Iran’s Top Diplomat Tells US Forces In Mideast To ‘Go Home’

While it remains unclear whether such a meeting will take place and, if it does, who will take part, it is possible that the two sides engage in indirect or even direct contacts during the United Nations General Assembly.

Iranian political analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour told Rouydad24 website in Tehran on Wednesday that there is a good chance Tehran and Washington will use the UN General Assembly as a good opportunity to make adjustments in their positions to resolve some differences that hinder more negotiations.

He added that the presence of high-ranking officials such as Presidents Joe Biden and Ebrahim Raisi would provide a good opportunity to untangle thorny issues. However, Ghahremanpour believes that there are two different issues in the way: the willingness to solve problems and the ability to make progress.

He said that the recent deal to exchange prisoners and release Iran’s assets frozen in foreign banks due to US sanctions indicates that the administration of Ebrahim Raisi has concluded that it wants to resolve outstanding issues with Washington but the secrecy surrounding the agreement indicates that the Iranian regime does not seek media attention fearing a backlash from its hardliner supporters.

“We have seen in recent months that Iranian officials are revealing the least possible amount of information to the public, with most information coming from the Americans,” he said, arguing, “This indicates that the Raisi administration is concerned about the reactions of its supporters and even reformists regarding the agreement. Therefore, what we see is that the Raisi government is trying to implement this agreement without public proclamation.”

Some believe that the opposite can also be true; that the it is the Biden administration that is trying to avoid publicity about any secret deal beyond the hostage and money release agreement.

Ghahremanpour continued, “People do not have a clear understanding of whether an agreement has been reached or not. The government believes that by using this reticent tactic, domestic opposition will diminish.” He noted however that the problem with this tactic is that it dissipates the positive psychological impact of such an agreement on the country's economic environment.

He added that US President Joe Biden faces a similar challenge from the Republicans, underlining that Raisi has to deal with hardliners who voted for him and oppose any concessions to the United States.

All in all, Ghahremanpour was of the opinion that the next development in the relations between Tehran and Washington will not be shocking. After Iran releases the American prisoners and receives its blocked assets, the two sides will start discussing the nuclear issues, he said. “Their deals will continue covertly as Iran sells its oil and the United States ignores it.”

Earlier in the week, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani discussed the issue of talks about the country’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions. He however insisted that there is no plan for direct negotiations with the US.

“As was the case in last year's United Nations General Assembly, where both sides showed interest and Iran demonstrated its eagerness to utilize diplomatic channels to lift sanctions, discussions took place on the sidelines of the summit,” he said, underlining that “There were direct talks with the JCPOA members and indirect talks with the United States.”

Last year, Hassan Rouhani, the only Iranian president who has ever spoken to a US president, said he had a chance to talk with Donald Trump when he was in New York in 2019. Rouhani talked with US President Barack Obama over the phone in September 2013. Obama initiated the call when the Iranian president was on his way to the airport to fly back to Iran after attending the UN General Assembly meeting.

Princeton University faculty member Hossein Mousavian, who made headlines last year for bragging about the regime’s revenge against American officials over the targeted killing of IRGC's Quds Commander Qasem Soleimani, delivered a speech at the US Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium earlier in August. The US and EU-designated Soleimani coordinated Iran's proxy militant groups throughout the region to attack Israeli and US interests.

The Pro-Tehran pundit served as a key figure in Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the international community until 2005 and currently is a Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton. Oddly enough, he used to be the editor-in-chief of the regime-affiliated daily Tehran Times, which recently published a “sensitive” US government memo purportedly sent to US Iran envoy Robert Malley informing him of his security access suspension.

Mousavian’s appearance at the mid-August high-level event, which came to light on Monday, drew criticism from former US officials and Iran analysts as well as Iranian dissidents, who questioned why America’s premier military outfit would host someone who maintains close ties to the Islamic Republic and has even indirectly lauded the regime’s efforts to assassinate American leaders.

In January 2022, his remarks in a documentary made in Iran to mark Qassem Soleimani’s second death anniversary led to controversy when he gloated about how Iran’s threat to avenge Soleimani killing frightened the wife of Brian Hook, Washington’s special envoy for Iran at the time. “An American told me that Brian Hook’s wife had not slept for several days and that she was shaking and crying. That’s how afraid they were” Mousavian said gleefully in the documentary.

Reacting to Mousavian’s presence at the event, Omri Ceren -- a journalist and the national security advisor for US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) -- pointed out that there are many US officials sympathetic to the Iranian regime.

"Mousavian helped lead the murderous Iranian regime’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons so it could threaten the United States and our allies with annihilation," said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), a member of the House Armed Services Committee. "Now he’s in semi-retirement at Princeton as a full-time propagandist for the IRGC. Inviting him to spread lies at a US military seminar is insanity."

The former regime official started his speech at STRATCOM’s Deterrence Symposium 2023 noting that he was arrested in 2007 in Iran over charges of espionage for the US and was banned to hold any diplomatic post. However, former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, one of the main architects of the 2015 nuclear deal, described him as an official committed to the regime who "continues to work hard" for Tehran’s interests while working at Princeton.

