MUSCAT: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepared for fresh nuclear talks with the United States in Oman on Friday after apparent progress in previous rounds.
Araghchi flew into Muscat ahead of Saturday’s meeting with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, their third encounter in as many weeks.
Araghchi will lead Iran’s delegation of diplomats and technical experts in indirect discussions with the US side, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X.
Iran’s top diplomat was a negotiator of the landmark nuclear accord abandoned by Trump during his first term in 2018.
Araghchi refused to discuss the talks as he signed copies of an Arabic translation of his book, “The Power of Negotiation” at a book fair in Muscat on Friday.
The latest round will include expert-level talks on Iran’s nuclear program, with Michael Anton, who serves as the State Department’s head of policy planning, leading the technical discussions on the US side, the department said.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will head the Iranian technical team.
Baqaei posted that Iran’s delegation is “resolved to secure our nation’s legitimate and lawful right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our program is entirely peaceful.”
“Termination of unlawful and inhumane sanctions in an objective and speedy manner is a priority that we seek to achieve,” he added.
According to Baqaei, the dialogue will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi — who appeared with Araghchi at the book signing — on Saturday morning.
The meeting follows two earlier rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations in Muscat and Rome starting on April 12.
Since his return to office in January, Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran.
In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.
Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes.
Baqaei earlier Friday said “progress in the negotiations requires the demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism by the other side.”
Iran will treat Saturday’s talks seriously, Araghchi said in a recent interview, “and if the other party also enters seriously, there is potential for progress.”
In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal signed three years earlier between Tehran and major world powers. The agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
After Trump’s pullout, Tehran complied with the agreement for a year before scaling back its compliance.
Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.
In an interview published by Time Magazine on Friday, Trump said the United States will “lead the pack” in attacking Iran if nuclear talks do not lead to a new deal.
But he expressed hope that an agreement could be reached and said he would be willing to meet Khamenei.
Iran FM Araghchi in Oman ahead of nuclear talks with US
https://arab.news/jnmch
Iran FM Araghchi in Oman ahead of nuclear talks with US

- Abbas Araghchi will be leading a diplomatic and technical-expert delegation for indirect discussions with the US side
- President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States in the talks
Israeli negotiators due in Qatar for Gaza truce talks

- US President Donald Trump has been making a renewed push to end the fighting
- Hamas earlier said it had responded to a US-backed ceasefire proposal in a ‘positive spirit’
JERUSALEM: An Israeli delegation was expected in Doha on Sunday for talks on a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
Netanyahu had earlier announced he was sending a team to Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict, though he said that Hamas’s response to a draft US-backed ceasefire deal included some “unacceptable” demands.
Faced with mounting calls to end the war that is nearing its 22nd month, Netanyahu is due to meet on Monday with US President Donald Trump, who has been making a renewed push to end the fighting.
On Saturday, protesters gathered in Israel’s coastal hub of Tel Aviv for a weekly rally demanding the return of hostages still in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.
Macabit Mayer, the aunt of captives Gali and Ziv Berman, called for a deal “that saves everyone.”
Hamas said Friday it was ready “to engage immediately and seriously” in negotiations.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said that “the changes that Hamas is seeking to make in the Qatari proposal... are unacceptable to Israel,” while also sending negotiators to discuss “the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to.”
On the ground, Gaza’s civil defense agency said 14 people were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.
Hamas response
Hamas has not publicly detailed its responses to the US-sponsored proposal, which was transmitted by mediators from Qatar and Egypt.
Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions said the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.
However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.
Since the Hamas attack sparked a massive Israeli offensive with the aim of destroying the group, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in fighting, during which hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said Saturday that top diplomat Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with Washington’s main representative in the truce talks, Steve Witkoff, to discuss “preparations for holding indirect meetings between the two parties concerned to reach an agreement.”
But recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for a lasting ceasefire.
The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.
Karima Al-Ras, from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, said “we hope that a truce will be announced” to allow in more aid.
“People are dying for flour,” she said.
A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Friday that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.
The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
Hezbollah chief says will not surrender under threat from Israel

- Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm.
“This threat will not make us accept surrender,” Qassem said in a televised speech to thousands of his supporters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, during the Shiite Muslim religious commemoration of Ashura.
Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between Israel and Hezbollah last year have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire that ended the fighting.
Qassem, who succeeding longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him in September, said the group’s fighters would not abandon their arms and asserted that Israel’s “aggression” must first stop.
His speech came as US envoy Tom Barrack was expected in Beirut on Monday.
Lebanese authorities are due to deliver a response to Barrack’s request for Iran-backed Hezbollah to be disarmed by the end of the year, according to a Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south, near the Israeli border.
Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, claiming to hit Hezbollah targets and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group.
According to the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah is to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometers from the Israeli frontier.
Israel was to withdraw its troops from all of Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five points it deemed strategic.
Jordan intercepts drone carrying drugs across western border

- The drone was detected as it entered Jordanian airspace and intercepted successfully
CAIRO: The Jordanian Army announced Sunday that it thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone across the country’s western border.
A statement issued on Petra News Agency said the drone was detected as it entered Jordanian airspace and intercepted successfully, and that the seized materials were handed over to the relevant authorities.
“Forces responded by applying the rules of engagement, bringing down the drone inside Jordanian territory,” it said.
The statement said Jordan remains steadfast in preventing infiltration and smuggling attempts, ensuring the security and stability of the Kingdom.
Iran’s supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started

- Ali Khamenei’s absence during the war suggested the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters, had been in seclusion in a bunker
- State TV in Iran showed him waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered and sat at a mosque in the capital
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura.
Khamenei’s absence during the war suggested the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters, had been in seclusion in a bunker — something not acknowledged by state media. State TV in Iran showed him waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered and sat at a mosque next to his office and residence in the capital, Tehran.
There was no immediate report on any public statement made. Iranian officials such as the parliament speaker were present. Such events are always held under heavy security.
After the US inserted itself into the war by bombing three key nuclear sites in Iran, US President Donald Trump sent warnings via social media to the 86-year-old Khamenei that the US knew where he was but had no plans to kill him, “at least for now.”
On June 26, shortly after a ceasefire began, Khamenei made his first public statement in days, saying in a prerecorded statement that Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by striking a US air base in Qatar, and warning against further attacks by the US or Israel on Iran.
Trump replied, in remarks to reporters and on social media: “Look, you’re a man of great faith. A man who’s highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell.”
Iran has acknowledged the deaths of more than 900 people in the war, as well as thousands of injured. It also has confirmed serious damage to its nuclear facilities, and has denied access to them for inspectors with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Iran’s president on Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, further limiting inspectors’ ability to track a program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. Israel launched the war fearing that Iran was trying to develop atomic weapons.
It remains unclear just how badly damaged the nuclear facilities are, whether any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been moved before the attacks, and whether Tehran still would be willing to continue negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program.
Israel also targeted defense systems, high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists. In retaliation, Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of them intercepted, killing 28 people and causing damage in many areas.
Ceremony commemorates a death that caused rift in Islam
The ceremony that Khamenei hosted Saturday was a remembrance of the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein.
Shiites represent over 10 percent of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, and they view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, created a rift in Islam and continues to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.
In predominantly Shiite Iran, red flags represented Hussein’s blood and black funeral tents and clothes represented mourning. Processions of chest-beating and self-flagellating men demonstrated fervor. Some sprayed water over the mourners in the intense heat.
Reports of problems accessing the Internet
NetBlocks, a global Internet monitor, reported late Saturday on X that there was a “major disruption to Internet connectivity” in Iran. It said the disruption corroborated widespread user reports of problems accessing the Internet. The development comes just weeks after authorities shut down telecoms during the war. NetBlocks later said Internet access had been restored after some two hours.
Shiite neighborhoods in Damascus commemorate Ashoura quietly after Assad’s ouster

