Iran

TEHRAN, Sept 3 (NNN-TASNIM) – The Iranian Navy briefly seized two “surveillance vessels” of the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea on Thursday, Iran’s state TV reported yesterday.

On Thursday, while carrying out a counter-terrorism mission in the Red Sea, the Iranian Navy’s destroyer, Jamaran, encountered U.S. unmanned surveillance vessels on the international shipping route, according to the report.

“After warning the American side twice, to prevent possible accidents, the Jamaran destroyer seized the two (surveillance) vessels,” it said.

TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian military official said on Saturday that Iran will "in no way" negotiate over its defense power and will increase it "by as much as needed," semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"If today we have missiles, this is because we have understood that we need this weapon. If we have drones and have developed cutting-edge technologies in this field ... this is because we had understood the issue way sooner," Amir Hatami, military advisor for army affairs to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told a conference held in the capital Tehran.

02 September 2022; MEMO: Israeli officials commented on Friday on the latest response Tehran presented in the context of talks to revive the nuclear agreement, which the US announced was "not constructive".

The Israeli officials considered the Iranian response "makes the return to the nuclear agreement soon unlikely, but this does not mean it is the end of the story."

01 September 2022; MEMO: A news agency affiliated with Iran's top security body has reacted to a US claim that Iranian forces attempted to seize an unmanned US vessel in the Persian Gulf, saying it was done to "ensure the safety of shipping lanes", Anadolu News Agency reports.

In a statement on Wednesday, Nour News cited an unnamed senior military official as saying that the "illegal presence" of US forces in the Persian Gulf was a "source of insecurity" for the region.

TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister demanded on Wednesday "a stronger text" from the United States over its guarantees of lifting sanctions in order to reach an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, official IRNA news agency reported.

"Regarding lifting sanctions, we recently received the latest text from the American side, and my colleagues are carefully reviewing the text," Amir-Abdollahian said during his joint press conference with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.

"We still need a stronger text on the issue of guarantees," he added.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Iran reopened its borders with Iraq a day after closing them, amid the political unrest and violence in Baghdad.

According to Iranian state media, Tehran closed its borders to neighbouring Iraq and halted flights to the country as protests in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, turned violent and resulted in clashes between rival Shia groups.

30 August 2022; MEMO: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that any roadmap to revive the nuclear agreement between his country and world powers must include ending the UN nuclear watchdog's inquiry into "safeguard issues" related to nuclear particles found at undisclosed locations in the country.

"Without resolving safeguards issues, talking about an agreement would be meaningless," Raisi said during a news conference held in Tehran yesterday,  one year since he took office.

29 August 2022; AA: Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday the country's nuclear program has become indigenous and arch-foe Israel has been unable to prevent its progress through sabotage, assassinations, and threats.

Raisi was addressing a news conference in Tehran, attended by local and foreign media, and coinciding with the first anniversary of his government that took over in August last year.

TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Tehran's ongoing "precise examination" of the U.S. response to its viewpoints on the European Union (EU) proposed draft agreement on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal will continue at least by the end of Friday, said Iran's Nour News on Sunday.

The news outlet, which is affiliated with the country's Supreme National Security Council, wrote in a post on its Twitter account that the careful review of "the U.S. responses to Iran's modified pivots" regarding the EU's proposal is still going on "at expert levels" in Tehran.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that Iran and the parties to the Vienna talks are close to a deal, but it may require a new round of meetings, Iran Front Page news website reported.

Fadahossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said "the United States has given a response that will make a new round of talks inevitable."

Officials cannot say when the deal will be reached, Maleki said, adding the U.S. side must show more seriousness than before in the nuclear talks.