Pope Francis engaged with Tehran but called out repression

“The essential demand of Iran is the removal of unjust sanctions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday during a weekly briefing. “These restrictions, imposed under the pretext of the nuclear file, have no legal foundation.”

He added that Iran remains willing to engage with concerns over its nuclear program as it has “for the past three decades.”

In November, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said, “The official stance of Iran in rejecting weapons of mass destruction and regarding the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program is clear".

Earlier this year, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had enriched uranium to near weapons grade. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported major gaps in the agency's understanding of Tehran's nuclear inventory since 2023 when Tehran banned dozens of inspectors and removed cameras in key sites.

Muscat to host next round of expert talks

Baghaei confirmed that the next expert-level meeting between Iran and the United States would be held in Oman, a key mediator in the talks, along with Italy.

Tehran says the negotiations are taking place without direct contact between Iranian and American negotiators. Efforts to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have faltered since the collapse of the 2015 deal following the US withdrawal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump.

According to Baghaei, the forthcoming technical talks will focus on the details of the framework that might underpin any future agreement.

“We are serious and swift, but a deal depends on the will of the counterpart. Constant references to the snapback mechanism are not constructive,” he said, referring to threats from European states to reimpose UN sanctions under the nuclear accord’s dispute resolution clause.

Beijing and Moscow remain ‘key interlocutors’

Iran's foreign minister is set to travel to China for consultations, Baghaei said, adding that Beijing and Moscow remain crucial interlocutors due to their roles in the UN Security Council and the 2015 nuclear deal.

“We have always been in contact with the European troika as well,” he said, referring to Britain, France, and Germany. These countries, alongside Russia and China, were original signatories of the JCPOA and remain engaged in efforts to salvage the deal.

Baghaei added that all such talks remain rooted in the framework of the nuclear agreement and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA in 2015.

Tehran rejects pressure, denies Rome meeting with IAEA

Baghaei also rejected the idea that Iran would yield under pressure. “We do not change our positions under threats. We respond to goodwill with goodwill and know how to counter intimidation,” he said.

Iran has repeatedly warned it will not bow to coercive diplomacy, including military threats or economic isolation, a stance hardened by years of Western sanctions and regional conflict.

US President Donald Trump has warned of bombing Iran if Tehran fails to reach a deal over its nuclear program.

"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing — and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before," Trump said.

Baghaei also denied speculation about back-channel talks in Italy between Iran’s deputy foreign minister and the International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi.

“There were no meetings or discussions with Mr. Grossi in Rome,” he said. “He traveled there on his own initiative. We had already spoken with him in Tehran before the Rome talks, and saw no need for further discussions.”

Alma, which focuses on threats to northern Israel, assessed that Iran and Hezbollah want to reactivate the original land corridor stretching from the Iraqi border in eastern Syria to the Lebanese border in the west.

The institute highlighted recent reports of a potential halving of US troop numbers in Syria and the commencement of some withdrawals, such as from the Conico base in the Deir ez-Zor region.

Alma argued that this US drawdown would likely further embolden Iran and Hezbollah to solidify their foothold in the Syrian part of the corridor.

Even before a possible US withdrawal from the al-Tanf region in southeastern Syria, the analysis warned that a reduced American presence could lead to a significant shortening of the corridor route towards Lebanon and southern Syria.

This would potentially re-expose the Daraa province, bordering Israel, to increased Iranian influence and presence, Alma concluded.

Reports indicate a significant withdrawal of Iranian forces and allied militias from Syria after President Bashar Assad's removal in December, with personnel moving to Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, abandoning military equipment.

While the dominant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which toppled the Assad government, is expected to block an immediate IRGC return due to past support for Assad, the Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying that Iran will eventually attempt to re-establish its regional presence.

At its height, Iran maintained a substantial military infrastructure in Syria.

According to the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Iran had as many as 10,000 IRGC forces in Syria at its peak during Syria's civil war, and another 5,000 army troops, plus thousands more Iranian-backed militia forces.

Their research showed that Iran held 55 military bases in Syria in addition to 515 military points.

The Saudi-owned Al Majalla news site reported similar numbers, citing that Syria had 830 foreign military sites under Assad, 70% of which belonged to Iran, 570.

The Haft-e Sobh paper cited market data showing a 32 percent year-on-year increase in opium prices in April, bringing the average cost to around 1.64 million rials per gram—equivalent to roughly $2.

The rial fell sharply after the start of Iran-US nuclear negotiations, trading at 820,000 to the dollar. Based on this rate, the current opium price range of 1.3 to 2 million rials per gram translates to $1.58 to $2.44.

“The price hikes in the past two years have been astronomical,” one user told Haft-e Sobh. “People can’t afford opium or its derivatives like opium extract anymore. Many have switched to industrial drugs instead.”

