Iran

27 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran's main focus in nuclear talks that resume in Austria on Monday will be the lifting of all US sanctions in a verifiable process that guarantees Tehran's unhindered ability to export its oil, the foreign minister said, reports Reuters.

Negotiations with world powers to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are to resume in Vienna at 1800 (1700 GMT), state media reported.

27 Dec 2021; MEMO: Benjamin Briere, a French tourist jailed in Iran on spying charges since spring 2020, has begun a hunger strike, his lawyer and sister said in a statement on Monday, reports Reuters.

French authorities remain in close contact with Briere, visiting him on December 21 and contacting him on Monday, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

26 Dec 2021; MEMO: In a first-of-its-kind barter deal, Iran has agreed to accept payment from Sri Lanka in the form of Ceylon tea to clear a debt for part oil exports worth $251 million.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka's Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana told Reuters he aimed to start sending tea to Iran from January. "We hope to send $5 million worth of tea each month to repay Iran for oil purchases pending since the last four years," he said.

TEHRAN, Dec 26 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran yesterday announced, the decision to close its land borders with neighbouring countries for 15 days, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 variant of Omicron.

Ruhollah Latifi, spokesman for Iran’s Customs, said, Iran’s land borders with Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Armenia are closed for half a month from yesterday.

Iran’s Health Ministry yesterday reported 1,121 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country’s total infections to 6,182,905.

24 Dec 2021; MEMO: War games conducted this week by Iran in the Gulf were intended to send a warning to Israel, the country's top military commanders said on Friday, amid concerns over possible Israeli plans to target Iranian nuclear sites, Reuters reported.

The Revolutionary Guards' war games, which included firing ballistic and cruise missiles, ended on Friday.

TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian commander said on Friday that the five-day drill in the southern parts of the country was a response to recent threats by Israel, Tasnim news agency reported.

Chief of the Iranian armed forces Mohammad Baqeri said recent threats from some Israeli officials prompted the Iranian side to hold the war game, dubbed "Great Prophet 17," at this time.

He noted that the war game was among Iran's most successful missile exercises so far.

TEHRAN, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people died in a car accident on Saturday morning in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

According to the Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, the chain accident of five vehicles, one carrying workers of a company, in Ahvaz-Khorramshahr road left 10 dead and 13 injured, said the report.

"This accident occurred because of the collision of a cattle truck with a minibus carrying workers followed by a further collision of three other cars," the head of Khuzestan Road Police said. 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired more than a dozen surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

The report said the Guard fired 16 missiles during an ongoing major military exercise across the country’s south. It said the name of missiles were Emad, Ghadr, Sejjil, Zalzal, Dezful and Zolfaghar and that their range is from 350 to 2000 kilometers (220 to 1250 miles). The short-range and medium-range missiles, Iran has said, can reach U.S. bases in the region as well as archenemy Israel.

24 Dec 2021; MEMO: European negotiators in talks to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers presented no "new practical initiatives" and were not constructive in the last round that paused on Dec. 17, the Iranian foreign minister said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The negotiations will resume on Dec. 27, Russia and the European Union's foreign service said earlier on Thursday, a day after the US national security adviser warned the troubled talks with Iran could be exhausted within weeks.

23 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran's foreign minister on Thursday announced Tehran's readiness to take part in the next round of tension-easing talks with Saudi Arabia brokered by Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Tehran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran presented "a set of practical proposals" to Riyadh, which were viewed "positively" by the Saudi authorities, paving the way for the next round of talks in Baghdad.