Iran

TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian official on Tuesday night slammed sanctions freshly imposed by the United States on Iranian governmental agencies and officials.

"Even amid #ViennaTalks, the U.S. cannot stop imposing sanctions against Iran," Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, wrote on his personal Twitter account shortly before midnight.

07 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has accused Israel of opposing regional dialogue and making efforts to thwart the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement concluded between Tehran and world powers.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Khatibzadeh said that Tel Aviv has opposed the nuclear agreement from the beginning. He added, however, that his country does not care about Israeli positions.

07 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran yesterday accused France of "destabilising" the region by selling weapons to rival Gulf countries, three days after Paris signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the sale of 80 Rafale fighter jets.

"We must not ignore France's role in destabilising the region," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference.

TEHRAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said that Washington should take the first step in revival of the 2015 nuclear deal since it was the one which left the deal, official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will not back down from its demands for the lifting of sanctions in the process of restoration of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Bagheri Kani said, according to the report.

05 Dec 2021; MEMO: Iran's air defense units fired a missile over the Natanz nuclear facility in central Isfahan province on Saturday to test the rapid missile defense system, officials said.

The explosion took place at around 9 p.m., creating panic and fear amid conflicting reports in local media.

Nour News, a news agency affiliated with the country's top security body, said the explosion was the result of defensive missile fired into the sky "with the aim of testing rapid response to a possible attack."

TEHRAN, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said on Friday that the delegations of participating parties in the nuclear talks will return to their capitals for consultations, and the talks will resume in Vienna next week.

During the meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission on Friday, a review of the past days' talks in Vienna was presented by the parties, Bagheri Kani was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

TEHRAN, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that the current U.S. govenment should stop following the maximum pressure policy by former President Donald Trump against Iran.

28 Nov 2021; MEMO: Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have signed a gas swap deal for up to 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Under the swap deal, Iran will receive gas from Turkmenistan and deliver an equivalent amount to Azerbaijan at the Astara border, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji told state TV.

TEHRAN, Nov 27 (NNN-IRNA) – The Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, said that, Iran is determined to advance with its “peaceful” nuclear programme, while cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“World powers have politicised part of Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme, but Iran is pursuing a peaceful nuclear industry,” Kamalvandi said.

22 Nov 2021; MEMO: The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, Monday, that nine soldiers were killed in direct clashes with the US Navy in the Persian Gulf waters, local media reported.

The Mehr News Agency quoted Navy commander, Alireza Tangsiri, as saying that the clashes took place in the Persian Gulf, without specifying the time, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Tangsiri said the clashes resulted in the killing of nine IRGC soldiers, without providing any further details.