Iran

TEHRAN, Dec 23 (NNN-IRNA) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that, Western countries have always stoked tensions in the region, in reaction to an anti-Iran joint statement recently issued by foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members and Britain.

British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, met with visiting foreign ministers of the GCC on Monday, and they issued a joint statement after the meeting, voicing “grave concern” about Iran’s regional activities and what they called “nuclear escalation.”

TEHRAN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday called for a balanced deal in the Vienna negotiations between Iran and other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal.

"The other sides should not doubt that if they want to give one point and ask for 10 points, the Islamic Republic of Iran will never accept this method," Amir Abdollahian said at the joint press conference with his visiting Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

TEHRAN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Following seven rounds of talks held since April this year, Iran and Western parties to the 2015 nuclear deal have yet to find a way to break the impasse on salvaging the pact, which Washington unilaterally quit in 2018.

Although uncertainty is the only certainty right now in the Austrian capital of Vienna, the host city of the talks, the parties' willingness to continue dialogue still bodes well for future negotiations, analysts said.

UPS AND DOWNS

23 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran yesterday announced the development of an anti-missile system to mount to the turrets of T-72M tanks to protect them from attack, the Fars news agency reported.

The announcement came on the third day of land and sea military manoeuvres in three of the Islamic Republic's southern provinces.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran's Revolutionary Guards fired ballistic and cruise missiles on Tuesday during war games in the Gulf, state TV reported, amid heightened tensions with the United States and Israel over possible Israeli plans to target Iranian nuclear sites, reports Reuters.

"The use of ballistic missiles by the Revolutionary Guards' navy is a new concept … and they hit their targets with 100% precision", Guards chief General Hossein Salami told the broadcaster.

TEHRAN, Dec 21 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), staged a large-scale war game, codenamed “the Great Prophet 17,” along the southern coasts of the country yesterday, state TV reported.

The exercise, to be held for five days, involves IRGC units, such as the aerospace force and the cyber-electronic division, Abbas Nilforoushan, the IRGC’s deputy chief of operations and spokesman for the drill, was quoted by Press TV as saying.

20 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran suspects that an attack on its Karaj nuclear plant last June could have been enabled by hacking the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) surveillance cameras at the site.

However, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi dismissed the suggestion as "absurd", insisting the monitors were tamper-proof and that, once installed, they had no means of remote data transmission.

TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Sunday began technical and security inspection of cameras which are to be installed at Iran's Karaj centrifuge producing plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the AEOI announced.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has detected its first case of infection by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, state TV reported Sunday.

The announcement comes as the variant spreads around the globe less than a month after scientists alerted the World Health Organization to the concerning-looking version.

Iran has vaccinated some 60% of its population of roughly 85 million people with two doses of coronavirus vaccines.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and top negotiator in Vienna Ali Bagheri Kani announced on Friday that Vienna nuclear talks will continue after a few days' break.

Bagheri Kani expressed satisfaction with the talks on his Twitter account, saying that "we have made good progress this week ... and we will convene a (JCPOA) Joint Commission (meeting) today and will continue talks after a break of a few days."