CAIRO: Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said on Saturday that the next round of talks in Vienna must wait until the new Iranian administration takes office in early August.
“We’re in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital. Vienna talks must thus obviously await our new administration,” Abbas Araqchi said on Twitter.
Indirect US-Iranian talks on reviving the 2015 deal have been on hold since the last round ended on June 20 and Iran has made clear it is not ready to resume before President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes over.
In his tweet, Araqchi also said the United States and Britain need to stop linking the exchange of prisoners with the nuclear deal.
“Ten prisoners on all sides may be released tomorrow if US&UK fulfil their part of a deal,” he said.
Iran, which is holding a handful of Iranian-Americans, has been accused by rights activists of arresting dual nationals to try to extract a concession from other countries. Iran has dismissed the charge.
Iran said earlier this week that it was holding talks on securing the release of Iranian prisoners in American jails and other countries over violations of US sanctions.
In May, Washington denied a report by Iranian state television that the countries had reached a prisoner swap deal in exchange for the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds under US sanctions in other countries.
The hiatus in nuclear talks, which US and European officials attribute to hard-line Raisi’s election, has raised questions about next steps if the talks hit a dead end. The US State Department has acknowledged it may need to rethink its stance.
Iranian deputy foreign minister says Vienna talks must await Iran’s new administration
https://arab.news/zkvde
Iranian deputy foreign minister says Vienna talks must await Iran’s new administration
- “Vienna talks must thus obviously await our new administration", tweeted Abbas Araqchi
- Iran has made clear it is not ready to resume before President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes over
Israeli army drone downed over Iran
- Iranian state television broadcast pictures of the wreckage of what it said was an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan
An army statement said the drone had gone down in Iran after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.
“No injuries were reported and there is no risk of an information breach,” it added.
Iranian state television broadcast pictures of the wreckage of what it said was an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan.
The Israeli air force has been launching daily raids on Iran since last Friday, with the country targeting missile sites in particular along with other military and nuclear-related sites.
Military spokesman Effie Defrin insisted that Israel was “operating freely” over Iran with air strikes that have involved “dozens of aircraft of various types.”
“We will continue to strike anywhere within Iran that we choose. Yes, there is resistance, but we control the skies and will continue to maintain that control,” he told a televised press briefing on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had achieved “total air superiority in the skies over Tehran.”
More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out air strikes in the Tehran area on Wednesday morning, targeting a production facility for uranium enrichment centrifuges among other locations, according to an earlier statement from the military.
Iran will respond firmly if US becomes directly involved in Israeli strikes, says UN ambassador
- Iran’s envoy to UN in Geneva Ali Bahreini sees the US as ‘complicit in what Israel is doing’
- Tehran would set a red line, and respond if the United States crosses it
GENEVA: Iran has conveyed to Washington that it will respond firmly to the United States if it becomes directly involved in Israel’s military campaign, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday.
Ali Bahreini told reporters that he saw the US as “complicit in what Israel is doing.” Iran would set a red line, and respond if the United States crosses it, he said, without specifying what actions would provoke a response.
Israel launched an air war on Friday after saying it had concluded Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump called on Tuesday for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Bahreini called Trump’s remarks “completely unwarranted and very hostile. We cannot ignore them. We are vigilant about what Trump is saying. We will put it in our calculations and assessments.”
The US has so far taken only indirect actions, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel. It is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials said.
“I am confident that (Iran’s military) will react strongly, proportionally and appropriately. We are closely following the level of involvement in the US... We will react whenever it is needed,” he said.
Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran and other major cities on Wednesday, Iranian media reported, as Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other.
Iran’s former economy minister calls for Iranian control over Strait of Hormuz
- Ehsan Khandouzi: ‘This policy is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country’
DUBAI: Former Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has said that tankers and LNG cargoes should only transit the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission and this policy should be carried out from “tomorrow for a hundred days.”
It was not immediately clear whether Khandouzi was echoing a plan under the Iranian establishment’s consideration or sharing his personal opinion.
Tehran has long used the threat of blocking the narrow waterway as a means to ward off Western pressure, without acting on its threats. The stakes have risen since Israel launched an air war on Iran last week after concluding the latter was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
“This policy [of controlling maritime transit in the Strait]is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country,” Khandouzi posted on X on Tuesday.
Iran’s Oil Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Khandouzi was economy minister until the summer of last year in the cabinet of late President Ebrahim Raisi and remains close to the Iranian establishment’s hard-liners.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is the primary export route for Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Kuwait.
About 20 percent of the world’s daily oil consumption – around 18 million barrels – passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 kilometers wide at its narrowest point.
Gaza rescuers say 30 killed by Israel fire
- Civil defense spokesman says 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens”
GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency said 30 people were killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens” who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza.
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
Since then, chaotic scenes and a string of deadly shootings have occurred near areas where Palestinians have gathered in hope of receiving aid.
The civil defense agency said another 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, which it said targeted houses and a tent for displaced people.
When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “looking into” the reports.
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said on Monday that its partners “continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”
The civil defense agency reported that at least 53 people were killed on Tuesday, as they gathered near an aid center in the southern city of Khan Yunis hoping to receive flour.
After Israel eased its blockade, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organization said that “to date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites nor has an incident occurred during our operating hours.”
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
The Hamas attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to Israeli official figures.
The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed major operations in the territory on March 18, ending a two-month truce.
The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
Ship collision off UAE coast due to navigational misjudgment: Ministry of Energy
DUBAI: Tuesday’s collision between two ships in the Sea of Oman was due to a ‘navigational misjudgment by one of the vessels’, the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said on Wednesday, citing preliminary information.
The oil tanker named Adalynn, flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, and the vessel named Front Eagle, flying the flag of Liberia, collided and caught fire approximately 24 nautical miles (44.448km) off the coast of the UAE, the ministry said in a report by state news agency WAM.
Harrowing images of dark fleet tanker ADALYNN (IMO #9231767) post collision. pic.twitter.com/Y1FUBNNtis
— Ed Finley–Richardson (@ed_fin) June 17, 2025
The incident caused minor surface damage to the outer hulls of both ships, a small oil spill, and a fire that broke out in the fuel tank of one of the ships. No injuries were reported among the crew members of either vessel, the ministry added.
UAE coastguard personnel evacuated 24 crew members from the Adalynn to the port of Khor Fakkan.
A technical investigation was underway in coordination with relevant international bodies, the ministry noted.
