Iran

06 Jan 2022; MEMO: Iran says South Korea is "obliged" to release its frozen assets, and that US sanctions cannot justify debt non-payment, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, made these remarks on Thursday during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Choi Jong-kun, on the sidelines of the ongoing nuclear deal talks in Vienna, according to state-run media citing the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.

07 Jan 2022; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Tehran is ready to restore relations with Saudi Arabia at any time.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Abdollahian described dialogue with Saudi Arabia as "positive and constructive", adding that within days Iranian representatives to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will return to Jeddah, which is a "positive step".

04 Jan 2022; MEMO: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge on Monday for the US assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani two years ago unless former US President Donald Trump was put on trial, reports Reuters.

Iran and groups allied with it in Iraq have been holding events to honour Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

TEHRAN, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the U.S. assassination of the country's top general two years ago has raised "hatred" in global opinion.

"The world's reactions to the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani were that all nations have strongly despised the U.S. bullying and hegemonic policies," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on its Twitter account.

"If the U.S. officials failed to see the images of hatred on the streets of the countries worldwide, they are puppet of their own media empire," the ministry added.

02 Jan 2022; MEMO: Iran's space launch on Thursday failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed, a defence ministry spokesman said in remarks carried on state television on Friday, Reuters reported.

The attempted launch, which came as indirect US-Iran talks take place in Austria to try to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal, drew criticism from the United States, Germany and France.

01 Jan 2022; MEMO: France has condemned Iran's space rocket launch, describing it as "regrettable" amid Iran's ongoing nuclear talks with world powers, news agencies reported.

The satellite launch was in breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions, the French Foreign Ministry claimed.

"These activities are all the more regrettable as they come at a time when we are making progress in the nuclear negotiations in Vienna," the ministry expressed.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Thursday announced it launched a satellite carrier rocket bearing three devices into space, though it’s unclear whether any of the objects entered orbit around the Earth.

The state TV report, as well as others by Iran’s semiofficial news agencies, did not say when the launch was conducted nor what devices the carrier brought with it. However, the launch comes amid difficult negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal.

TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister said on Tuesday that the talks in Vienna, Austria on the restoration of a 2015 nuclear deal are on a "good path."

In an address to reporters on the sidelines of a Tuesday ceremony, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that "we have a unified and joint text, on which the Iranian negotiating team is focused," Iranian Foreign Ministry reported on its website.

The Iranian top diplomat noted that the other parties to the deal are also focused on the issues "we placed in the text," which are those the sides have differences on.

TEHRAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- After the murder of African American George Floyd by a white police officer and subsequent protests against police brutality, "U.S. police are still using similar levels of lethal force and they are still not facing the consequences," Iran's Tehran Times reported recently, citing a nonprofit that tracks people killed by the police.

TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, on Monday urged the parties to Vienna nuclear talks to attend the negotiations with the "determination to reach a good agreement."

Talking to reporters during his weekly press conference, Khatibzadeh said that Iran will not accept the demands beyond 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and will persist on its interests within the accord.