be on “the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance” with that agreement.

TEHRAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the fourth wave of COVID-19 resurgence has been registered in two provinces, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

"If people in other provinces do not honor (health guidelines), they may experience the fourth wave as well," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

"According to the statistics, compliance with health guidelines has decreased," he warned.

On Saturday, Iran's health ministry registered 11,420 new COVID-19 cases overnight, raising its nationwide caseload to 1,920,394.