Mousavian, who traveled to Iran to attend Soleimani's funeral, was Tehran’s ambassador to Germany when four Iranian dissidents were assassinated at Berlin's Mykonos restaurant in 1992. In December 2021, an American academic who was imprisoned in Iran for 1,216 days, said Mousavian is sympathetic to the Iranian regime, claiming that he stymied efforts to free him from prison.

Gabriel Noronha, a former Iran adviser at the State Department, told the Washington Free Beacon, "The decision to invite former Iranian ambassador Mousavian to speak to STRATCOM is unimaginably foolish.

He is a pawn and propaganda agent of the Iranian regime, Noronha added. "Congress should investigate the decision-making process that led to this entirely inappropriate speaking invitation."

Alireza Nader, a US-based Iran scholar, said it is "outrageous and dangerous that US STRATCOM invited a former regime official connected to the assassination of Iranian dissidents to be a speaker at its symposium, providing him access to America’s most senior military officials."

During his remarks at the STRATCOM event, Mousavian thanked Gen. Anthony Cotton – the commander of the US Strategic Command -- for inviting him to the event and said he would present an "Iranian perspective" on the current threat landscape within the Middle East. The United States must "rewrite their policy in the Middle East," he added.

He went on to criticize what he called American acts of aggression towards Iran, highlighting former President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. What he said was somehow the repetition of his views summarized in an article he penned for the Middle East Eye in 2020: Biden needs to revive the JCPOA, remove Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from the US terror list, and lift the sanctions against regime’s senior officials.

Describing him as “an agent of the Iranian regime,” Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Princeton last year “to dismiss him from any association or affiliation with the university without delay”, noting that “Mousavian’s affiliation with Princeton is a stain on the university’s reputation and credibility”.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down all 28 incoming missiles and 15 of the 16 drones in the overnight attack, which also targeted the Black Sea region of Odesa, said General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces.

Russia uses long-range Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones to attack Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets. The drones are also used in concert with missiles to confuse and exhaust Ukraine’s air defenses.

The United States and its European allies have imposed sanctions on individuals and entities involved in Iran’s drone production and transfer of hundreds of the weapons to Russia. They have also repeatedly warned Tehran not to expand its military cooperation with Moscow.

Russia has conducted regular, but smaller, air strikes on Kyiv this summer, and hit the capital with large-scale aerial attacks in May.

The latest attack began with drones heading towards Kyiv from different directions and was followed by a salvo of missiles launched by Tu-95 strategic bombers.

It was not immediately clear what had been hit by the single drone that was not shot down.

"Kyiv has not experienced such a powerful attack since spring. The enemy launched a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles," Serhiy Popko, the head of the city's military administration said on Telegram.

The bodies of two people were found in a non-residential building, mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

In a detailed statement, the ministry disclosed that they have identified and arrested 14 individuals suspected of being linked to an "expansive terrorist-Zionist network." in the provinces of Khuzestan, Mazandaran, Kermanshah, and Sistan and Baluchestan. In the same operation, officials have reported the discovery and seizure of 43 potentially explosive devices.

The ministry's statement alleged that the dismantled network had ties to individuals located in the Netherlands and Denmark. They also named the suspects as Shahin Zahmatkesh, known as Shahin Lou, a member of the TM Bax music group in in Denmark, and Siamak Tadayyon Tahmasbi, an artist based in the Netherlands.

The ministry also pointed to the role of social media networks and foreign television outlets, suggesting that these platforms aided disseminating of information related to the network's activities.

Furthermore, the statement suggested that members of the disrupted network harbored intentions to assasinate notable personality. This aligns with previous claims made by Iranian authorities regarding external threats to the nation's stability.

There have been numerous instances of sabotage and infiltration in Iran in recent years, with serious clandestine attacks on nuclear, military and important economic targets. Iranian intelligence was badly discredited when two large sabotage attacks took place in 2020 and 2021 against its most important nuclear facility in Natanz. A few key military and intelligence officials have also been assassinated. The incidents are largely attributed to Israel, although Israeli officials have never officially taken responsibility.

Sajjad Anoushiravani, the head of the Weightlifting Federation announced on Tuesday that Rajai has been banned from the sport for life after the podium photo was published. Simultaneously, Anoushiravani made the decision to dissolve the veterans' committee of the federation.

Anoushiravani said, "Upon becoming aware of this inexcusable incident, stringent actions were taken against those involved. The athlete responsible has received a lifetime ban, and upon conducting thorough investigations, resolute measures will be taken against all individuals implicated. Furthermore, effective immediately, all operations of the veteran athletes' committee will be terminated."

The Islamic Republic's anti-Israel policy has driven a significant number of Iranian athletes to refrain from competing against Israeli counterparts, often citing various pretexts. This stance has consequently led to the defection of numerous Iranian athletes seeking asylum in other countries.

While no official legislation prohibits Iranian athletes from playing against Israelis, pressure from federation officials often coerces athletes into intentionally losing matches, forfeiting games, or claiming injuries to evade encounters with Israeli competitors. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has consistently applauded Iranian athletes who opt out of competing against Israelis. In September 2021, he explicitly encouraged them to continue this stance even in the face of potential sanctions from international sports bodies.

Over the past few years, approximately 30 Iranian athletes have defected from national teams and sought asylum in foreign nations. Notable examples include Judo champion Saeid Mollaei and Greco-Roman wrestler Ali Arsalan.