Iran

24 April 2022; MEMO: Rival regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed talks in the Iraqi capital after they were suspended in March, Iran's semi-official Nour News reported on Saturday.

Reuters reported there was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia or Iraq on the resumption of the talks.

24 April 2022; MEMO: The main border crossing between Iran and Afghanistan was closed on Saturday following skirmishes between Iranian border guards and the Taliban forces, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to official sources, Taliban authorities in the Islam Qala district of western Afghanistan's Herat province were paving a road in the border zone with Iran, which was obstructed by Iranian border guards.

TEHRAN, Apr 23 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), vowed to take revenge on the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, former commander of its IRGC Quds Force, Press TV reported yesterday.

“They (Americans) constantly send messages saying they will offer rewards and remove certain sanctions if we give up seeking revenge for Soleimani,” Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the naval unit of the IRGC, was quoted as saying.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iran has reportedly signed a deal with Russia to import 20 million tons of basic goods, including vegetable oil, wheat, barley and corn, Iranian NourNews reports.

According to the report, Iran's Agriculture Minister, Javad Sadatinejad, signed the food agreement with Russia during a visit to Russia last week.

The deal is to address concerns about shortages of basic goods and livestock feed in the next Iranian year, starting on 21 March.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iranian hackers, known as Al-Tahira, claim to have succeeded in bringing down Israel Airports Authority (IAA) website Wednesday night.

Based in Iraq, the group said that it is to avenge the assassination of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Commander Qassem Soleimani.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iran has sent Israel "photos and maps of Israeli nuclear weapons stores" through a European mediator, an Iranian source said.

Al Jazeera quoted an unnamed source as saying: "Tehran had sent to Israel, through a European country, photos and maps of the Israeli nuclear weapons stores," adding that "most of the pictures are terrestrial and not satellite."

21 April 2022; MEMO: A collection of ancient Iranian artefacts have been returned to the country's National Museum after a 40-year search and a longstanding legal dispute.

Dating back almost 3,000 years, 51 decorated glazed bricks were made by the Mannean kingdom between the 10th-7th century BCE, which was based in today's north-western Iran.

Their discovery and repatriation "is a series of incredible adventures," Youssef Hassanzadeh, an archaeologist with the museum, told AFP.

21 April 2022; MEMO: Iran will not give up on its plans to avenge the 2020 US assassination of Quds Force Commander, Qassem Soleimani, despite "regular offers" from Washington to lift sanctions and provide other concessions in return, a top official said on Thursday, and Reuters reports.

Over the last year, Iran and the United States have had indirect talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that was abandoned by Washington in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump and, subsequently, violated by Tehran.

21 April 2022; MEMO: Iranian authorities announced the arrest of three individuals suspected of being agents of the Israeli intelligence agency – Mossad, according to reports by Iran's Fars news agency today.

The Iranian intelligence agencies stated that three suspects were arrested in the city of Zahedan, in the southern part of the country.

It was reported that the three individuals had sent secret documents to the Israeli intelligence.

19 April 2022; MEMO: Iran yesterday said a deal to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers was not in sight, adding that the US was to blame.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters that "more than one issue is still pending between Iran and the United States."

He explained that messages coming from Washington "are far from providing solutions that could lead to an accord."