Over the past five years, the average price of opium has more than doubled. In 2020, it stood at around 750,000 rials per gram ($0.91), rising to 1.2 million rials ($1.46) in 2023 and now averaging 1.64 million rials ($2).

For much of the last decade, black-market opium prices had risen more slowly than Iran’s official inflation rate. But that gap has now narrowed considerably. Official inflation in the past year was 33.4 percent, nearly mirroring the 32 percent jump in opium prices.

The shift in affordability has triggered a broader change in consumption. A February 2025 field report by the Etemad newspaper found that the use of traditional narcotics like opium has declined sharply in the past seven years, with heroin and methamphetamine becoming more prevalent.

Unlike opium, meth is often easier to manufacture domestically and does not rely on cross-border supply chains.

Much of the current scarcity is linked to the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, enacted in early 2022. Taliban forces destroyed large swathes of opium poppy fields, disrupting regional supply and pushing up prices.

In July 2022, Iran’s Tejarat News website reported that prices had spiked nearly sixfold before partially stabilizing.

Meanwhile, as demand remains high, reports of poppy cultivation inside Iran have surfaced despite official crackdowns. Government-linked media recently aired footage of poppy fields being destroyed in southern provinces.

In one case from March, footage released by the Baloch Activists Campaign showed armed raids by Iranian forces on the village of Esfand in Sistan and Baluchistan province, aimed at destroying local poppy farms.

In 2022, the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) reported that an estimated 2.8 million people suffer from a drug use problem in Iran. The country also has one of the world’s highest prevalence of opiate use among its population.

While reformist outlets welcomed what they described as swift progress and a move toward technical-level discussions, conservative dailies backed the negotiation team but renewed warnings against what they called US hostility and external opposition from diaspora critics.

On Sunday, Ham-Mihan, a reformist paper aligned with technocratic factions, described the shift to expert-level talks as evidence of agreement on core principles, such as Iran’s continued uranium enrichment.

It called this “a sign of rapid progress” but warned that it did not guarantee a final deal. “The stage reached suggests a framework is in place, but final terms will be decided in detail-oriented discussions,” the editorial said.

The paper also predicted the alleged indirect format of talks may soon shift to direct engagement, arguing that detailed negotiations are impractical through intermediaries.

Shargh, another reformist paper, featured interviews with four former officials and political figures. All welcomed the apparent momentum.

“If external spoilers are kept at bay, this can lead to tangible gains for the Islamic Republic,” said reformist activist Mohammad-Sadegh Javadi-Hessar, adding that European threats to trigger the snapback mechanism appear to have receded.

In contrast, the conservative Farhikhtegan focused on perceived foreign interference. Its lead story, titled “Lobbyists of Tension,” accused a range of organizations—including American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies—of undermining the talks.

It said, without evidence, that these groups, through “financial backing and intelligence ties,” aim to maintain pressure on Iran and shape US foreign policy against Tehran.

The paper also said that "Iranian dissidents abroad were spreading misleading information to derail the negotiations,” framing the process as vulnerable to outside manipulation.

The hardline Kayhan, viewed as reflecting the Supreme Leader’s position, struck a defiant tone. In a lengthy commentary, it warned that negotiations were historically a tool of colonial pressure and argued that only military and nuclear strength had forced the US to the table.

In another piece, Kayhan wrote that excluding Europe and regional states in the talks had allowed Iran to slow the pace and avoid compromise. The writer said “indirect talks humiliated the US, reinforcing Tehran’s standing.”

Saying that US enmity toward the Islamic Republic would persist regardless of the outcome, it added, “The world is watching a diplomatic clash between satanic and divine powers,” as resistance to diplomatic means continued.

Shamkhani, in a post on X Saturday, said the delegation will approach the talks with seriousness, while expecting concrete guarantees from the US side.

He also referred to balance as one of the principles, meaning no party should walk away with all the gains. Other conditions include “sanctions relief, rejection of the Libya or UAE model, a halt to US threats, swift progress, containment of disruptive actors like Israel, and facilitation of foreign investment.”

“Iran is here for a balanced deal, not surrender,” he wrote. The comments come ahead of Saturday’s scheduled new round of negotiations with the US.

Shamkhani’s statement highlights Iran’s position of maintaining a uranium enrichment program, rejecting the Libyan example when Muammar Gadhafi surrendered his nuclear weapons program, or the UAE model, which is purely civilian.

While the Trump administration appears divided over the goals of the talks with Iran, the president and senior officials have repeatedly emphasized that Tehran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons—implying that Iran’s current uranium enrichment activities should be permanently halted.

Axios website previously quoted an Israeli official as saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports a Libya-style model for Iran—complete dismantlement of its nuclear program.

US Senator Lindsey Graham has also echoed that position, but Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi dismissed it, saying, “They can only dream of that.”