- Syrian Shiites already felt they were in a precarious position after Assad’s ouster
- Shiite neighborhoods of Damascus are now subdued; the hotels once brimming with religious tourists are empty, there are no banners or processions
DAMASCUS: Shiite pilgrims from Syria and abroad used to flock to the Sayyida Zeinab shrine outside of Damascus every year to commemorate Ashoura, a solemn day marking the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.
In the days leading up to Ashoura, the streets would be lined with black and red mourning banners and funeral tents. On the day of the commemoration, black-clad mourners would process through the streets, while in gathering halls known as “husseiniyas,” the faithful would listen and weep as clerics recounted the death of Imam Hussein and his 72 companions in the battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq.
Protecting the shrine dedicated to Sayyida Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter and sister to Hussein, from Sunni extremists became a rallying cry for Shiite fighters during Syria’s 14-year civil war. It was often pointed to as justification for the intervention of militants from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq in the Syrian conflict in support of former President Bashar Assad.
This year, after Assad’s ouster in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgents, the Shiite neighborhoods of Damascus were subdued. The hotels that were once brimming with religious tourists were empty. There were no banners or processions.
The faithful continued to observe their rituals inside the shrine and prayer halls, but quietly and with strict security measures.
Violence takes its toll
Syrian Shiites already felt they were in a precarious position after Assad’s ouster. Their fears increased after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a church outside of Damascus last month, killing 25 people and wounding dozens more. Government officials blamed the attack on a cell of the Daesh group and said they had thwarted plans by the same cell to attack Sayyida Zeinab.
In Damascus’ Zain al Abdeed neighborhood, mourners entered gathering halls after going through a search and screening with metal detectors.
Qassem Soleiman, head of a body that coordinates between the Shiite community and the new government, said Shiite leaders had agreed with the state that they would hold their Ashoura rituals but would “cut back on certain things outside of the halls in order for no one to get hurt and for there not to be problems.”
The attack on the Mar Elias Church in Dweil’a “put us into a state of great fear and anxiety,” he said. “So we tried as much as possible to do our commemorations and rituals and ceremonies for Ashoura inside the halls.”
Jafaar Mashhadiyia, an attendant at one of the gathering halls, echoed similar fears.
“The security situation is still not stable — there are not a lot of preventive measures being taken in the streets,” he said. “The groups that are trying to carry out terrorist attacks have negative views of Shiites, so there is a fear of security incidents.”
Worry affects the economy
The absence of pilgrims coming from abroad has been an economic hit to the area.
“There are no visitors,” said a hotel owner in the Sayyida Zeinab area near the shrine, who asked to be identified only by his nickname, Abu Mohammad, because of security concerns. During the lead-up to Ashoura, “the hotels should be 100 percent full,” he said. “The Iraqis normally fill up the area.” But this year, they didn’t come.
His economic woes predate Assad’s fall. In the months before the rebel offensive in Syria, a low-level conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah escalated into a full-scale war in Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands fled from Lebanon across the border into Syria to escape the bombardment, with many of them staying in the hotels in Sayyida Zeinab at discounted rates, Abu Mohammad said.
A guard at a checkpoint in Sayyida Zeinab, who gave only his nickname, Abu Omar, in accordance with regulations, said he had seen no security issues in the area since the fall of Assad.
“There are attempts to sow discord and sectarianism by corrupt people who were with the former regime and want to play on the string of sectarianism and destroy the country and create issues between us,” he said, describing them as “individual efforts.”
Abu Omar pointed to a group of local men sitting in chairs on the sidewalk nearby smoking hookah.
“If they didn’t feel safe here next to us, next to a security checkpoint, they wouldn’t come and sit here.”
Soleiman said he hopes that next year, the foreign pilgrims will be back and Shiites will be able to openly commemorate Ashoura, with Syrians from other groups coming to see the rituals as they did in the past.
“We hope that next year things will return to how they were previously, and that is a call to the state and a call to the General Security agency and all the political figures,” he said. “We are one of the components in building this state.”