Iran

05 Mar 2021; MEMO: Iran will soon present a "constructive" plan of action, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday, after European sources said Tehran gave positive signs about opening informal talks about its nuclear programme, Reuters reported.

"As Iran's FM (foreign minister) & chief nuclear negotiator, I will shortly present our constructive concrete plan of action – through proper diplomatic channels," Zarif said on Twitter.

05 Mar 2021; MEMO: Iran has given encouraging signs in recent days about opening informal talks with world powers and the United States, two European sources said on Thursday after European powers scrapped plans to criticise Tehran at the UN nuclear watchdog, Reuters reported.

Iran has so far refused to take part in a meeting brokered by the European Union between world powers and the United States on reviving its 2015 nuclear deal.

TEHRAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on European parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement to stop the "wrongful and out-of-place illegal sanctions," noting Iran has preserved the agreement for three years despite being under "economic war."

"The P4+1 has a heavy task today. They must know we resisted three years of economic war, and it is us who preserved the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during this period," Rouhani said in a cabinet meeting in the capital Tehran, as quoted by official news agency IRNA.

TEHRAN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Talking about diplomacy to settle problems is "hypocritical" as long as the United States has not lifted the sanctions on Iran, Iranian government's spokesman Ali Rabiee said on Tuesday.

The U.S. government's claim that it believes in diplomacy is mere "hypocritical rhetoric and unacceptable" without the practical removal of the sanctions on Iran, Rabiee was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

TEHRAN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) will install new generations of IR2M and IR6 centrifuges at the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities, official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Within the time limit specified in the law passed by the Iranian parliament, the installation of these centrifuges will be completed and gas will be injected, Abolfazl Amoui, the spokesman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament, was quoted as saying.

TEHRAN, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday said that time is "not appropriate" for Iran to hold an informal meeting with Europe and the United States.

"Considering the recent positions and actions of the United States and three European countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider the time to be appropriate for an informal meeting proposed by the European coordinator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," said Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh.

(Reuters) - Friday’s U.S. air strikes against Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria encourage terrorism in the region, Iran’s top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said on Saturday.

Washington said the strikes on positions of the Kataib Hezbollah (KH) paramilitary group along the Iraq border were in response to rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq.

23 Feb 2021; MEMO: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday Iran might enrich uranium up to 60% purity if the country needed it and would never yield to US pressure over its nuclear programme, Reuters reported state media as saying.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran officially has begun restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities, state TV reported Tuesday, a bid to pressure European countries and U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to lift crippling economic sanctions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal.

The state TV report gave little detail beyond confirming that Iran had made good on its threat to reduce cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

23 Feb 2021; MEMO: Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, denied on Sunday holding "direct contacts" with the United States concerning American citizens held by the Islamic Republic and vice versa, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Khatibzadeh was responding to remarks issued on Sunday by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who said the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over Tehran's detention of US citizens.