Related Articles
Senior officials from the UK, France, and Germany (the E3) have warned the Trump administration that Iran is deliberately dragging out nuclear talks to evade the reimposition of UN sanctions, the Jerusalem Post reported citing multiple sources.
"The Europeans told the United States that there must be a clear timeline for the negotiations; otherwise, the Iranians will deliberately stall to create a US-Europe confrontation in an effort to block the use of the sanctions snapback mechanism," the report quoted the sources as saying.
Britain, France and Germany - as signatories to a mostly lapsed 2015 nuclear deal with Iran - have until October to trigger United Nations sanctions on Tehran if they deem it non-compliant.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is reviewing proposals and solutions put forward by Oman in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States.
“The Omani side presented solutions in recent talks to remove obstacles, which are currently under review,” Araghchi said speaking to reporters on Sunday.
He did not elaborate on the contents of the proposal.
Oman has been mediating between Tehran and Washington, as talks remain stalled particularly because of disagreement over Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Oman’s foreign ministry on Sunday said that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will travel to Muscat on Tuesday.
A nationwide truck drivers’ strike in Iran entered its fourth day on Sunday, with protests spreading to dozens of cities and major highways despite a police crackdown and arrests.
The Union of Iranian Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers said in a statement on Sunday that police used pepper spray on protesting drivers and arrested several of them.
Launched on May 22 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the coordinated protest has since spread widely across the country, with truckers pledging to hold out for a full week or longer if their demands remain unmet.
Drivers are demanding better working conditions, higher freight rates, and relief from high insurance costs and fuel restrictions.
On Sunday, drivers in the southeastern cities of Jiroft and Sirjan, the western cities of Shabab in Ilam province and Asadabad in Hamadan province, and several locations in Tehran province, including Pakdasht, joined the strike.
Videos show parked freight trucks, drivers refusing cargo, and protest actions such as horn-blaring. The strike has disrupted traffic on key highways and industrial zones.
Footage received by Iran International on Sunday showed strikes continuing in cities across the provinces of South Khorasan, Ardabil, Bushehr, Sistan and Baluchestan, Gilan, Fars, Isfahan, Qazvin, West Azarbaijan, Yazd, and Razavi Khorasan.
Government response
Despite state media efforts to portray freight operations as normal, the scale of the strike has prompted responses from senior officials.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday called truckers a “key link in the production and supply chain” and urged the government to act quickly. He cited high costs of vehicles and spare parts, insurance burdens, and unfair freight distribution.
Mehdi Khezri, deputy head of the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said base fuel quotas would remain unchanged and that the issue was under review.
He added that meetings were being held with the Social Security Organization and the interior ministry, and that a cabinet-level proposal to reduce insurance costs was under discussion.
Khezri acknowledged that a 45% rise in insurance premiums earlier this year had triggered discontent.
Mohammad Mohammadi, deputy head of the Social Security Organization, said the government continues to pay 50% of the 27% insurance contribution for truckers and that this had not changed.
The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency called reports of steep insurance hikes “rumors.”
Previous truckers' strikes
Iran’s truck drivers have staged several large-scale strikes in the past.
Last April, truck owners across Iran started a strike to protest the reduction of fares and fuel quota.
In 2018, drivers across dozens of cities stopped work for several weeks over low freight rates, high insurance costs, and access to parts, leading to arrests and government warnings.
In 2022, truckers again walked off the job in solidarity with nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody over an alleged hijab violation.
A group of students from various Tehran universities held a state-sponsored rally outside the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to express support for the country's nuclear program including its right to enrich uranium, Iran's official news agencies reported on Sunday.
The students aimed to affirm Iran's right to uranium enrichment amid ongoing nuclear negotiations with the United States, the reports said.
The students chanted slogans including "Nuclear energy is our absolute right," "Death to America," and "Death to Israel," and carried placards with messages like "Enrichment means our right to build the future."
Videos from the rally show they also held a placard that read "Zero enrichment=we do not want a deal," referring to the US demand that Tehran will not be allowed to enrich uranium at any level.
University students supporting the Islamic Republic held similar gatherings in recent days outside various nuclear sites across the country.
“Following the Supreme Leader’s clear and strategic remarks addressed to the US and his emphasis on Iran’s independent policies in its peaceful nuclear program, the voices of threats from Washington have fallen completely silent," said Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Ali Khamenei.
In a post on his X account, Shamkhani added that “firmness and rational authority rendered the language of pressure ineffective.”
